My calf muscle feels like it was hit by a high speed tennis ball
July 7, 2021 9:15 AM Subscribe
YANMD. I just injured my left calf muscle. I have a doctor’s appointment scheduled but it’s going to be at least a week. I need some advice on how best to deal with a sprained/partially torn calf muscle.
Additional details: I was doing an indoor workout involving a lot of running in place, barefoot and without sneakers (the most likely cause of the injury, I’ve now learned), and suddenly felt like someone had shot a paintball or tennis ball against the back of my left calf. I immediately cried out in pain and fell to the ground. I’ve experienced mild calf strains before that were a little uncomfortable, but not as uncomfortable as this.
My questions:
1. While I await seeing my doctor, what is the best course of treatment I can do in the meantime? (Right now I am resting, elevating my calf and applying ice; I am avoiding putting any weight on my calf)
2. If this has happened to you and you were able to do other forms of exercise to allow the rest of your body to “stay in shape” while your calf healed, what exercises did you do? How long did your calf take to heal to the point that you could resume normal exercise? Did you experience any residual issues?
3. Kind of building off of the previous question: Once enough time has passed and I am able to do therapeutic exercises, what PT exercises would you recommend for my calf? I also have access to several different foam rollers.
4. How can I make sure this doesn’t happen again in the future? I regularly stretch my calves and Achilles’ tendon, so I was a little surprised by all this, but I certainly won’t be working out again without my sneakers.
Additional details: I was doing an indoor workout involving a lot of running in place, barefoot and without sneakers (the most likely cause of the injury, I’ve now learned), and suddenly felt like someone had shot a paintball or tennis ball against the back of my left calf. I immediately cried out in pain and fell to the ground. I’ve experienced mild calf strains before that were a little uncomfortable, but not as uncomfortable as this.
My questions:
1. While I await seeing my doctor, what is the best course of treatment I can do in the meantime? (Right now I am resting, elevating my calf and applying ice; I am avoiding putting any weight on my calf)
2. If this has happened to you and you were able to do other forms of exercise to allow the rest of your body to “stay in shape” while your calf healed, what exercises did you do? How long did your calf take to heal to the point that you could resume normal exercise? Did you experience any residual issues?
3. Kind of building off of the previous question: Once enough time has passed and I am able to do therapeutic exercises, what PT exercises would you recommend for my calf? I also have access to several different foam rollers.
4. How can I make sure this doesn’t happen again in the future? I regularly stretch my calves and Achilles’ tendon, so I was a little surprised by all this, but I certainly won’t be working out again without my sneakers.
I'd go to urgent care today. If it is in that much pain you may have ruptured a tendon, which may require surgery. The quicker that surgery can be scheduled, the better chance you have for a full recovery.
(Based on Mr. BlahLaLa unknowingly rupturing a tendon in his finger, and by the time he was at the doc his prognosis was significantly worse, though he did eventually make a full recovery.)
posted by BlahLaLa at 9:35 AM on July 7, 2021 [11 favorites]
(Based on Mr. BlahLaLa unknowingly rupturing a tendon in his finger, and by the time he was at the doc his prognosis was significantly worse, though he did eventually make a full recovery.)
posted by BlahLaLa at 9:35 AM on July 7, 2021 [11 favorites]
Yeah, I'd get seen sooner whether that's your regular doc or UC (who probably see more exercise injuries than your GP anyway). There's a very small chance this is a clot, and obviously that is a Do Not Fuck Around situation, plus other stuff you're better off not sitting on for a week. You would definitely not want to be doing amateur PT or foam rolling on something ruptured, displaced, or experiencing dangerous swelling.
It can be super helpful to have even one session with a physical therapist to ask your questions, and obviously the answers will depend on what turns out to be wrong, so focus on diagnosis and treatment first. If this isn't a surgery situation, you might be cleared to swim or use a rowing machine with modifications, and if you only need to be careful with it you should be able to pick and choose from many modified options.
posted by Lyn Never at 10:01 AM on July 7, 2021 [2 favorites]
It can be super helpful to have even one session with a physical therapist to ask your questions, and obviously the answers will depend on what turns out to be wrong, so focus on diagnosis and treatment first. If this isn't a surgery situation, you might be cleared to swim or use a rowing machine with modifications, and if you only need to be careful with it you should be able to pick and choose from many modified options.
posted by Lyn Never at 10:01 AM on July 7, 2021 [2 favorites]
If there is a chance you actually tore part of your achilles tendon, which in my layperson's opinion there is based on how you described the moment of the injury: you need to be seen ASAP because as the time between the tear and the surgical repair lengthens, your chances of making a full recovery without muscle atrophy decrease. I would say go to urgent care and definitely don't wait a full week for an appointment with a primary care provider. You will get lots of advice about rehab later on but right now please make sure you don't need surgery!
