Lower Calf Pain

[Clinty6]

A few days ago I played a game of Netball but didn't warm up properly. Afterwards I felt a bit of pain in my calf. I went to the gym that evening. And when I came out the pain got a bit worse.

Yesterday and today whenever I bend my toes I get a really intense pain at the bottom of my calf/top of Achilles


Any idea whether it's just a normal muscle strain?

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[physiofi]

Could just be a normal muscle strain / some minor soft tissue damage. It's early days with regards to injury so my advice would be to rest it for the next 1-2 weeks and pop some heat on if sore (heat pack or hot shower/bath). Some gentle calf stretching may help but if bending your toes is painful at the moment, I'd ease off on this for at least the next few days. Any muscle / soft tissue injury generally heals up fully within 3 weeks, so give it some time.

[violablue]

Also, whenever there is intense calf pain you want to rule out DVT (deep vein thrombosis). Is your calf red, inflamed, hot, sore to pressure? If so head in to your doctor for an ultrasound to clarify if you do have DVT? It is serious issue as if the thrombosis dislodges it can travel through your blood system and lodge somewhere, causing major issues.

If that is not an issue, along with physiofi's recommendations, myofascial trigger point release with a ball or foam roller can be very helpful for releasing calves (normal massage contraindications apply.)

[violablue]

Youtube vid showing calf foam rolling.

[GrantP]

agree with posts so far. sounds like mild musculotendinous junction tear of gastroc or soleus. should settle as discussed. unlikely due to your description of the mechanism of injury - but if it doesnt feel improving at all within 2 weeks, you need to be aware of partial rupture and retraction of some of the muscle, relatively serious dependent on extent. as no warm up, you could also have possible nerve injury, overstretched component too. again not necessarily serious but can affect the healing time. always good idea to get physio etc to check it out for you to give some advice over extensiveness of injury and likely recovery time as very hard to diagnose accurately over internet.