So I was running today and felt a little tugging in my right calf. No biggie, just adjust my stride. Nope, it’s still there. Okay, it pricks me a couple of times, I’ll just have to be careful. Three minutes later and it’s official: I’ve pulled my calf and there’s a sort of kink in there that’s not going away. Time for the walk of shame: back home the way I came, but now considerably slower and with an ever-so-slight limp.
Yeah, yeah, I need to stretch more, make sure I’m hydrated, get enough sleep, yadda, yadda, yadda. I’m usually pretty careful, but at this point I’ve gone past preventative measures and moved into the treatment phase.
So what’s the best way to get past a pulled muscle? I already figure a few days of not running, but what else? Should I put heat on it? Ice? Should I stay off it? Should I go on walks to “work it out”? Should I be doing stretching exercises or just leave it alone? How about a nice Thai massage with some crazy-lithe Thai girl rolling it around between her thighs?
I hyperextended my calf muscle a few years back. Talk about agony. The doctors gave me some sort of orthopedic shoe that would prevent the calf muscle from moving much while walking.
I’d mix myself a gin and tonic (with quinine!), do the ice-heat alternating routine, and gently massage it in between icing/heat.
As you search the site, you should find other helpful information for injury prevention and treatment. It’s all legit information, and for good reason: Running is terribly hard on the body and results in myriad injuries. If the calf is too sore/injured to continue to run on, try cycling or swimming in the mean time to keep the cardio up. Who knows – you might even wind up as one of those crazy triathletes!
Sheesh, I’m not going to the doctor for a pulled muscle, Cold Blooded. Lordy, it’s not like one of these kinds of posts: Hey guys, there’s blood pouring from my ears, my vision is growing dim, and I can’t feel a pulse in my neck. What should I do? If, however, I come back in two days with a gory tale of needing to get my right leg amputated, you can say you told me so. :)
As for ibuprofen, I don’t mind the soreness, since I’m a supertough dude. I’m mainly interested in how soon I can run again.
Ah, that’s just what I needed, Ryan A! Thanks. I’m probably high risk for calf injuries since I walk around barefoot all the time (what with being from Arkansas) and don’t stretch as much as I should. I have a question about wrapping my leg in an Ace bandage, as per the article: What’s that supposed to do? How do I know how tight it should be?
Ibuprofen doesn’t really help with pain, it’s an anti-inflammatory, which even supertough dudes need to decrease recovery time. Skip the Tylenol if you want to revel in the ache, but go ahead and toss back some Advil while you ice it.
The ace bandage is for compression. Back in my college soccer playing days when I was training and playing too much on hard fields I wound up having to wear compression shorts with ace bandages and athletic tape binding my thighs due to chronically strained/overworked quads.
The key is to wrap tightly enough to compress without anything turning blue or going numb.
Funny, I’m coming off an slight strain of my achilles tendon that’s kept me from running the last week, so I’m all up on why you want to put on the Ace bandage.
It’s the compression part of the RICE (rest, ice, compression, elevation) formula. It keeps blood from gathering/pooling in the injured part of the body. You want to make it as tight as possible without choking off circulation in the extremity (you can check that by noting whether or not your toenails on the foot below your Ace bandage are going blue, or if when you press down on your toenail, if it goes from white to pink fairly quickly or if it take waaaay too long).
After doing a lot of icing, massage, and elevation when possible, I’m feeling a lot better, and I suspect I’ll be good to go by Sunday, which means 1 week of swimming instead of running. You should try it. Just don’t push off the wall too hard with a flip turn like I did… ouch.
Seriously, it will go away with a bit of time. I woulnt cut it off just yet.
The Ace bandage is for warmth so prolly not super tight. Warmth will get some blood to it and help it heal a bit faster. I’d think hot tub/whirlpool time would be better.
Also, stretching is somewhat controversial amongst many coaches and trainers. Some argue that poorly implemented stretching actually increases risk of injury and instead advocate for a good warm-up and cool-down activity before/after each training session or contest.
Also, Eprhaim… massage for an achilles injury? Yowzer!
Ibu is an anti-inflamatory as well as a painkiller, so it’s probably a good idea to take some in the first day or two, even if you’re not in a lot of pain.
Immediately after the injury you should ice and elevate it to reduce swelling, but it’s probably too late for that now. Just try not to re-injure it in the first week (no running), put some heat on in the evening and stretch it out. Once it doesn’t feel sore anymore, ease back into running (ie start with walking, then really slow jogging).
Ah, I just went to the doc for this! Here’s what he had to say:
Buy Naproxen (Aleve) and take that instead of any other NSAIDs, because it doesn’t spend as much time metabolizing in the kidneys and lasts a lot longer. Under any circumstances do not put physical exertion on that limb, and if at all possible don’t use it entirely. My pulled muscle was in my left arm, and he put it in a sling and told me 5 days without any usage should be enough to fix it. Also, he said that most people tend to rub the affected muscle to relieve pain, but this is not good, because you can actually end up damaging it further. Basically, take Aleve, and stay off of that leg. Got a cane?
Huh, I pulled something in my shoulder/neck yesterday while lifting, so this thread is awesomely timed. I was taking aspirin, but I guess I should switch over to ibuprofin…
Stretching is overrated prior to working out. Warming up, however, can’t be emphasized enough. Stretching afterwards is a great idea, along with cool down periods of at least a few minutes at a reduced pace.
This is really a minor pull. I’ve had killer pulls before – once in the calf, once in my back – where it felt like someone punched me and I had to hobble around like an old(er) man for a couple of days. This isn’t one of those.
But I’ve just done the ice thing, I’ve popped a couple of ibuprofen, and I’m off now to get My First Ace Bandage. Hopefully, I can get something themed, maybe a Star Wars one, with Yodas and shit on it.
Based on personal experience, two days without strain to let it heal a bit, then gradually work back up to your routine. If it feels tight, keep going, if it starts hurting, stop immediately. There’s likely torn muscle fiber that need a chance to heal, and once it heals, it will be tighter than before. If you’re not religious about your exercise, then just lay off for a week.
RICE: Rest (break from running for a few days), ice (10-15 minutes at a time, put a towel between your leg and the ice), compression (get yourself a tensor bandage), and elevation (keep the leg close to or at level with your heart, if you’re lying down, stick a couple of pillows under it).
Don’t apply any heat! Applying heat isn’t really a treatment for strains, but it can help with the swelling if you get heat onto it right after the strain occurs. At this point, stay away from it.
Edit: Oh, take a CPR/First Aid course already! This goes for all of you!
