Pulled/strained left calf muscle

[RT1]

67 year old skier, skied tournaments when I was younger, not any more, but I have never stopped skiing the course. Started skiing in my early 20's. I'm in great shape, run and "work out" almost ever day since I was a kid, however, a couple of weeks ago 1/2 mile into my run, it felt like my left calf muscle exploded, immediate pain. I could hardly walk. I limped home and thought, "don't be a puss, just walk it off." That actually helped and I was able to walk with little or no pain as long as I didn't push it. Even though I don't ski tournaments, I reluctantly have been skiing at Men's 7 boat speed which is 32 mph and have picked up a few buoys. So, fast forward to yesterday. I ran straight up the rope, ran 22, 28, 32, 35, and had a bad gate at 38 and only got one ball. I put the rope back to 32 and coming around 3 ball in great shape about to cross the wake, my left calf muscle hurt badly again so I immediately let go of the rope and stopped. Pain was so bad I couldn't get my feet out of my Wiley's. My wife is 100 lbs soaking wet and was unable to offer much help but somehow I struggled to get on the platform with my ski still on and finally stand up, not fun. I drenched the inside of my binding with Dawn dish soap and slowly worked my feet out one at a time. My question is, has anyone experienced this kind of calf muscle pain and if so, what should I expect for recovery time? Today I can walk OK and ride a bike, however, not gonna try to push it to avoid anything that may cause a worse injury. I do feel something in my calf similar to that "good workout" muscle pain but I know it's not that.

[Stevie Boy]

I suffered with really tight calf muscles, apart from stretches and a roller, I found that a vibrating sander and a lttle bit of talcum powder, help out quite a bit.

caviat: use the sander with just the rubber a half size or quater size works really well, do not use with sand paper Lol !

My problem has gone away.

[Rw3]

Ortho here. You likely tore your gastroc/calf muscle. I would recommend going to PT as soon as you can to expedite recovery. These can linger awhile if you don’t get on top of it. Need to prevent scar tissue from forming where the tear was to eliminate chronic issues with it. I would expect about 4-6 weeks until feels back to normal depending on severity of strain/tear. Wear a heel cup or heel lift to offload and calf compression wrap for next couple days. Good luck. Frustrating injury for sure.

[RT1]

@Stevie Boy , and @Rw3 , thank you both.

[MarkSAU]

Yep I tore my calf muscle pretty badly when wiping out over the front. Foot remained in the binding and the tip of the ski hit me on the forehead....

 

Went to Physio for about 6 weeks but could only just walk, no running no Skiing. Was able to ski again gently after about 6 weeks, but only fully recovered after about 8 -10 weeks and even then was pretty weak and I needed to work on it a lot to regain a similar strength. Been about 4 years now and it is still not at the same strength as my right calf but I can do everything I want no issues.

[RT1]

@MarkSAU, wow. I'm sure my skiing is over for me now, mostly because of my injury, but also because the weather is going to cool down to where I won't want to even take a chance on skiing. It's very difficult for me to not try and run but not worth it if I reinjure it worse. I have been able to somewhat walk OK, cut the grass, and ride a bike, just not pushing it. At my age recovery and the time it takes is a big issue. I will try PT and hope that by next season my calf is better. If it is no better by then, I honestly cannot ski or run anymore and the thought of that depresses me to no end.....

[ForrestGump]

Calf muscles are tough to heal. Especially for us skiers. I did mine getting out of silly tight jump bindings. Spent 6 weeks going to rehab. Tried skiing at 6 weeks because it felt ok in day to day life. But there's a lot that goes on in a ski that doesn't happen in shoes. In the end, was able to ski after 8 weeks. But it was a solid 12 before I didn't think about it any more.

[RT1]

@ForrestGump, I thought I was going to have to cut my Wiley's to get them off the other day because of the pain, used enough Dawn dish soap to eventually slide them out. Like a lot of people, I'm very active and this is definitely putting a cramp in my style.

[lundberg]

Several years ago I injured my calf playing basketball. I work at an ultrasound company and decided to track the healing. The first image is of my uninjured calf and the following ones show the injury at day 1, 11, 14, 35, 37 and 49. My calf does not bother me today but it does feel different than the good one.

 

 

 

[RT1]

@lundberg, awesome pics, very cool you were able to do that. From what you are saying, it's looks like it could be a while for me to get to full recovery. Patience is not usually one of my good traits. Thanks.

[lundberg]

@RT1 I found an image from 2 years later and you can still see some separation between the two layers. Doesn't stop me from having fun but not as good as new. This is a good reminder to be thankful every time we get to do what we enjoy.