LONG AWAITED UPDATE....MY APOLOGIES BUT I WAS VERY BUSY BEING ACTIVE!

Just an update..... I haven't had the opportunity in a very long while. As for my previous posts , this is just my experience and what worked for me. I AM NOT A DOCTOR NOR AM I GIVING MEDICAL ADVICE. 

A lot of people had sent comments on what I did once i was better to prevent re injury and here it is..

1) I purchased and used a pair of calf sleeves RELIGIOUSLY!

Here's the link of the ones i use and love! Not too tight but not too loose. I went through a bunch of them and some were way too tight and others only put pressure on the elastics on the very top and very bottom of the sleeve.

These I don't even feel which is great and they last forever ( had mine 6 years now )

2) I do a slight jog to warm my muscles BEFORE i stretch. Few minutes of very light jogging to get the blood flowing.

3)  I do a calf stretch which starts light and gets deeper after the fourth or fifth repetition.

4) I use a heel cup to prevent repetitive stress to my achilles/calves. I unfortunately have a tendency to land on my heel when i run and these help alleviate the stress from the pounding especially if i'm playing on turf or go out for a run on the street.

These are the ones i personally use. Also last a very long time


5) Lastly after every workout while I start my shower I let COLD WATER run on my calves for 5 minutes or so to just calm everything down. I think that personally for me it helps with inflammation. I've also done ice baths where i filled a bucket of ice and went in to my knee but this was more time consuming and could be dangerous if not done right !! CONSULT A PHYSICAL THERAPIST ON IF AND HOW YOU SHOULD DO THIS !


****    All this is done when and ONLY WHEN you feel you are absolutely back to normal. For me it was a solid 10 weeks. 

The message to take from this is that barring any freak type of injury the day that you get back to normal WILL COME. You just have to be VERY VERY PATIENT! 


  

 

Day 33

Finally was given the ok to start PT. Today was my second session and had to "warm up" on the bike. I was sort of winded. SAAAAADDDDD. I was playing two 90 minute soccer games practically back to back a month ago. I can't believe how fast I lost my cardio. Anyway, I did all the exercises and have major weakness and instability in the calf but I definitely WORKED it today. I was having a hard time making that muscle " fire" but today it did and it is now on fire. I'm having a tough time distinguishing "injury " pain and just " sore after working the muscle pain" but I'm sure half of that is mental. Also am doing major stretching of all muscle groups every day now. I am learning that the more elastic your muscles are the lesser of a chance of a tear. DUH!!! i know but i used to never stretch. No more of that. Till next time.......

Day 28

Ok so yesterday was 4 weeks from my injury. I haven't worked out in 4 weeks!!!!!! :(((
I have only been able to do some situps and pushups but believe it or not you sort of use your calf for those too ( when you tighten up to go down on a pushup or to come up on a situp) so I am extremely frustrated. I also am starting to gain a pound here and there which is making me even crazier. I was doing amazing!! Weight was melting off, saw a great gain in muscle and my cardio was ridiculous. Now i have to start all over. Whenever the start will be I have no idea. I can finally walk 98% pain free. Can stretch the calf as much as my "good" one but definitely feel major weakness in the injured calf. I start PT on wednesday which will be 1 month to the day of injury. I hope the rest of the healing is speedier than it has been so far. I'm thinking i may be half way to recovery. ( When i say recovery i mean be able to do MMA 4 days a week like i was and playing soccer at least 3 days a week. Not recovery like walking.) I am afraid to try to run or even lightly jog. Last time i had something like this I re injured it like i posted in older posts and I do not want to slow down the healing at all. Considering it popped again 21 days in. ( almost a week ago) I have to say the fact that I used the R.I.C.E "technique" helped a lot but i think just as important was taking a good protein shake through the first 2/3 weeks of my injury and liquid amino acid supplements with Ibuprophen the first 7/8 days.
Anyway, hope i have better news in my next post.

DL

Three weeks in . ( Day 21 )

Well i thought i was doing great and was set to start PT today. I was going onto a step and i felt a POP again!!!!!! I am going crazy here. In my mind I thought i was that much closer to recovery and now this. Don't know how far this will set me back. Will call the ortho in the morning and see what the hell is happening. Till then i guess back in the aircast i go. This totally SUCKS!!!!!!!

