Tennis leg pain: Run on it!
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GiddyupTim
Posts: 2,819 Member
So I posted this on the regular forums and got [almost] no response. Thought I might try amongst a group of people for whom tennis leg is probably of greater concern, or whom have experienced it.
I have this counter-intuitive (wacky) way of rehabilitating the calf injury known as 'tennis leg.' I have never heard of it or read of it anywhere, other than where I heard it. So I would like to know if anyone here knows of this.
Every time I recommend it to someone, they get a wan smile on their face, and a patronizing look in their eye, and they say: 'No thanks. I think I'll stick with RICE. Now, leave me alone.'
For those who do not know, tennis leg, or tennis player's calf, is a characteristic injury that happens when you sprint, almost exclusively to older people. I suppose they named it tennis player's calf because in the past the only adults who ever sprinted were tennis players. I played adult soccer. I have never known it to occur in a soccer player younger than 30 years. But, every soccer player who is 40 years old knows it intimately.
The injury is very unique. It feels like something popped in the middle of the back of your calf. I have seen people swivel around in fury when it happened -- because it feels just like someone kicked you, or you were shot, or someone threw something really hard at you -- only to find no one and no thing there.
It is very painful and tender afterward.
I am not sure doctors even know what this injury is or why it happens to older people so exclusively. Oh, they will tell you that it is a 'strain of the gastrocemius medialis.' But that is not really what it is. That is just a description of its location. It feels like you have a long thin tendon that goes down the center of your calf and it just snapped.
Anyway, to my point. I had this injury and I hobbled around and rested it for about two weeks, and then went back out to play soccer again. Ouch. On the third or fourth sprint, my calf snapped again and I was in pain. So, I hobbled around again, and rested it for three weeks, and then went back out again. Same result. Ouch.
I tried rest for four and five weeks, and I was at a loss. It is an incredibly inconvenient injury because it is uncomfortable to walk around on.
At the time, the internet was not so complete and I did not really know what I had. I knew a few other soccer players who had had the same injury, but they didn't know anything about it either.
Now around this time, I happened to be talking to an orthopedic surgeon who was a team doctor for the San Francisco Giants and so I said to him: 'Listen, doc, I know you guys get asked for free medical advice all the time, and I'm sorry, but I have this stubborn calf injury I just can't shake.'
And, he said: 'Oh yeah. That is tennis players calf. You know what you want to do? Go out and jog on it. Lightly. Even though it hurts. Don't sprint. Just go easy. Around the block, or a mile or two. Do it every day.'
Well, I was flabbergasted because no doctor ever tells you to beat on an injured part that hurts.
'It will be better in a week,' he added.
He was wrong. It was better -- completely cured -- in four days.
Has anyone else ever heard of this rehab?
Please, everyone thinks I'm a complete nut job.
I have this counter-intuitive (wacky) way of rehabilitating the calf injury known as 'tennis leg.' I have never heard of it or read of it anywhere, other than where I heard it. So I would like to know if anyone here knows of this.
Every time I recommend it to someone, they get a wan smile on their face, and a patronizing look in their eye, and they say: 'No thanks. I think I'll stick with RICE. Now, leave me alone.'
For those who do not know, tennis leg, or tennis player's calf, is a characteristic injury that happens when you sprint, almost exclusively to older people. I suppose they named it tennis player's calf because in the past the only adults who ever sprinted were tennis players. I played adult soccer. I have never known it to occur in a soccer player younger than 30 years. But, every soccer player who is 40 years old knows it intimately.
The injury is very unique. It feels like something popped in the middle of the back of your calf. I have seen people swivel around in fury when it happened -- because it feels just like someone kicked you, or you were shot, or someone threw something really hard at you -- only to find no one and no thing there.
It is very painful and tender afterward.
I am not sure doctors even know what this injury is or why it happens to older people so exclusively. Oh, they will tell you that it is a 'strain of the gastrocemius medialis.' But that is not really what it is. That is just a description of its location. It feels like you have a long thin tendon that goes down the center of your calf and it just snapped.
Anyway, to my point. I had this injury and I hobbled around and rested it for about two weeks, and then went back out to play soccer again. Ouch. On the third or fourth sprint, my calf snapped again and I was in pain. So, I hobbled around again, and rested it for three weeks, and then went back out again. Same result. Ouch.
I tried rest for four and five weeks, and I was at a loss. It is an incredibly inconvenient injury because it is uncomfortable to walk around on.
At the time, the internet was not so complete and I did not really know what I had. I knew a few other soccer players who had had the same injury, but they didn't know anything about it either.
Now around this time, I happened to be talking to an orthopedic surgeon who was a team doctor for the San Francisco Giants and so I said to him: 'Listen, doc, I know you guys get asked for free medical advice all the time, and I'm sorry, but I have this stubborn calf injury I just can't shake.'
And, he said: 'Oh yeah. That is tennis players calf. You know what you want to do? Go out and jog on it. Lightly. Even though it hurts. Don't sprint. Just go easy. Around the block, or a mile or two. Do it every day.'
Well, I was flabbergasted because no doctor ever tells you to beat on an injured part that hurts.
'It will be better in a week,' he added.
He was wrong. It was better -- completely cured -- in four days.
Has anyone else ever heard of this rehab?
Please, everyone thinks I'm a complete nut job.
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Replies
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There is a WIDE spectrum of intensity with which this injury presents.
People I've know who only had a minor injury and were able go out and play again invariably injured it worse in short order.
Those ( I have been one of the) who tore their calf severely could not even take a natural walking step much less jog.
BTW, I did turn around because I though that my partner had fallen, thrown her racket and hit me.
My opponents heard a CRACK all they way across the court.
I needed 6 week of rest, no court time at all, and then 6 weeks of rehab before I was able to play at normal intensity.0 -
There is a WIDE spectrum of intensity with which this injury presents.
People I've know who only had a minor injury and were able go out and play again invariably injured it worse in short order.
Those ( I have been one of the) who tore their calf severely could not even take a natural walking step much less jog.
BTW, I did turn around because I though that my partner had fallen, thrown her racket and hit me.
My opponents heard a CRACK all they way across the court.
I needed 6 week of rest, no court time at all, and then 6 weeks of rehab before I was able to play at normal intensity.
Thanks, Lowcarb. Yeah, about the injury feeling like you have been hit, I remember watching a soccer game on television one time, the U.S. National team, and one of our defenders suddenly grabbed his calf, spun around and looked behind him, and then fell to the ground. He had to be helped off the field. (What soccer player doesn't?)
The game announcers were aghast. Because he had spun around so quickly, and there was no one around him, they were absolutely convinced that someone had thrown something from the stands and hit him.
They went on and on about it.
Every older soccer player that I know, they knew exactly what had happened.0
