Calf strains can occur during hi-speed motions like running and jumping, or Read Full Post All muscle strains are categorized as either Grade I (tearing of a few muscle fibers), Grade II (more extensive muscle fiber damage) or Grade III (complete rupture of the muscle). Elevation. The torn calf muscle may also show signs of bruising in your lower leg behind the knee. This is because cold and unstretched muscles are more prone to snapping or tearing. The gastrocnemius is the big muscle at the back of the lower leg. Gently lean your chest into the wall by bending your uninjured leg. A sudden change of direction, explosive movement or increase in speed can result in the calf muscles becoming torn or strained. Tie a knot in the sock, making sure that there is still some flexibility in the sock. Did you know our resouces can be found in. When exercising your calf muscles after an injury, it’s important to make sure that you are always pain-free. A severe tear in the calf muscle may even prevent you from walking at … In my article about nighttime leg cramps you can find how to deal with calf muscle cramps when they happen and how to prevent muscle cramps at night. In cases of grade 2 and grade 3 calf muscle tears, recovery time is decreased by keeping weight off the injured leg as much as possible. Stretching excessively, lack of warm-ups, doing too much hill work, or overtraining in general, can lead to calf pulls. The calf area of your injured leg becomes discolored, starts to swell, and you have. If the tear is not complete, your doctor will send you home with instructions for self-care using the RICE treatment protocol. Medial gastrocnemius strain treatment & management. Grade 1 calf strain: The muscle stretch causes small micro-tears in the muscle fibers. Night leg cramps. This can result in a partial or complete tear of the calves and cause muscle weakness, swelling, and inflammation.3. According to the journal Radiology Case Reports, people who strain or tear a calf muscle have the sensation of something snapping in their mid-calf. You would have pain, but you can usually continue the activity. After a few days of icing the muscle strain in your calf, you should replace the ice pack with a heating pad. Treatment of calf muscle tears is usually non-surgical, and dependent upon the individual’s symptoms. Similar pain will be noted with downward ankle motion (ankle plantar flexion), due to the contraction of the torn muscle fibers. The most effective home treatments for pulled, strained, or torn calf muscles are plenty of rest and avoiding straining the muscle more. Muscle strains can exist along a spectrum from mild cases of light pain and soreness to severe cases of complete tear. A gastrocnemius muscle tear is a severe, sudden injury to your calf muscle. Muscle strain. Compression.Wrap the lower leg in an elastic bandage to reduce swelling and provide support for weakened muscles. Injury to a calf muscle can range from a strain or pull that you can treat at home to a more serious tear that may need a doctor's care. It is caused when the calf muscle is suddenly forcibly lengthened and overstretched against its own contraction. Achilles tendonitis is caused by overuse, strain, or stress on the Achilles tendon. Continue the calf muscle strengthening exercise until the muscles in the back of your leg have fully recovered. India vs Australia: Umesh Yadav sustained a calf muscle injury during the second Test in Melbourne and has now returned to India for rehabilitation, says an ANI report. Just after a calf muscle injury, the best treatment is to ice the back of your leg to prevent further swelling. An injury to this muscle is sometimes called “tennis leg.” How to say it. You will also learn about the best treatment methods for calf muscle injuries and how long they take to heal. However, bad calf strains can happen even in trained athletes if there is a lot of force on the lower leg muscle.9. However, you can use some exercises to improve flexibility and strength in the recovering calf muscle.4. The calf muscle is actually composed of up to 9 separate muscles, any of which can be injured individually or together. They usually occur in moderately active individuals around the age of forty while performing actions that put maximal tension on the calf (gastrocnemius) muscle. This is about 1/3 high in the calf. Grade 2 Symptoms. BostonSportsMedicine. These tears most commonly involve the inside portion (medial head) of the gastrocnemius muscle as this region is under the greatest amount of tension. A torn muscle in the calf describes a serious muscle injury that causes muscle tissue in the back of your leg to tear away from