FEELING GREAT: How to ease a sudden pain in the calf

Ok, let me try and talk you through this and I’ll do it in the context of explaining how and

why it likely happened, so that you can try and avoid it: The “phenomenon” of feeling like you’ve been “shot” in the back of the leg is something that I hear a lot – and it’s the big give away for me that the person telling me has actually pulled a calf muscle.

A lot like hamstring muscles, calf’s tear or snap with very little prior warning and will often happen as a result of being overly tired, dehydrated or from running up (and down) a route which includes a few hills or banks.

I’d bet without even seeing Andy that he has had, in the past, some kind of problems with a stiff or aching Achilles tendon. The Achilles and calf are connected. So, if one of them tightens, so does the other. And if you keep pulling at one of those muscles, eventually it will tighten to the point that it is forced to snap! And that’s what happens when the muscle pop occurs – reality is, they’ve just torn a muscle.

So, to answer the big question of what to do about it: ice is a good place to start. For the first three or days I’d say: “ice it” and “keep off it”. That means no running and limit walking.

After that, it’s important to get lots of deep tissue massage to stop something called scar tissue – and if you don’t, it makes it more likely that you’ll tear the same muscles again because scar tissue is very tight and inflexible. Controlled stretching routines are important (after about 7-10 days) and from then on it’s more massage, more stretching and after about 14 days or so, start strengthening of the calf muscle too.

My big tip on this: Do not rush back too soon. If you want to know more about the exact steps you need to take, please look here: www.paulgoughphysio.com/sports-injury-clinic there is a free report waiting for you with all my best “do this, but don’t do that” tips on how to get fit quick after any of the common sports or muscle injuries.