What is a calf strain?
A strain is an injury in which muscle fibers or tendons are
stretched or torn. People commonly call such an injury a
"pulled" muscle. A calf strain is an injury to the muscles
and tendons in the back of your leg below your knee.
How does it occur?
A strain of your calf muscles can occur during a physical
activity where you push off forcefully from your toes. It
may occur in running, jumping, or lunging.
What are the symptoms?
A calf muscle strain may cause immediate pain in the back of
your lower leg. You may hear or feel a pop or a snap.
You may get the feeling that someone has hit you in the back
of the leg. It is hard to rise up on your toes. Your calf
may be swollen and bruised.
How is it diagnosed?
Your health care provider will examine your lower leg. Your
calf muscles will be tender.
How is it treated?
Treatment may include:
- applying ice packs to your calf for 20 to 30 minutes
every 3 to 4 hours for 2 or 3 days or until the pain goes
away
- elevating your leg on a pillow while you are lying down
- wrapping an elastic bandage around your calf to keep the
swelling from getting worse
- using crutches, if it is too painful to walk.
- taking anti-inflammatory medications
- getting physical therapy, which may include treatment of
the muscle tissue by a therapist using ultrasound or
muscle stimulation.
- having your health care provider or therapist tape the
injured muscles while they are healing to help you to
return to athletic activities
- doing rehabilitation exercises.
While you are recovering from your injury, you will need to
change your sport or activity to one that does not make your
condition worse. For example, you may need to swim instead
of run.
When can I return to my sport or activity?
The goal of rehabilitation is to return you to your sport or
activity as soon as is safely possible. If you return too
soon you may worsen your injury, which could lead to
permanent damage. Everyone recovers from injury at a
different rate. Return to your activity will be determined
by how soon your calf recovers, not by how many days or
weeks it has been since your injury occurred. In general,
the longer you have symptoms before you start treatment, the
longer it will take to get better.
You may safely return to your sport or activity when,
starting from the top of the list and progressing to the
end, each of the following is true:
- You have full range of motion in the injured leg compared
to the uninjured leg.
- You have full strength of the injured leg compared to the
uninjured leg.
- You can jog straight ahead without pain or limping.
- You can sprint straight ahead without pain or limping.
- You can do 45-degree cuts, first at half-speed, then at
full-speed.
- You can do 20-yard figures-of-eight, first at half-speed,
then at full-speed.
- You can do 90-degree cuts, first at half-speed, then at
full-speed.
- You can do 10-yard figures-of-eight, first at half-speed,
then at full-speed.
- You can jump on both legs without pain and you can jump
on the injured leg without pain.
How can calf strains be prevented?
Calf strains are best prevented by warming up properly and
doing calf-stretching exercises before your activity. This
is especially important if you are doing jumping or sprinting
sports.
Written by Pierre Rouzier, M.D. for McKesson Health Solutions LLC.
This content is reviewed periodically and is subject to
change as new health information becomes available. The
information is intended to inform and educate and is not a
replacement for medical evaluation, advice, diagnosis or
treatment by a healthcare professional.
Copyright © 2003 McKesson Health Solutions LLC. All rights reserved.