Day 8

Today i got off of my crutches and relying only on my air cast. There has been no bruising or swelling which the doctor credits to all of the things I did since the minute the injury happened. As soon as i felt it pop I immediately got all the weight off of it and immediately iced it. I had a couple in my soccer bag i bring to the games with me( I think every sport/ gear bag you bring with you to whatever indoor/outdoor activity you do should include a couple of ice packs and an ACE bandage.) My range of motion is great and i only feel discomfort when the muscle is asked to contract. I saw the my friend the Orthopedic tonight and he says it looks great and to now include some light stretching and massages. Also one to two more weeks with the air cast before i start to do Physical therapy. As my calf is starting to feel better I WILL NOT fall into the same trap i fell into the last time i tore a calf muscle in my other leg. You will as i want to now want to start overloading your injured leg but DON'T! I was so crazed about returning to my sports that i retweaked it and had to wait another 2 weeks after i thought i was healed. Let your body heal. This is for whoever reads this as much as it is for me now writing this. I want to put on my sneakers right now and go jogging! Mind you that it is 10 pm as i write this and it is pouring and.... oh yeah, I hate jogging! That's how desperate i am to get back out there. I'd jog! Anyway, like i said before i hope these posts help at least one person like me "cope" with going through this injury even if it's read a year from now. GNITE!~

My torn calf muscle experience. ( 4 days in )

Hello
I am a 36-year-old male in good shape, very active ( I play soccer and do Mixed martial arts MMA ) about 6 days out of the week. I am a chef/ restaurant owner, father of four very active children and on Sunday, October 3, 2010, I tore my left calf ( Gastroc ) muscle playing soccer. 

Let me take you to 3 weeks ago so you don't make the same mistakes I did. I was playing soccer and felt a "tweak" in my upper Achilles region of my left leg. I thought i had just tweaked my Achilles and knowing how severe an Achilles tear would be I stopped playing. Went to my Orthopedic and he prescribed physical therapy. I did that for two weeks and felt great. Since I am very impatient when it comes to healing and " getting back out there " I tried to see how a light jog would feel and I did great. So the next Sunday I went to play soccer ( DUMBASS!!!! That's what I've changed my name to since the injury )

On a sprint, pushing off I felt like someone threw a rock at my left calf. In that split second that I was thinking " who the hell threw a rock at me from the sidelines" the pain set in and I knew exactly what happened. I just dropped like I was hit by a sniper. I actually thought at first that I had torn my Achilles tendon!! I called myself every name in the book!!! Thinking to myself " I couldn't even give myself two to three weeks to heal " there is no way I can be out a year  ( Which is what people with an Achilles injury say it takes to get back into playing sports ). So I was carried off the field ( No, not like Rudiger in the movie RUDY. More like the idiot who thought he was playing the world cup and couldn't wait two more weeks to heal properly and couldn't miss another game ) to my car and I drove myself to the ER. 

They said there that they thought that my Achilles was intact but that I had torn my Gastroc muscle which is apparently the largest muscle in the calf. I can vouch for that because it hurt like it was the largest muscle! After the ER I saw my friend the Orthopedic who confirmed the injury and my new name. Yes, he called me a DUMBASS. Since I am so active I pretty much have an easy pass to get into his office and my Physical therapist's office. They say the two most important numbers you should know are your lawyer's number and your accountant's. Well, I have long ago added to my Orthopedic's and my physical therapist's number to that important list. You see, when I can't work out, play soccer or train MMA I become a BEAR. like my wife says. I'm like barbed wire. Not very nice to be around. At work, I become Gordon Ramsey's evil twin. It is hard enough work to run a restaurant and be a chef in general on the cooking line and with the injury, well let's just say that everyone around me is praying for my speedy recovery. Ok, let's proceed. Since I went home and saw the Ortho he put me on R.I.C.E ( Rest, ice, compression, elevation ), Ibuprofen and Percocet which I do not take. He told me to keep weight off of it as long as I can and keep it elevated as long as I can. Ice it 20 on 20 off. He had me put in an air cast with a 1/2 " heel lift which I totally recommend and crutches. I only feel pain when the injured muscle is asked to " fire" or contract. I sleep with my leg elevated as well and I will see my doctor again on Tuesday, Oct 12. I had this injury on the top of my calf, behind the RIGHT knee about 5 years ago. It wasn't as serious as this one but I can tell you it took like 10 to 12 weeks before I was comfortable trying to jog. I don't mean to scare anyone but if you try to do anything sooner YOU WILL TEAR IT AGAIN! Oh, and it will set you back on your recovery BIGTIME. Physical therapy always helps me in a huge way in healing properly and getting back out there with no setbacks. In fact, this time I didn't listen to my PT and I am paying dearly for the consequences of my DUMBASSEDNESS. There I just made up a new word. I have been searching the entire World Wide Web and saw almost nothing like this post so that's why I wanted to create a space for us to cope and get through this.
This is what I did for my previous calf injury and it worked great for me and had no re-injury of the right calf so here it is.

