Has anyone else had a torn calf muscle?

I tore mine about 4 weeks ago playing tennis (felt a pop, had trouble walking), and now I'm still staying off it, doing basically nothing except for the occasional unweighted stretch.

Has anyone else had this dumb injury? I was thinking about 8 weeks total before I could actually start strengthening it again, and probably like 12 weeks before kiteboarding, but I was planning on doing a bit of buggying in the meantime.

It doesn't hurt now at all, but feels a little tight with the occasional shot of pain if I do something dumb (like jumping off the pool bottom today with my kid).

Doctors don't seem to have anything tangible to say other than, "yup, it was torn. stay off it." Just wondering if anyone had any experience with this injury.

pain free is good, reflex action and pain free is even better.

keep moving within pain free action. not so much stretch stuff. definitely avoid pain causing action.

good movement that will increase circulation but not cause pain. progressively add agility type movements small skipping and hopping ...things that require balance and reflex action.

increase speed and range of action as strength is gained. try and maintain normal gait and tempo.

if pain persist stop and rest ... at 8 weeks kinda late in the game just need to add strength
...just take slow and stay comfortable but active.

Not calf muscle, but I slipped on the ice 10 yrs ago and landed on my elbow, tearing muscles around the rotator cuff in my rt shoulder. My Drs. insisted surgery was the only way to fix it, physical therapy could only strengthen the surrounding muscles, not repair the tear. I didn't get the surgery, and was out of work for about 3 wks, doing stretch band exercises after the first week.(my job was lifting and moving 35 lb boxes of supplies all shift) I had to pass a stupid test to be cleared to go back to work, it had nothing to do with my job. I still get pain if I reach up in the wrong way, and in a quiet room I can hear a "rubbing" sound when I raise my arm over my head.
The physical therapist I saw recommended I start with the stretch band as soon as I was able to do so without too much pain, I only kept at it 'til I went back to work.

I suffered an intra-substantive tear of the pectoral major muscle accompanied by a partial tear of the tricep longhead at the point of insertion back in 2003. The internal bleeding caused a clot near my armpit which ultimately put pressure on the brachial nerve which resulted in nerve damage down my right arm and into my upper back (trap and delt muscles). It was ruled to be inoperable because the muscle remained attached to the bone but broke in the middle so it would have been like stitching jello together and hoping for the best. Three months of rehab, 5 months of Rx pain medicine and it took a full year for the pain and numbness to go away and I’ve never regained my pre-accident strength on my right side.

If the doctor says give it time then give it time. Muscle tears are common – happens every time you lift weights. However you don’t want to suffer a complete tear or a substantial tear and you want to minimize the scarring process and potential additional damage.

If the tear on your calf was moderate or worse you should be massaging it to reduce the volume of scar tissue. And not just rubbing but deep tissue to break the scar tissue up to assure the best range of motion as healing begins. That was one of the most painful parts of the rehab and recovery for me as you could actually feel the scar tissue breaking in his (or my) hands as we went through the process.

Good luck and take it slow. Better to miss a few months and guarantee a good recovery than rush things and live with lifelong problems.

I tore an abductor muscle in my left hip in college. Thing sucked so bad. I was able to walk without pain after about 2 months if I remember correctly. But the thing was a bugger for years.

I re injured it running about a year after the initial injury.

It has been a long time since then and it is still stiff and uncomfortable at times.

Take the next year seriously with your injury. You may miss a few kiting sessions, but if you injure it further you could be facing life long crap.

How bad is the tear? Grade 2?

Thanks all. Great info! Better than the vague nonsense that the doctors were sending my way. +2 for bio hacking I'm Guessing it's a stage 2 tear because of the pop and the difficulty walking. I was just telling Jeff that I can do calf raises no problem, but one legged calf raises feel a little tender still. I was just going to start walking for exercise & strengthening a bit. Definitely holding off tennis and boarding but I might do a little buggying in a couple of weeks. I keep my pegs pretty close to the seat, so I'm hoping there won't be a lot of calf strain. Oh, and I've been getting massage and wearing a compression sock for any sort of standing or walking.

Dave - glad you are indeed taking it serious - hope nothing I offered was too far off base....walking should be good so long as Phree mentioned your gait is normal!

That said - If this was the 1980's I'd tell you to suck it up. But with both of us now 40+ (Barely....) hopefully we're smarter.

Jeff

one time at band camp... oh wait... never mind