Ice a calf strain? Why ice? Why ice it? I want fast healing, not pain relief.

Decreasing inflammation IS part of the healing process. Once the inflammation is gone, you can apply heat to start initiating the bloodflow and repair of the strain. Both are necessary.

I have had a lot of calf strains. Unless it's a classic "acute" strain (i.e. a POP and immediate pain AND swelling) I have found zero reason to ice it. Doesn't help. If anything, hot water soaks maybe helps a bit. For healing, you need time. If it's recurrent, you probably have scar tissue to break down. But really healing muscle stuff is about giving yourself TIME to heal, and NOT running on it before then. If you're young and its a mild strain, you might only need a couple of days off. Older or worse strain, more time off.

Try dry needling. Look it up. It has done wonders for my calf issues.

I'll attest to dry needling, it's unbelievable how effective it is. it can hurt really bad tho, sweet releif when you're done

Ive been out for 2 weeks so far with this. I think mine was bad though and seemingly came out of nowhere. I couldn't even walk without pain. Rest has helped significantly. I also just started doing massages and light calf raises. In the initial stage I did ice and do warm hot tubs. I'll try a light running session today. No more than a mile of walking and jogging. What I've read is this injury can really be bad and if not taken care of properly will continue to return. I've had a lot of injuries and this seems to be the most concerning. If you read lets run posts it seems to be a reoccurring injury.

Another option to consider is shockwave/EPAT. I had a strained soleus about 3 weeks before the Chicago marathon. It hurt too much to run and there was some swelling and bruising. I was almost certain I wouldn't be able to run Chicago. I was willing to skip Chicago if there was a risk of long-term injury, but I had a good buildup and really wanted to run if possible. I ran Chicago with almost no calf pain. Here's what I did:

1. No running for the first week. I didn't really have a choice - it just hurt too much.

2. Iced a couple times a day.

3. Wore a compression calf sleeve every day and when I ran.

4. Got shockwave/EPAT treatment twice. I believe the first treatment was about a week after the injury and the second treatment was about 3 days later.

5. Started cross training (bike and elliptical) after a week. The day after my second shockwave treatment, I was able to start supplementing my cross training with some short, easy runs in addition to cross-training. The running hurt a little, but I backed off when necessary.

6. I ran Chicago with the calf sleeve. I had never even considered wearing one before I got hurt, but I'm a big fan now.

The race went pretty well and my calf didn't bother me until around mile 18, and the pain was mild enough that it didn't alter my stride or performance. Within a week or so after Chicago, I had no calf pain at all.

One problem with shockwave--at least for me--was that it was $150/session and not covered by my insurance. Anyway, that's just my experience with treating a calf strain. Good luck.

My brother had a bad calf strain. He had an acupuncture treatment and it took care of the pain right away.

Try finding an NMR or NKT therapist. Find the reason for the issue instead of treating the symptom

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