Calf pain

Our legs experience enormous pressure throughout our lives. It is no wonder that there are times when they cannot cope with the task set before them and fail. The muscles of the entire body, including the legs, need constant training. A simple situation is when the foot is poorly positioned, it twists while walking and a sharp pain in the calf occurs. Possible consequences are a stretch or rupture of the tendon.

If they were well trained, they would have sufficient elasticity and, in such a “trivial” situation, there would not have been any sad consequences.

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Causes calf pain

Calf pain can occur without injury, as a consequence of vascular diseases of the lower extremities, or as an accompanying symptom of a whole range of diseases:

• flat feet;
• Charcot's disease;
• inflammation of the tendons (tendinitis);
• phlebitis and thrombophlebitis;
• myositis and neuralgia;
• diseases caused by viral infections.

The diagnosis of flat feet has become the most "popular" in recent years. People suffering from flat feet experience leg pain almost constantly. Calf pain with flat feet occurs when the foot is in shoes and without them. Due to the deformation of the foot muscles, the calf muscles are forced to be in a constant tense position, which causes discomfort.

Read also: Shoes that are harmful to health

Even those with perfectly healthy feet can suffer from uncomfortable shoes. Shoes with completely flat soles, just like shoes with too high a heel, can cause pain and even cramps in the calf muscles. The long-term effect of squeezing the soft tissues of the legs leads to narrowing of the blood vessels, as a result, a decrease in blood flow. The legs become swollen, and fluid accumulates in the tissues. In fact, uncomfortable shoes can become the primary cause of the development of flat feet.

Treatment calf pain

We will not examine in detail all the serious diseases that cause calf pain - there are many of them.

Let's talk about what can be done in the first minutes of the onset of sharp pain, about measures to prevent it, because everyone can do both at home.

There are four rules that you need to remember and be sure to apply in the first minutes after a muscle strain occurs.

• cold;
• fixation;
• lifting (giving an elevated position);
• peace.

Cold

In the first minutes after the injury, apply a cold compress to the injured area for 10 minutes. Do not hold it longer, otherwise you can catch a cold in the muscle. Hold it for 10 minutes, remove it. Repeat the procedure several times. As a rule, calf pain after a muscle strain begins to subside immediately after the first application of cold. A cold compress will not only relieve the pain, but also reduce the swelling that will inevitably occur immediately after the injury.

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Fixation

In between cold compresses, we apply an elastic bandage, thus fixing the relative immobility of the muscle, which also helps to reduce pain.

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Rise

Elevate the injured leg, placing it so that it is above the level of the heart. This is easier and simpler to do while lying horizontally, placing a pillow or a rolled-up blanket under the leg. The elevated position promotes better blood flow in the leg, leading to a rapid renewal of the recovery processes in the injured area.

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Peace

We leave the leg at rest, depending on the degree of pain, for several minutes or hours. If the leg does not bother you at rest, then the injury is not dangerous and there is nothing to worry about.

Calf pain, after a tendon or muscle strain, subsides after a set of measures described above. In addition to them, in order not to torment your body waiting for the pain to stop, you can take a painkiller pill.

If the pain does not disappear or does not decrease at all within 24 hours, the body temperature has increased, and the injured area is hot to the touch, the pain has become pulsating - do not wait and experiment, you need to urgently go to the emergency room. Probably, instead of a stretch, there is a rupture or complete rupture of the tendon or muscle itself.

Prevention

To ensure that your legs never know what calf pain is, you need to train yourself to follow these simple rules:

• "be friends" only with comfortable shoes. The "correct" sole of the shoe should have a small heel, from 2 to 4 cm.;
• choose shoes according to your weight, height and age. Of course, you don't need to completely give up your favorite heels, for example, wear such shoes, just limit yourself in time. High-heeled shoes can be worn for no more than 4 hours in a row;
• Calf pain caused by overuse of muscles can go away on its own if you use insoles. The most common insoles can reduce the load on the calf muscles by 30%;
• Insoles, which need to be additionally installed in your shoes, can also reduce the tension on the calf muscles.

Take note!

Whatever the ailment that causes calf pain, first of all, you need to remember that pain is the body's cry for help. Work on yourself, train your muscles, play sports, eat healthy food. If the pain has visited you more than once, do not wait for its next visit, contact specialists. Only specialists can determine the root causes and indicate the correct ways to eliminate them.

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