tendons. Fortunately, the treatment is physical therapy , not surgery. A severe calf muscle tear is likened to cracking a whip and can leave a person in great pain having to limp when walking.2. Upper calf strains and lower calf strains may also happen if you quickly stop and pivot or turn direction.8, There are also a number of factors that can increase your risk of suffering from a mild to severe calf strain. Calf (Gastrocnemius) muscle tears commonly occur in middle-aged recreational athletes while performing actions that require forceful contraction of the calf muscle (ex: basketball, hill running, tennis, etc.). Full recovery takes approximately two weeks. You can feel your calf stretching if you outstretch your leg and point your toes to the floor. Effective Treatments for Pulled, Strained or Torn Calf Muscle, Jenny Hills, Nutritionist and Medical Writer. Mayo Clinic. Apply to your sore calf muscle for 20 minutes to. There are 2 muscles that make up the calves in the back of your lower leg. Grade 1: A mild strain where only a few of the muscle fibers are strained. The most severe kind of calf muscle injury is grade 3. Calf muscle injuries can happen when straining tight leg muscles by accelerating fast or suddenly changing direction. J Am Acad Orthop Surg.1999 Jul-Aug;7(4):262-9. Your physician may recommend placing your leg in a splint (soft cast) or boot to achieve this position. A splint or boot also serves to protect the injury. Depending on the degree of bruising and swelling, a palpable defect in the muscle may be evident. The degree of this strain is graded from one to three. Your “calf muscle” is … Dr. Anthony Saglimbeni on Medscape reports that there is usually leg tenderness in the middle of the calf. Muscle strain. This can sometimes damage small blood vessels and cause localized bleeding, bruising, and pain as a result of irritated nerve endings. Calf strengthening and calf stretching should continue for several months. It also helps you do quick movements, such as jumping and sprinting. If there is a question as to whether the Achilles tendon is involved, an MRI may be indicated. The long-term goal of rehabilitation is to overcome the increased risk for re-injury by minimizing scar tissue formation and maximizing muscle strength and function. It may also be impossible to flex your foot, and pushing off from your foot when walking could be very painful. J Can Chiropr Assoc. Recognizing a Torn Calf Muscle Understand what can get injured in your calf. Dr. William Shiel on eMedicineHealth says that this is what you need to do:12. Doctors from the National Health Service (NHS) say that calf strains are commonly caused by putting too much force on the calf muscles. Calf strain advice. The symptoms of night leg cramps may last from a few seconds up to a few minutes. Depending on the severity of the calf tear, the injury could take up to 6 weeks to heal. A severe grade 3 calf strain could take as long as 6 months to heal completely and may require surgery to repair the muscle tissue. Bruising and swelling in the calf area will often develop over the next 24-36 hours. Calf strain diagnosis quiz. These muscles can be injured if they get overstretched. Due to a tear in the calf muscle, one experiences sharp muscle cramps in the calf area, which makes normal activities like walking very painful. A medial gastrocnemius strain (MGS) is a specific type of injury to the calf muscle in the back of the leg. The calf muscle may collapse into a lump or ball shape, seen and felt through the skin. What is the difference between a strained, pulled, and torn calf muscle? If you have suffered a grade 2 or grade 3 calf muscle tear, you should also consult with your doctor to get the extent of the injury assessed properly. You only have a grade 1 calf muscle injury but the pulled calf muscle symptoms don’t improve within 48 hours of using PRICE methods. Sudden instances of “pushing off” quickly to change position can … Place in the microwave and heat on full power for 1-2 minutes. Grade 2 calf strain: There is a partial tear of the affected muscle fibers, so you can't continue the activity. Calf Muscle Tear Explained Muscle tears or strains are caused by undue pressure that usually occurs during physical activity. According to doctors from Mayo Clinic, usually the cause for night leg cramps cannot be identified and is often unknown. Required fields are marked *. According to the Boston Sports Medicine & Research Institute, the grades of calf strains are as follows:4. Achilles tendonitis. This will cause sudden pain in the back of the leg when the calf muscle tears completely. After resting until pain subsides, strengthening exercises