Recurring calf strain

[Grogboy]

I'm a 35 year old male, and iv'e been running 15-20 kms per week over 3/4 sessions for about 2 years.

I run on grass in summer and on treadmills in the winter.

In december, while running on treadmill i felt a pull on my calf muscle. The pain was on the outer calf muscle near the top. I stopped running and streatched it. The pain was noticeable for a few days when walking but then disappeared.

I then went on holiday and did no exercise for a month. On my return I assumed all would be fine as there had been no pain from my calf. After running for appprox 15-20 mins the strain re-occured in exactly the same place. I stopped running and iced it when i got home.

I got a sports masseur to try to resolve the problem. After 2 massages a week for 3 weeks the pain had gone. I never found out what the problem was other than that i had damaged the muscle !! I gradually began to run again, only doing 5 mins for the first week and it was fine.

As soon as i built the running time up over 15 mins or so the same pain came back !!

I have now rested for nearly 4 weeks and it feels fine but i fear it going again. I'm desperate to get back running. I have good shoes, inner soles and heal inserts. I always warm up and warm down. I wore a strapping on my calf the last time, but still the pain returned.

The pain was never that bad, feeling more like a cramp than severe a muscle pull i would say.

Any help on how long I should leave it, or anything else i can do would be greatly appreciated.

Many thanks

[Ruth]

Hello,

None of your footwear/orthoses are new are they? Or were they in December? Sometimes this can cause problems with the slight changes in biomechanics, as the body takes a little while to get used to the new positions.

You didn't mention whether your sports therapist gave you any stretching or rehab program at all? Are you currently doing any stretches specifically for your calf region?

Also you might want to have your hip/knee/ankle assessed if not done already to see if there's anything going on further up the leg which could either cause an imbalance, or be referring pain down into your calf.

Given that it is recurring it seems it's either a strain which is not recovering fully, or there is something which is not quite right perhaps biomechanically that is causing the injury.

Hope you get it sorted out!

[Grogboy]

Thanks for the quick reply. Nothing was new for a good few months before december.

I am doing stretches on a daily basis, one for my calf and one for my achilles too.

I think I'll get some new shoes and go to a specialist shop which has those machines that analyse running style (i've not done that before).

Thanks for your advice

[Ruth]

Hi,

Good luck - and also make sure you stretch your soleus muscle as well as gastroc, this is one which is commonly neglected, and a slight variation of the usual calf stretch can be used to stretch this muscle. Let us know how you get on!

Ruth

[Grogboy]

Thanks, will do that variation of the stretch as well from now on (found it on the internet).

Cheers again for your help, will let you know how we go......