Now that I got that out of the way, when I lost the use of one leg due to an acute injury the best workouts I could do at that time were a) in a pool or b) focused on core stability, resisting rotation or doing controlled rotation or extension/flexion, c) calisthenics on the floor or d) movements for my upper body using a TRX type setup.
posted by zdravo at 10:29 AM on July 7, 2021
Now that I got that out of the way, when I lost the use of one leg due to an acute injury the best workouts I could do at that time were a) in a pool or b) focused on core stability, resisting rotation or doing controlled rotation or extension/flexion, c) calisthenics on the floor or d) movements for my upper body using a TRX type setup.
posted by zdravo at 10:29 AM on July 7, 2021
This is what urgent care is for. Go to an urgent care center today.
posted by holyrood at 10:43 AM on July 7, 2021 [1 favorite]
posted by holyrood at 10:43 AM on July 7, 2021 [1 favorite]
If you tore you achillies tendon, you can lay on your stomach and have someone move your leg and your calf/tendon will sit there, not moving. If you fully tore any other muscle, they should see similar results, but in a different area on your leg. You can't do this yourself because you can't move your leg and still see the results.
I tore my achillies a year and a half or so ago, and I went to multiple doctors (urgent care, primary care, specialist) over the course of a month before I had surgery, including urgent care the night I did it, and the specialist did say that if I had gone in immediately I could possibly have fixed it non-surgically, but waiting did no other real damage and my leg is fine now. Urgent care doctor recommended ice and setting up an appointment with a specialist.
Honestly, the most important physical therapy will be to mobilize and don't move your injured leg, so ice and raising is a good idea, and my early PT focused on my other, non-injured leg not losing muscle, so it involved various basic leg stretches.
posted by The_Vegetables at 12:44 PM on July 7, 2021
I tore my achillies a year and a half or so ago, and I went to multiple doctors (urgent care, primary care, specialist) over the course of a month before I had surgery, including urgent care the night I did it, and the specialist did say that if I had gone in immediately I could possibly have fixed it non-surgically, but waiting did no other real damage and my leg is fine now. Urgent care doctor recommended ice and setting up an appointment with a specialist.
Honestly, the most important physical therapy will be to mobilize and don't move your injured leg, so ice and raising is a good idea, and my early PT focused on my other, non-injured leg not losing muscle, so it involved various basic leg stretches.
posted by The_Vegetables at 12:44 PM on July 7, 2021
BTW, I also heard a loud pop and fell down when I did it, but got up and rode my bike home and walked on it, uncomfortably, for the entire month before surgery.
posted by The_Vegetables at 12:51 PM on July 7, 2021
posted by The_Vegetables at 12:51 PM on July 7, 2021
This happened to me on the tennis court in about 1998. Several people in attendance said it was very common and you just need to rest, ice, elevate and wait for it to get better - I did those things, plus a lot of self-massage of the calf and was back on the court in three days rather than the predicted two - six weeks. Probably not very prudent not to see a doctor but I was obsessed with tennis at that time and just wanted to get back to playing.
posted by flowergrrrl at 4:41 PM on July 7, 2021
posted by flowergrrrl at 4:41 PM on July 7, 2021
I did the same thing to myself while trail running several years ago. Pushed off a rock going uphill with my toes, felt like someone had kicked me in the calf and heard a little snap, and had to limp half a mile back to the car. It wasn't my first calf strain, but it was the worst. I iced and elevated it for a few days and took a few weeks off. Strengthening my calves (by doing eccentric calf raises daily) has helped me avoid reinjury. I still avoid any kind of explosive movements on my toes and that calf does start to ache a little if I increase running mileage or speedwork too quickly.
I didn't go to urgent care, which would probably have been a good idea. You should go and get a referral to PT.
posted by kiripin at 5:09 PM on July 7, 2021
I didn't go to urgent care, which would probably have been a good idea. You should go and get a referral to PT.
posted by kiripin at 5:09 PM on July 7, 2021
I tore (and repeatedly re-tore) my calf several years back playing tennis (and trying to come back too soon).
Yours sounds more severe than mine (and might be Achilles instead).
Physical therapy was what I needed to put it behind me - therapist gave me exercises I could do by myself to strengthen the calf along with a month of 8 or 10 in-office treatments.
Biggest lesson I learned was to warm up *before* exercising and stretching *after*. Stretching cold muscles is a no-no. So for tennis, I'll do some light sprinting and side-to-side movements in conjunction with hitting around to warm up. I rarely stretch after a game, unless I feel like I need it.
PM if more info would be helpful - hope you heal up soon.
posted by Twicketface at 10:35 AM on July 8, 2021
Yours sounds more severe than mine (and might be Achilles instead).
Physical therapy was what I needed to put it behind me - therapist gave me exercises I could do by myself to strengthen the calf along with a month of 8 or 10 in-office treatments.
Biggest lesson I learned was to warm up *before* exercising and stretching *after*. Stretching cold muscles is a no-no. So for tennis, I'll do some light sprinting and side-to-side movements in conjunction with hitting around to warm up. I rarely stretch after a game, unless I feel like I need it.
PM if more info would be helpful - hope you heal up soon.
posted by Twicketface at 10:35 AM on July 8, 2021
This thread is closed to new comments.
This has worked for me many times to get in to see my doctor for urgent issues on short notice.
posted by phunniemee at 9:30 AM on July 7, 2021 [4 favorites]