Calf pop
(4 discussions)
I was playing basketball last night when I felt what I thought at the time was someone throwing a marble at my calf. I was convinced someone had. I heard a crack/pop/snap and felt pain. Not enough pain to stop me running but enough to make me stop to look briefly. It is tender now and painful to touch.
Ideas anyone?
4 comments
QueenB
I think you’re right about this coming back to haunt you. I’ve been feeling the same soreness in the same leg again, and I’m wondering if it will end up doing the popping thing again. At least this time it’s not so sore.
DSA
usually pop will indicate a muscle tear – when someone describes a feeling of being hit or kicked on the middle of the calf you can be quite sure fibres have been torn – what you have to ascertain is how badly the muscle has been damaged. Inability to plantarflex the foot would indicate major fibre tearing especially near the musculotendon junction of calcaneal tendon (achilles), by squeezing the calf, to see if the foot moves is a fair indication of the extent of rupture. But if your gait is reasonably ok and you are not limping too much and have reasonable weight bearing capability, you can presume that the damage was minimal. You should naturallly follow PRICE procedures, see doctor if you think it necessary or if condition worsens.
daffowd
Sounds very familiar – The same thing happened to me, I thought someone had thrown a stone at my calf. There was a fair bit of bruising (grade 2 tear). I was off sport for a couple of months if I remember. I saw a sports physio and after the PRICE for a week she had me doing heel raises and lots of calf stretching. I think if not treated well, this may re-occur. I still have (1 year on) some tougher tissue in my calf.
QueenB
I had the same experience not too long ago, and was wondering about that. I had deep muscle soreness in my left calf on and off for about 6 weeks, then one day when I was walking in the mall, the pain came back after some exertion. Then at one point, I felt a distinct popping in the middle of my calf when I stepped wrong. I had deep muscle pain and a slight brusing in one spot on the inside of my leg, like someone had jabbed me with the end of a broomstick. After about a week it resolved itself, and I haven’t had the pain since. I’ve thought about mentioning it to my doctor, but dismissed it since I no longer have the problem. Could this be what happened to me?