Calf muscle injury

[benton1368]

Hi to all,

I've been back training for six or seven weeks now, running on treadmill, rowing machine and some weight training. fitness has increased dramaticaly and i can regularly run 4.5 - 6 kms at a reasonable pace.
on the weekend i went walking in an area called the Breacon Beacons here in South Wales which included one of the hills Pen-y-Fan which is 880 metres high and quite steep. The day after this walk i noticed some significant tightness in left calf muscle which was quite painful. Next day on the treadmill the tightness became more painful to the point where i stopped running to prevent any further injury.
The muscle is still painful a number of days on and feels like there is a knot deep in the muscle ( only way i can describe it).
Can any one help with what treatment i can give the calf muscle or advise on whether it should just be rested. I've stated some gentle stretches to try and ease the tightness. I'm worried that any lengthy lay off will affect the level of fitness i've built up so would it be ok to use other cardio equipment ( rowers, eliptical etc ) that don't cause any pain ?
Any advice would be appreciated

Regards

Steve

[adiebon]

maybe go get some treatment on the leg to see if there is any damage done but might not be anything serious if you can do other forms of exercise.
when if does feel better concentrate on good stretches for the calf. you have 2 calf muscles and they both need to be strecthed one with a straight leg and the deeper one with a bent leg- best way if to stand on a step on your ball of you foot with your heel down towards the ground- keep the leg straight for the main calf then in the same position bend the leg to get the stretch in the deeper calf muscle. aim for 10-20 secs each muscle.
foam rollers are helpful to self massage, these are available on line about £20 and are a great buy for the whole legs if your doing loads on them.

[benton1368]

Many thanks for the advice i've been massaging the muscle with one of those electronic muscle toners , very strange sensation but feels better