Torn calf muscle - should I see my GP?

[SlipperyLizard]

I was warming up (jogging slowly) this morning and felt my calf muscle pop, next step was excruciating and now I can’t walk on that leg. I’m assuming a torn calf muscle so am doing RICE & have some crutches, but I don’t know whether I should speak to my GP or just go with self-care & follow guidance from the NHS?

I’m leaning towards self-care, but I don’t want to make it worse/miss something important if there’s something my GP could add.

Does your GP surgery do Ultrasound with Doppler? I know some do. It will be able to check exactly what is going on. Better than a GP just prodding you. Definitely get this checked asap. Hoping you are in less pain soon.

Thanks, I will give them a call tomorrow (the automated line earlier told me (politely) to call back tomorrow unless it was an emergency). Thankfully it doesn’t hurt as long as I don’t try to walk on it!

I went to a physio when I tore my hamstring and I suspect it was more useful than the GP (I did pay for it though!).

I didn't see my GP as there isn't all that much that can be done at the start. I did need to see a physio during recovery though and that made a big difference as it was healing 'tight' so that I couldn't do a full stride. She did some deep needling which was quite a lot more painful than the original injury and gave me exercises to stretch the calf muscle back to normal.

The most comfortable way to elevate initially was to have a laundry basket (or cardboard box) with a cushion on top of it on my bed. A boxing wrap (the type they use under boxing gloves) was excellent for compression and for icing. It has a nice stretch to it for compression and I used to wrap and then pop the ice bag on before the final round of wrapping. Much less fiddly than trying to wrap in a tea towel and hold it in place.

Thanks all. I called the GP for advice, she asked me to go in to check it wasn’t an Achilles injury (it isn’t).

I’ve downloaded exercises, stretches etc from an NHS website so will follow those too.

Excellent news OP. I was just about to suggest you do that. I did exactly the same with the same result.

I have been fine since doing the exercises by the way. The bruising was really quite something though!