How do I help alleviate the pain and the 'knotted' feeling of a strained calf muscle?

Question

Yesterday I attended a cardio kickboxing class. Today I feel as if I have a knot in my right calf. Overall I am a little sore from the class which I expected, but as the day has progressed, my right calf seems to be getting tighter and tighter and almost feels like if I am not careful it may spasm. Are there any stretches I can do? I would love to attend another class tomorrow evening.

Answer 1

There are several things you can do, first of all be sure you are drinking lots and lots of water to keep your muscles and body hydrated and to flush out any lactic acid that is built up from exercising. Make sure you are also getting enough calcium and potassium (bananas are a good source). Do some light stretching like standing on the edge of a step and letting your heel hang off the edge..or get in a push up position on a wall with your affected leg straightened out behind you and stretch that way. You can also put some lotion or baby oil on your hands and massage your calf..it'll hurt but it'll help break things up and loosen you up as well.

Answer 2

Be careful here...it might be a blood clot, and stretching it out will loosen the clot and result in possibly death. Ask yourself a few questions. How long has it felt that way? Is there any bruising? When you say 'it feels like' is that by examination of the area with your own hands, or does that refer to the sensation you are experiencing. Can you link this to any activities that may have caused a cramp? The problem here is that it is awkward for you to examine the calf effectively by yourself. Do you have full use of your leg? is it weight bearing? how weakened is it? I'm assuming that it is painful beyond what you have normally experienced, this leads me to assume that the problem is more than just a cramp. If it is a cramp, it's simply a matter of stretching the affected muscle, while contracting the opposing muscle, so stretch the calf while contracting the shin. Drink a couple of glasses of water, maybe take a pain killer, take a quarter teaspoon of table salt, rest. But if it is more than a cramp; * it could be a torn achilles tendon, which would severely limit mobility and weight bearing function of your leg. * it could be a blood clot in the greater saphenous vein * it could be a torn z disk * it could be a badly located muscle cramp causing impingement of a nerve. * the calf is generally made up of the gastrocnemius and the soleus muscles, there is also the plantaris muscle and a bunch of other muscles in the area, any of those could be torn causing the experience of the feelings. But generally I would suggest having a professional examine it if it feels a bit out of place beyond the normal, just to rule out any life threatening conditions such as blood clot, to rule out any possibly permanaently debilitating conditions such as a torn achilles tendon. If you go to your GP (doctor) he/she will probably refer you to the physiotherapist, costing about $50.00 for the GP and about $50 for the physiotherapist, hopefully you can claim some of it back from your health fund or from your government medical schemes. If I wanted to I would have to pay $46.00 to the GP and claim back $31.00 costing me $15 for the GP. The I would have to pay $45.00 for the Physiotherapist but I can't claim any of that back. So a total of $60.00 to check if it is anything serious. However, if it does happen to be a blood clot, then it is a lifethreatening situation, so the GP would send me to the hospital, get ultrasounds, then depending on what they find... blah blah blah it could be something, it could be nothing. Good luck

Answer 3

Stand on that leg, pit all your weight on it.

You may need to wait a few days before you go back to your class.