Calf pain turns up two ways. Sometimes it's a sudden grab mid-stride: a sprint for the ball, a push off a kerb. Sometimes it builds over weeks of running or walking.
What set it off, and exactly where it hurts, narrows it down fast. Start with whichever description below sounds most like yours.
Pain lower down, closer to your heel cord, is more often the Achilles tendon than the calf muscle itself. Not sure which calf muscle it is? Read soleus or gastrocnemius.
A sudden catch or tearing feeling at the back of your lower leg, often mid-run or mid-game, and a calf that's been tight and sore to push off since. How long it takes to settle depends on which of the two calf muscles you've strained.
Read moreAn ache along the inside edge of your shin that builds through a run and eases with rest, usually after a jump in training load or a change of shoes or surface.
Read moreCalf pain is usually a cramp or a muscle strain, but it can occasionally signal something more serious, including a clot in a deep vein.1 If your calf swells, goes red or warm, or starts hurting with no injury behind it, see a doctor rather than booking in with us.
These overlap, and telling them apart is part of what an assessment is for. The hands-on side of how we treat this region is explained on our Manual Therapy page.
If none of the above matches, head back to the Injury Finder and start from wherever it hurts.
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