What are calf muscle injuries?
“Doc, it just felt as though someone kicked me in the back of the leg. I turned around but there was no one there. There was just no way I could finish my game. I hobbled off in sheer frustration”. Calf muscle injuries are extremely disabling when they occur, as they often do, during a short sprint on the tennis court, or soccer field, at the athletics track or during a high intensity aerobics class. The most common type of calf muscle injury seen is described as a “tennis calf”. This involves a significant strain or partial tear to the medial gastrocnemius muscles which form the inside upper bulge of muscle at the back of the calf. The injury is certainly not exclusive to tennis players but is frequently seen in players of all racquet sports and other ballistic sports. The athlete is often extremely worried that they have ruptured their Achilles tendon at the base of their calf. Both the calf “muscle” injury and the Achilles “tendon” injury are significant injuries and do require inte