Calf Strain

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 healthcare 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 medicine. Adults aged 65 years and older should not take non-steroidal anti-inflammatory medicine for more than 7 days without their healthcare provider's approval.
• Getting physical therapy, which may include treatment of the muscle tissue by a therapist using ultrasound or muscle stimulation.
• Having your healthcare 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.

How long will the effects last?

The length of recovery depends on many factors such as your age, health, and if you have had a previous calf injury. Recovery time also depends on the severity of the injury. A mild calf strain may recover within a few weeks, whereas a severe injury may take 6 weeks or longer to recover. You need to stop doing the activities that cause pain until the muscle has healed. If you continue doing activities that cause pain, your symptoms will return and it will take longer to recover.

When can I return to my normal activities?

Everyone recovers from an injury at a different rate. Return to your activities will be determined by how soon your calf recovers, not by how many days or weeks it has been since your injury has occurred. In general, the longer you have symptoms before you start treatment, the longer it will take to get better. The goal of rehabilitation is to return you to your normal activities as soon as is safely possible. If you return too soon you may worsen your injury.

You may safely return to your activities 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 walk straight ahead without pain or limping.

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.