Calf injuries - how long did they take to heal?

Autumngolds

A few months back I did an hour-long (mainly bodyweight, some light weights) lower body workout, and I could hardly get out of bed the next day because my calf muscles were so painful. When I started exercising again, probably a few days later, even quite low impact exercises like jogging in place would make them really sore. So I avoided any kind of jumping or added weights for the lower body, and stuck to toning for a couple of months. I started into cardio again gently, but I re-injured them and they felt just like they did the first time. Lately I've been able to do some cardio, but not most of the high impact exercises I did before, and I keep pushing it too far so they start hurting on a daily basis whenever I stand up and often while I'm walking. I'm avoiding cardio now, as I keep making them worse without even realising while I'm working out - it's usually the next day that they're sore again. If I let my legs rest for a few days they stop hurting completely, until I get it into my head to do some cardio again. Hopefully I'll be able to talk to a doctor about them soon, but has anyone else had an injury like this? How long did they take to heal?

LKArgh

Being sore is not an injury. If e.g. you are rarely doing cardio, running, dancing, walking for long etc, it is normal for your legs to feel very sore the next day after trying a new activity, and the best thing is to keep exercising, at a lower pace, gradually increasing diffuculty, duration etc. But if you are referring to actual pain, not being just sore and you suspect it is not just muscles but e.g. a tenton, you need to talk to a dr. The fact you are not in pain while exercising and that it is both legs makes me suspect it is most likely muscle soreness, which should go away if you add regular exercise for a week or so, but if this is not the case, time to book a dr appointment.

aneary1980

Do you strech after exercising? My calves kill if I don't spend the time streching them.

Palamedes

I am not a Doctor and I didn't stay at a Holiday Inn Express last night.

There is a difference between being sore and being injuried. Generally, if you get sore and then take a day or two off, your soreness gets better. That is the process of building muscle.

if you are sore and then a couple days later activity makes you sore, then you probably have an injury. You said calf was sore. However, try something for me. Press on front of the bone approximately 10 inches off the ground. If that hurts, you may have shin splints.

http://www.runnersworld.com/tag/shin-splints

In any case, I recommend seeing a doctor. Sooner would be better than later. Personally, I think you have an injury and not muscle soreness.

Autumngolds

It's almost definitely an injury. Muscle soreness has never affected me like this, and I've taken the time repeatedly to let the muscles recover. I stretched quite thoroughly, I think I must have just been less active in the days or weeks before it happened. I'd done the routine before and although it's quite intensive I've never injured myself before doing those kinds of exercises, so I didn't think there would be any problem. I'll definitely see a doctor, I want to make sure they heal this time. Thanks for the replies.

Garthamatic

I've injured my calf running several times. For me, it was 2-3 weeks before I felt comfortable ramping back up into my running program.

Try not to push it too soon. It's tempting when it's "almost" completely healed to go and work it only to reinjure yourself.

You know your body best, listen to it and judge accordingly.

anw120

I had something similar happen with my foot, I strained it but kept working out until it was so bad that I couldn't walk right anymore and pain was hitting other areas because my gait was off. I had to end up taking almost 2 months off to heal the strain but then when I started working out again the muscle was weak so I had to back track a little and do extra muscle building exercises to get my feet caught back up with the rest of my legs (since I did do Pilates and other strength training during the two months).

Usually if you have a strain a doctor will tell you not to use that body part until the pain is 100% not noticeable anymore. Which is why letting it heal right away is better than pushing too hard like I did and making the strain worse, a normal strain takes a week to two weeks to heal depending on how bad it is, but since I pushed it for over a month injured it took forever. I'd see a doctor soon but be careful not to push too hard and set yourself back.

adge1475

In my experience, 2-3 weeks. After I injured my calf by over-training, it was about 1-2 weeks before I could even walk again on it properly (without looking like Smeagol) and 3 weeks before I really felt comfortable doing any light training.

Autumngolds

I had something similar happen with my foot, I strained it but kept working out until it was so bad that I couldn't walk right anymore and pain was hitting other areas because my gait was off. I had to end up taking almost 2 months off to heal the strain but then when I started working out again the muscle was weak so I had to back track a little and do extra muscle building exercises to get my feet caught back up with the rest of my legs (since I did do Pilates and other strength training during the two months).

Usually if you have a strain a doctor will tell you not to use that body part until the pain is 100% not noticeable anymore. Which is why letting it heal right away is better than pushing too hard like I did and making the strain worse, a normal strain takes a week to two weeks to heal depending on how bad it is, but since I pushed it for over a month injured it took forever. I'd see a doctor soon but be careful not to push too hard and set yourself back.

Thank you, that was really helpful.

hermann341

It took me about a year to recover from compartment syndrome in both calves. It's a condition that took 5 months to manifest, but once it started, it seemed like every few weeks the pain would come back and would have to rest a week, 10 days, 2 weeks at a time. Finally, after many months of reduced running and lots of stretching, I was finally able to start making progress in my training.

Recommend you consult with a sports medicine physician. I thought I had strained both my calves until I talked to one and he was able to properly diagnose me.