Not me, but my wife. She couldn't put any weight on it yesterday, a little bit today - but she's holding her foot at an angle and we're concerned it'll heal shortened. I'm thinking a boot would be a good idea to keep it at 90 degrees whilst it heals and allow a bit of hobbling.
Am I thinking right? Does it need medical intervention? We'd rather stay away from hospitals at this point of course, as long as it keeps getting better.
Get it checked out Mollie.
I tore my calf muscle (grade 3)in a climbing fall when my toes hit something on the way down. I have always had big calves so it disguised the true swelling/damage. I had it looked at and was told R.I.C.E and it should be good. I now have a weird shaped calf (to match the rest of my weird body ) where the muscle didn't come back. Hey ho ,chicks dig scars, etc, etc 🙂
+1 get it checked out...private sports physio.
Tore mine skiing, ski stopped in very slushy conditions, I didnt!
Almost passed out when physio put her thumb in the tear, but treated with RICE, ultrasound and then physio. Took 9 months before I could run off road on it, still have an odd lump. But have full range of movement and equal strength.
Yep, get her to a physio. You may end up paying for the pleasure of it, but it'll be worth it. They'll assess the damage and likely recommend exercises to aid recovery and to lengthen the muscle.
I'd suggest RICE, ultrasound followed by some calf raises and lowers would be on the agenda but that's guess work.
I wouldn't go to hospital for that kind of injury.
Well we're giving it a few days to see how it pans out but not leaving it long. Will check out the physio idea.
+1 get it checked out, and also +1 on don't bother with the hospital. Only my experience, but most hospitals aren't bothered about "minor" sporting injuries (minor to them, not you/your wife). That's not meant as a slur on hospitals and the medical staff there, just they have different priorities.
Go and see a sports physio. I wish I'd listen to my own advice - I've had a recurring calf injury for about 8 months now, I think it's a tear of some kind but it's bearable if I don't run more than 3-4 miles (bike is OK). Point is, it's not going away and I'm going to have to go see someone soon, so don't delay needlessly as I have.
If you can afford it, go private sports physio, but given there may be a week or so till you get an appointment (as they are running reduced capacity) it might be worth not leaving it too long to phone some. Can't remember where in the country you are, but someone will likely have a recommendation.
It's not a sporting injury btw although that doesn't necessarily matter of course.
Where in the calf? And are you sure the achilles isn't injured?
If you have insurance, I would push for imaging to discover the extent and nature of the damage. NHS will give you very little and even private many just go for the check list of what hurts and therefore what it is likely to be, rather than what it actually is.
Or maybe I just had a bad experience or two!
I tore mine badly (don't know what grade) and could not walk on it for days. I was given a pair of crutches and told to keep all weight of the leg and RICE. About 14 days later my legs went blue and I was diagnosed with a DVT.
The DVT took longer to sort than the torn calf muscle.
A friend who snapped something in his heal about 12 months later was given similar advice, but was given an injection to prevent a DVT. Upon investigation my health authority waits to see if you get a DVT, his health authority automatically gave the injection.
My advise is see a healthcare professional and talk about the possibility of a DVT caused by RICE
Tore mine a few years ago. Went to A&E and after a 4 hour wait and 10 mins of them prodding and poking about they just sent me home as said to dose up on Ibuprofen and try to continue using it as much as possible and offered me some crutches. Nothing they can do really. Last thing you can do is to do nothing. Worth having it checked out to confirm it is muscle and not tendon or something.
Was chuffing painful and has been a weak point ever since.
I now have a weird shaped calf (to match the rest of my weird body ) where the muscle didn’t come back
Me too. Mine was a skiing fall when the ski didnt come off and the tip came up to meet me. Incredible pain for weeks, doubled in size and I went to A&E just to make sure there was no clot they said not so just pain killers, ice and rest for a while. When it starts to heal its important to strengthen and importantly frictional massage. Do exercises 2-3 times a day.
+1 get it seen
Did mine when starting the C25K about a month ago
Didn’t know what I’d done at the time just the feeling of a ‘broken band’ lower/mid-calf, and pain/hobbling. Was worried about achilles tbh.
Rested, then filled online self-referral to local NHS physio a few days after I did it. Was offered phone appt about 3 days later which netted me a face to face with physio at local hospital the week after. Interim advice was to keep moving around, use pain meds, no running tho. Grade 1 calf sprain diagnosed at appt. Was given conditioning/stretching/loading exercises to follow and also instructed not to run for 3 months. Now have been signed off but still have repair work/exercises to do on it. They also posted me some resistance bands out, and new/updated exercises.
ymmv
Get it seen and good luck.
As soon as the initial pain / swelling has subsided she needs to start doing some progressive loading exercises to repair and rebuild the muscle.
Extended RICE / massage will do nothing to aid the healing process.
Get to see a physio if you can.
