Fly2High

Hi BF gang,
The end of April, I partially tore my calf muscle. Doc said to keep off of it for 6-8 weeks. After 1 week, doc said to start stretching 5 times a day which I did.

First ride back was 8 weeks after injury starting with a 10.6 mile ride. This past weekend, I did a 42 mile ride and then again on Monday a 10 mile ride.

What I noticed is that I am rather guarded while riding. I am fearful of attacking the hills and in trusting I have healed 100%.

How will I know I can start going all out again?

Are there exercises I should do to strengthen the leg to prevent repeat injury?

I was planning on doing a 100+ mile ride in early July. Should I skip it? I have a bigger 100+ mile ride in Sept that I want to be ready for.

What have been your experience with this kind of injury?

thank

Frank

10 Wheels

Go back to your Dr

deapee

Honestly, the best thing you can do to heal your calf is walk.

Start with walking 10 minutes, and if that feels fine, up it to 20, 30, etc etc...

Do a few walks around just getting on the tiptoes with each step when you can.

--

Truthfully, none of us know how bad you're hurt or how down you are right now. I would say that if you did a 42 mile ride, then you're a lot better than I was when recovering from torn ligaments and a fracture.

A physical therapist helped me...and a lot of research helped me too.

Fly2High

I saw the doctor at 4 weeks and his comment was that no physical therapy was needed and only to come back should something feel worse. OK, maybe I should have gone to a different doctor based on this advice. Either that or I just have fears of injury blocking me more than the injury.

deapee

Mine told me the same thing...

And I called back and told the receptionist i needed a referral anyway...they had one out the next day.

You very well might not need PT. My injury was pretty bad...my good calf was 16.25" and my shrunken one was 14" man...it was pretty ridiculous and pretty much no dorsiflexion in my ankle. I still can't run/job properly...but I can pedal the hell out of a bike.

BillyD

Why do people come on the Internet and ask for medical advice from strangers and lunatics?

OP, nobody can tell you more about your leg than your doctor or yourself. Trust your own judgement about your own body, not strangers. Jeez!!

Fly2High

I am asking for experiences others have had, not really medical advice. I would like to compare my experiences with theirs to help judge my situation.

After your injury, how long did it take before you felt fully back to normal?

Did anyone push too early and re-injure the muscle?

Did you feel 100% or do you still feel that side is "different"?

These are the kinds of things I am looking for

Thanks for the feedback

Frank

gregf83 

How did you tear your calf? Cycling? Running? Something else?

I've had what's commonly referred to as 'calf heart attack' from running. Usually takes a few weeks to heal before I can run again but cycling was never a problem.

If you didn't tear it cycling I think your chances of re-injuring it cycling aren't very high, particularly if you don't sprint. Cycling is not normally hard on the calf muscle.

Fly2High

How did I injure it is a funny story.

Had not done much inApril due to holidays and family matter. That week got back into playing tennis with a gang from work. Then I went on a ride over the weekend. Monday at work, was playing ping pong and I heard a pop and thought I was hit by a ball. Couldn't walk after that. Doctor said this injury could happen anytime. Walkining or any activity could have been the instant catalyst.

gregf83 

I had a similar experience playing squash years ago. After the first time it 'popped' I became susceptible to re-injury whenever I ran any significant distance. Like I said earlier, for me the recovery time is variable but I always rode within a few days of injury and it didn't seem to affect overall recovery time.

This is a common injury amongst runners. If I want to run I have to start slowly, running daily but not too long and gradually build up the mileage. Takes patience which I don't have so I just don't bother running My lungs are in good shape from cycling so it's too easy for me to destroy my legs.

As far as cycling, if it doesn't cause pain while riding I think you're good to go. Just go easy on the sprinting.

Edit: My advice assumes your injury was relatively minor and didn't require surgery.

Fly2High

No surgery was needed. gastrocnemius partial tear is what the doc said it was. another 13.8 miles today and I notice what input the calf muscles do in stabilizing me or at least that is my best guess. I notice their input more now. Range of motion during pre-ride stretching is as close to identical as I can tell. Will take tomorrow off ans see how riding with the club over the weekend goes.

So far so good.

Thanks
Frank

deapee

I'm still not fully back to normal and don't know if I ever will be.
I did not push too hard and reinjure.

I think as a general rule, if the pain is above a 6 or 7 out of 10, stop doing it.

With any major injury, you're going to have a lot of pain. Having a professional help guide you with what is normal and what is not is pretty helpful.

I had to do towel stretches...to stretch my achilles and calf...every day I did them, I had to take 2 days off because it hurt for that long.

My ankle still tightens up to this day after a long bike ride -- sometimes the next day I can't touch my knee to the wall with my foot flat.

I think that one of the keys (and I'm actually very against drugs/medicine) is ibuprofen. 400-800 mg but talk to your doctor about how much to take. I never took anything for my injury, and when i FINALLY listened to my doctor and started slamming down ibuprofens for 2 weeks, I was able to get past the inflammation and pain that was holding me back...and I made the most of my recovery during those 2 weeks. Basically he made me promise to take them for 2 weeks...I only did 400mg once a day and I'd take them around 3-4 PM so that I could walk more before bed. They originally wanted me to do I think 600 mg twice a day, but we settled on 400mg once a day to see how it would go. But I worked with him on it and we got a solution that we were both happy with.

I would like to add that improper recovery can lead to lifelong problems. This is the time you need to be aggressive with your rehabilitation. This is the time to fix it, and it's worth the last $75 for a copay in your savings account if that's what it takes. Just get there and fix it until you feel you're at a point where you can continue on your own...my doctor basically said something like "ok now just perform your normal daily activities and things will improve over time" etc...that's how you know you're good.

I still have good days and bad days.

I think one of the most important things for rehabbing lower leg injuries is absolutely walking. I went and got fitted / gait analyzed by THE top running shop in the area. I knew exactly what sole support I needed, I knew the exact drop I needed (heel-toe), and I went through their clearance / last year section and I got two pairs of top end $160+ running shoes for something like $100, then my wife had a coupon for $20 off because she shops there...I found another pair of minimalist running shoes at a local place that were on clearance (crappy color) originally $130 on sale for $39...

When I go to the gym, I walk in the minimalist shoes to make sure my calf is stretching with each step. And I wear the minimalist ones around the house as well.

Anyway, hope that helps...that's pretty much my whole story. I still don't feel comfortable jogging, I ran from a bee's nest once out of necessity and I did fine though.

Fly2High

My recovery has been good.
Day 1 after injury could not move it. called out sick
Day 3 saw doctor. Earliest appointment available. Got neoprene support and heel cups. Helped a lot.
By Day 7, walking very near normal with support and cups. Without, was terrible. Pain subsided nearly completely, for me. To give you a point of reference, I competed while having appendicitis and 2 days later needed emergency surgery - full zipper 17 staples up the middle. During the entire recovery I never took pain meds.
week 3: removed neoprene support and hell cups. Didn't need them,
Week 4: saw doc and said similar to you - come back if you feel pain otherwise wait until week 6-8 before any decent activity and start in slowly.
Week 7: rode 10 miles and played ping pong again .
week 8: rode 56 miles or there abouts.

So far, no real pain but I do feel things are weaker and tighter than before. The only pain I feel is the soreness in my muscles from being off the bike for so long.

After hearing from many of you, I think I am very lucky. I think I will take things gradual and work up to week 12 or more before I go full out effort. this will take out July 10th Gold Coast Century but better off having full health for NJ Gran Fondo.

Thanks everyone,