What is it?

-       A common muscle injury in On-Field and On-Court sports, as well as long distance running

-       Depending on what specific muscle in the calf is injured (the gastrocnemius or soleus), injury to the calf can often occur during acceleration, jumping or steady state running

-       Can be prone to re-occurrence after initial injury

Why does it happen?

-       There are many things that increase your calf injury risk like:

-       A spike in training load - particularly things like your total running volume and volume of jumping

-       Decreased calf strength

-       Decreased calf flexibility / ankle range of motion

-       Previous calf injury

What does it look like?

-       Calf injuries can look different to other muscle injuries, as the most common descriptor of calf muscle injury is gradual onset, whereas most other muscle injuries are described as a sudden sharp pain

-       Pain with walking after injury

-       Pain with calf stretching

How to get better?

-       Protect and respect the injury and biological healing – Calf injuries often need more time to heal before it is safe to run again

-       Gradually re-gain strength and flexibility

-       Plyometric exercises, or explosive type movements, are particularly important in rehabilitation as the calf and adjoining achilles tendon act as a spring during running.

Physiotherapists Role: 

It is vital to go see a physiotherapist if you have suffered a calf injury to:

-       Get the appropriate diagnosis- A physio should be able to give you a fair idea on how long it might take to return to your chosen sport/form of exercise based on things like the location of injury/severity of objective findings

-       Rehabilitate Appropriately to decrease risk of re-injury – A physio will guide you through a plan to help you regain your strength and function, to a stage where you are ready to return to your chosen activity