Physiotherapy

Calf Strain

Calf strain - tear or overload?

Are you a keen runner, skier or someone that wears high heels who has started to feel a twinge in the calf area? putting it down to a simple ‘strain’ and giving it 10 days to settle is not always a good idea.

The calf is a complicated area and the muscles in the calf are surrounded by sheaths making up compartments with nerves and blood vessels flowing through them. The strain we sometimes self diagnose can be a number of things. Some examples are: Compartment syndrome, where the sheath restricts the muscle swelling and cuts off the blood/nerve supply. This can be acute or chronic. It could be the stabilising muscles of the foot that also run from the calf into the foot, you could have a tendonitis/tendinosis of one of these muscles due to biomechanics or even a stress fracture. There can be neural irritation or even a DVT in same cases, the list goes on.

If it is an actual strain of the calf, which muscle is it? The two calf muscles act very differently one is a stabiliser and one is an explosive muscle so have to be treated differently. Rehabilitation time will also be different depending on the muscle injured.

So, if you’re feeling a little pain in the calf area, it’s best to get it checked out and be put back on the right track.