1) R.I.C.E (Rest-Ice-Compression-Elevation)

2) Ibuprophen ( Advil/Motrin )

3) Muscle relaxant like a Naproxen. ( I suggest a muscle relaxant more than a Percocet) After this injury, you get "aftershocks" like after an earthquake. You or I at least get these muscle twitches of the injured muscle that don't feel too good. I think the Naproxen has helped greatly to prevent these twitches.

4) Give your body the right fuel it needs to heal. DO NOT EAT greasy fast foods. Try to eat whole foods. Not too much processed foods in other words.

5) Up your protein intake. I usually take 1 gram of protein per pound of body weight when I am active. For the injury, I even up it to 1.5 grams per pound of body weight. Just try to take no more than 30/40 grams per serving/sitting. Your body can only assimilate so much especially if you are not really being that active. ( Your protein should come from fish, white meat and maybe tofu etc if you are a vegetarian. Another source that also works great for me in between meals is a good quality Protein shake/ powder. I do one serving of the protein in a blender with ice, my amino acids and a  tbspn of reduced fat peanut butter.

6) Take a branched chain amino acid supplement. ( Over and above what might already come in your protein shake) You can get a fairly inexpensive one at GNC. I prefer a liquid form. Easily mixes in my protein shake and I think it is absorbed better and faster by the body.

7) Get enough sleep. The only time your body is in total rest and recovery, rebuilding, repair mode or whatever you want to call it is when you are sleeping.
8) If you're not already doing so, take a good quality multivitamin on a daily basis already!!! No, Centrum is not one I recommend. You need one that is more bioavailable. ( Used better by the body ) If you take a multivitamin look at your urine. I believe ( and again I am not a doctor but the past 20 or so years have read anything I can on proper sports nutrition so take it with a grain of salt) that the more highlighter color (bright yellow) your urine is the less bioavailable your vitamin is. This means that you are literally pissing your money away. Again you need to go to a GNC type store, not the supermarket and spend maybe a touch more money than you would on centrum but your body, overall health and healing injury WILL benefit tremendously from it.

9) Your muscle should not be touched for the first 4 days I believe but as of tomorrow I will start very very very lightly massaging my calf to try to reduce some scar tissue that will inevitably form with this injury.
As of now, I am on day 4 like i said and see a slight bruising that will for sure get worse. Don't be scared if you see this bruising . It happened with my last calf injury and it's "normal". Also DO NOT take aspirin for at least the first week as this will thin your blood more and might worsen the bruising. ( Some people advise to actually take an aspirin to prevent blood clotting but this is something you need to check out yourself. )

10 ) You actually need to be in shape to be injured. Let me explain. Be very careful walking around on crutches. The side of your body you are now overloading with weight, twists and turns is only used to carry a portion of your weight. Now it is carrying all of it. I have soreness and tightness on my " good " side. My calf, Achilles, heel and plantar fascia ( the band of tissue that runs from the ball of your foot back behind your heel ). I have seen posts of people tearing/injuring the good side's calf, achilles etc.
So be very careful of your movements and try to use your upper body with the crutches to more evenly distribute the weight over your lower limbs.


I will keep posting through my recovery period and until at least my first soccer game or mma training session to inform anyone going through this of my progress and pretty much what to sort of expect. I hope this helps at least one person " get through this" .


Also please post any information, injury, recovery or any experience in general about this injury, any recovery tricks or secrets and what time period it took you all to " get back out there" in full force.


Thank you


DL


P.S- One more thing. If you are 30 or older there is NO SUCH THING AS A TWEAK!!
Your body is telling the DUMBASS inside you to take a couple of weeks off and let it heal properly. I didn't listen and now I turned a 3-week recovery into a 12 to 16-week recovery. :-((