Calf Injury - revisited?

[nando]

Hey guys,

This is coming from a friend of mine here at the office who has been having issues with his calf for a while...I know there are a few of you "lurkers" out there that read and might be able to provide some feedback.   

For some background:  Dalton is 29, and has been a long distance runner for many many years.  He has done the Rocky Hill challenge several years and has done 50+ and 100+mi ultra marathons.  But, he suffered an injury some time ago and has yet to fully recover.  He has seen several doctors and give him a green light, but the pain returns...

Any help is greatly appreciated!


input? comments? questions? concerns?  let me know...

-Nando

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From: Dalton Pulsipher

The injury is on my inner rear left calf muscle about halfway between the knee and ankle.  It does not feel bone-related at all and the pain is squarely in the muscle itself.  I feel pain when sprinting or doing incline work, really anything that invokes fast-twitch muscles or strength work.  Once I feel pain it spreads pretty evenly through my entire calf, up to the bottom of the knee, down to above the ankle, and all over the back side of the leg.  It is a pure pain like someone just ripped up the muscles.  Once I get in this condition I have to wait several weeks for the pain to go away and I can then begin training again.

Slow running does not appear to hurt it at all.  I have trained several months without issue by strictly running slow with a gradual buildup of speed over time.  Things that have made a noticeable difference for the better have been switching to well-cushioned shoes and lightly stretching the calf daily.

I have had a few X-Rays, two bone scans, a regular MRI, and a comprehensive MRI on the area and the doctors told me they all came back completely normal.  In fairness the MRI’s were both done at times when I had rested the calf for a while.  But the injury has always been present since it occurred in October of 2003.

I will gladly see and pay someone that thinks they can figure it out.


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[mjriebsc]

well this is a very unprofessional opinion but in my experience with sports any non-bone related pain is usually inflamation like tendonitis.  I have tendonitis in my elbow and that goes away if I dont do anything to upset it like throwing, but if I throw long enough my elbow starts hurting with very sharp pain.  The only way I was able to get rid of it for a while was taking advil and stretching, icing, and heating ( a massage shower head in the shower really seemed to work over time). Like I said this is a very amature opinion, but it sounds like inflammation to me.

[Vanessa]

okay, i'm a hippie, but:  if nothing physical has shown up with repeated testing, maybe it's psychosomatic.  this guy john e. sarno is pretty amazing.  http://www.amazon.com/Healing-Back-Pain-Mind-Body-Connection/dp/0446392308

the basic argument is that the mind tricks your body into feeling physical pain in order to distract your conscious mind from dealing with emotional pain.  i dunno.  i've seen it happen.

[Krufter]

i had a client with a similar problem, stemming from a traumatic injury.. not repetitive stress.. but we were able to make some progress

feel free to have him contact me

[nando]

Cool, thanks for the assistance guys...if you have any other ideas...let 'em flow!

[Krufter]

Nando, can you send me Dalton's email?