Injury or DOMS

[kerry19834]

Looking for some advice as im not sure if I've injured myself or it's DOMS.

I'm very worried as I have a long drive at the weekend to take my disabled father to a funeral.

I'm a regular runner and on Saturday I went for my usual run, no issues. I woke up the next day with a slightly stiff right leg in the calf and quads on the right side.

Monday afternoon I was standing on my feet for a couple of hours then yesterday was office and gym. I was a little achy in the right leg but nothing of note.

Today I woke up feeling very tight in my right leg and as the day has gone on it's got worse and at times my leg has been throbbing .

The discomfort is moving about. Quads, thighs, shin, ankle, little toe, knee etc and now my knee is feeling weak as I walk. But calf is the main culprit.

I've never had anything like this. Obviously I'm resting up and giving running club a miss tonight. But I am struggling to workout what is causing it.

Also very worried about the long drive at the weekend . Any advice would be appreciated.

No advice really but if DOMS I’d expect it to be both legs

I don't typically find DOMS moves about - it stays in the one affected place. I also don't find that I feel it unless I am moving the muscle in question. It would not, for instance, throb while I was sitting or lying, although getting up again can be unpleasant. I find DOMS pain to be quite dull. If it were expressed in musical terms it would be a low, growly bass and certainly not a high pitched twinge. I also find that moving through DOMS pain, while it can be unpleasant, does not feel dangerous and it can feel more like the "good" pain you get when a massage therapist finds a particularly recalcitrant knot and works on it. If you have got DOMS then keeping the blood flowing by moving and stretching the muscle gently but frequently usually helps even if it is not much fun to do.

If you can feel any heat or see any redness or swelling in the affected leg then I would suggest you get some medical advice ASAP. Otherwise there could be some mild inflammation there and NSAIDS or something topical like voltarol might help.

Assuming it is just DOMS then frequent movement and stretching, plus maybe a bath in epsom salts, should show some marked improvement by the weekend. And on the drive you would do well to make more frequent stops than you might otherwise so you can get out and walk around.

how long is the drive? Any chance you could go by train instead, plus taxi for parts of journey?

Have you tried a roller on it?

I would get this checked out asap OP - just rule
out anything serious.

Are you stretching after every run?

How are you now, @kerry19834 ?