Calf pain

nicolina823

I have pretty bad calf pain in my left leg at the moment. I did a little extra on Tuesday. I added in the 30 Day Shred to my daily routine. Yesterday I woke up with it feeling like someone was pulling the muscle up my leg. So I took the day off from working out. Today it is worse. I took pain reliever to reduce swelling and ease the pain. I've been switching up ice and a heating pad as well.

Any other ideas on how to get rid of it? I don’t have a lot of resilience so it is easy for me to tear and sprain. Which is the reason for not working out again today. I've had past ankle and knee injuries but never calf pain.

stroutman81

I wouldn't heat it. Rest and ice it. Beyond that, it's tough to get into specifics using this medium of exchange. Even if people were qualified to examine and treat such injuries.... without getting their "hands on the problem" makes it very difficult to give advice.

Where is the pain, higher toward your knee or lower toward your achilles tendon?

Is there noticeable swelling or bruising?

Off the bat, my pure guess would be a mild strain in either your gastrocnemius or soleus, which are the primary muscles that comprise your calf. Or it could be something like achilles tendinitis which is quite common.

Alysgrma

I too had been having bad cramps in my right calf each time I walked. I don't think I was warming up enough or cooling down enough after my walk...which is only 1.5 -2 miles so not much. So yesterday I made a point of warming up more then most days and cooling down and I didn't have any leg cramps last night...you might try that.

Mary

nicolina823

The mid point to bottom of the muscle. When you flex your calf muscle its at the very bottom and goes up about 1/2 way and radiates up both sides.

lilmissy2

It could just be muscle pain from doing something new and strenuous? I'm by no means advising this (because if you don't know your body well enough you might have an actual injury) but I find that when I start something new, it hurts... if I do it again the next day it hurts a lot less than if I leave it.

If you have to take pain killers, make sure they are not anti-inflammatories because these inhibit the body's natural process of adjusting to exercise. That is, your muscles won't adjust to the exercise as quickly so you will feel post-exercise pain for a longer period.

stroutman81

It could just be muscle pain from doing something new and strenuous? I'm by no means advising this (because if you don't know your body well enough you might have an actual injury) but I find that when I start something new, it hurts... if I do it again the next day it hurts a lot less than if I leave it.

This is a very good point. It could simply be what's known as DOMS or Delayed Onset Muscle Soreness. But if other areas of you aren't sore, I'd have to question that.

Based on where you're pointing to the pain, it could very well be either of the two things I listed above. Or it could be something entirely different.

I'd give it a few days and see if the pain subsides. If it does, it was most likely just a mild strain. Going forward I'd make certain:

1) you don't over-exert yourself. many folks jump into intensities of exercise they're simply not ready for. the idea is to start slow and build up.

2) always warm up properly

3) you might want to dedicate some attention to SMR otherwise known as self-myofascial release. Basically it's a form of deep tissue massage you do on yourself using a foam roller, tennis ball, therapy ball, etc. I can gladly speak more on this if you're interested.

If the pain doesn't subside, I'd be inclined to head to a qualified professional to get assessed.