and some stretching of the calf will generally restore the muscle … Telling signs of a calf strain depend on the severity of the injury. A severe tear in the calf muscle may even prevent you from walking at all.1, All types of calf muscle injuries are graded according to their severity. There may be visible signs of inflammation and it may even cause disability until the calf heals. Find out about the causes, symptoms and available treatments. Home remedies for muscle strain. Figure 1 shows the typical location of each injury. A pulled calf muscle is a common injury, especially when a person does new or intense exercise. PRICE is an acronym for Protection, Rest, Ice, Compression, and Elevation. In most cases, people can treat a pulled calf muscle at … According to sources who spoke with ANI, the injury is a calf muscle tear and he will now be fit only for the upcoming series against England. eMedicineHealth. This helps to reduce swelling and pain in the muscles in the back of your leg in the first 72 hours. NHS. It may take many more months to regain muscle strength in the calf. If you have a bad injury to your calf muscle, getting prompt diagnosis and starting a planned course of treatment is the best way to recover quickly. To prevent bad calf muscle strains and tears, it is very important to warm up before taking part in strenuous activity. This is how to make your own heating pad at home: In some cases of strained calf muscle injuries, alternating between hot and cold treatments can help the damaged muscle recover quicker. AAOS. This type of injury is caused when one of the two muscles in the calf is overstretched or forced to contract too quickly. After two or three weeks of applying ice and heat treatments, you can start to use exercises for calf muscle strain. Calf muscle strain: Straining the calf muscle involves a tearing of the calf muscle fibers. Depending on the extent of injury to your calf muscle, you might have mild to intense pain. Your email address will not be published. Extend your injured leg back with your heel on the floor as comfortable as possible and step forward with your uninjured leg. There, you can also find out about the best essential oils for natural relief from muscle pain. It is a muscle injury and will take a few weeks to resolve," Wolves said. (Previously edited by Paul Juliano, MD and Matthew Buchanan, MD), FootEducation LLC Light compression with a wrap may be helpful. Hold for 30 seconds and repeat 4 times to help your calf fully recover quickly. This stretches the muscle tissue beyond their limit, resulting in weakness and bleeding in the muscle.7, Dr. William C. Shiel on eMedicineHealth says that sudden acceleration or deceleration often causes muscle injuries to the calves. Medscape. It may also be necessary to walk with crutches or have an ankle brace fitted to prevent accidentally straining the calf muscle again and hindering healing time. Calf muscle tears have similar symptoms and occur by a similar mechanism to Achilles tendon ruptures. A muscle strain occurs when the muscle is stretched too far, which causes tears to occur within the muscle. 2. A partial tear of the calf muscle results in a moderate, or grade 2 calf muscle injury. Straining, pulling, or tearing a calf muscle can feel like something has hit the back of your leg with force. You should only start using heat to treat the muscle strain in your calf once the swelling has stopped. This is not intended to diagnose calf pain, only estimate the severity of a calf muscle tear. All of these injuries to your calves can cause varying degrees of pain and damage to your lower leg muscles. In some cases a half inch heel lift to relax the tension behind the calf is appealing to some patients. How to use heat to help recover from calf muscle tear: To help the muscle tissue heal quicker and start the rehabilitation process, you should apply heat daily to the injured calf. In most instances, initial treatment includes activity modification (limiting muscle-loading activities), wearing a boot (Cam Walker), and using crutches. The mechanism of injury is very similar to that of an Achilles tendon rupture, which must be ruled out in the diagnosis. Treatment of calf muscle tears is non-surgical. Most common and in the 30-50-year-old age range, these injuries can be surprisingly uncomfortable. Because of the similarities between the injuries, an Achilles tendon rupture must be ruled out in the diagnosis. You should feel the calf muscle on your extended leg stretch. Significant improvement can be expected within the first two weeks, but full recovery can take up to 6-8 weeks. 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