Strained calf

[Prosper]

Well, that's the problem with anecdotal evidence -- the worst cases stand out. Maybe I should reconsider my position.
How long have you been practicing? My doctor that got it wrong was pretty young.

20+ years. You doctor should be able to tell you when making a diagnosis his or her the level of confidence with that assessment. You should also be part of the decision making process in making a plan for treatment or further evaluation. Whenever appropriate your doctor should provide a couple of options for evaluation/treatment, discuss your preference for those plans and discuss follow up especially if the symptoms are not improving. Develop a relationship and trust with your PCP so you can have confidence in the recommendations made. If you don't like or trust your PCP find another.

Agreed-not to mention many insurance plans (not mine) require a referral from your primary care physician before going to the specialist. I’m sure that’s so the primary care doc can do an assessment/recommend treatment and to save a trip to the specialist, if it’s not necessary.

Kind of off topic, but I’ve read many times that a big contributing factor to the high cost of medical care in the US as compared to other countries is our tendency here to make use of medical specialists when it’s not really necessary.

I work in a health care system in which primary care doctors manage much more than what is typical in the community and we have generally excellent access to specialists. Our primary care quality is industry leading in our region. Specialist care is much more expensive for many reasons including the increase frequency of tests ordered by specialists as well as the significantly higher salaries of specialists. High quality primary care is the cornerstone of our health care system. If patients continue to demand specialist care and tests when not needed our health care system will not survive. Stepping off my soapbox.

 

[neonorchid]

@Prosper , I will accept that surmising a knee injury (vs other soft tissues) is jumping to conclusions. I will propose that hearing/feeling a pop indicates something fairly serious has happened.

My evidence of poor diagnosis of knee injuries by GPs is anecdotal, but it is based on a sample size of around 5. In conversations about knee injuries, several other people have had similar experiences where their GP missed it. I have never had anyone say, "oh no, in my case my GP got it right."

To your point, I've heard that before from a relative when in the last year of med school telling me ACL's are misdiagnosed, i.e., completely missed by PCP's more often then I'd imagine. He graduated at the top of his medical school class and is an orthopedic surgeon in NYC. I couldn't tell you if he still feels the same without asking which I'm not about to do now and will probably forget the question once this thread's update alerts cease to appear, so...

 

[Lvovsky /Pasha/Pavel]

Some stills to show details of the event... I still can’t believe it happened and happened that slow slow speed. The DIN was set at 7.... recommended setting for type 2 skier of my size is 6.5, type 3 is 8.

 

[KingGrump]

Bindings are to protect the tibia from fractures. It is not an cure all.

Most bindings work with rotation in the toe and upward ejection at the heel. Upward release at the toe unit is very feature seldom found on current bindings.
BTW, you were skiing switch.

 

[Lvovsky /Pasha/Pavel]

Bindings are to protect the tibia from fractures. It is not an cure all.

Most bindings work with rotation in the toe and upward ejection at the heel. Upward release at the toe unit is very feature seldom found on current bindings.
BTW, you were skiing switch.

I was sliding backward Of a bump somewhat unintentionally. I really wished for the heel to release but that obviously didn’t happen

 

[KingGrump]

The binding can't read your intentions. It can only react to the forces impacted upon it.

The heel unit is designed to release in a forward fall only.

 

[Lvovsky /Pasha/Pavel]

The binding can't read your intentions. It can only react to the forces impacted upon it.

The heel unit is designed to release in a forward fall only.

but I was falling forward! Just not forward enough I guess. The pain made me bend the the knees and sit on the right side...
the third picture could be my avatar to serve as a constant reminder of what not to do.

 

[raytseng]

Just came from the physician: damage to the knee is highly unlikely. She rotated the leg and I felt absolutely nothing in the knee. She run fingers through the calf pretty deep and pain was not awful. Clearly a Grade 1 calf strain. Looks like i dodged a bullet. I cannot even imagine the pain level of Grade 2 or 3. The clalf is definitely improving. Gotta take time to let it heal.

I also had a calf strain over xmas, when I double ejected too when ski caught mogul sidewall of ice; but initially I didn't think it was too bad and could just stretch it out and skiied a few more blue runs on it which in retrospect was not a good idea.
By next day damage was done, but it wasn't significantly painful if I didn't use the muscle, I self grade as maybe a 1.5. I could not go on tiptoes with 2feet 50/50 for over a week; and had significantly impaired walking (penguin shuffle) to avoid sharp pain.

If you can massage without blistering pain (which not specifically recommended), you'll probably be 100% soon. Definitely you need to take the time for the initial inflammation, but a grade1 looks to be a quicker recovery since there was little muscle damage. You can lookup PT routine/recover schedules for this, it's common so it's not like an obscure injury, so you don't necessarily need a therapist to guide you if you've done some PT before.
This is the one I am following

http://www.bostonsportsmedicine.com/pdf/protocols/calf_strain.pdf

I'm in week3, pain is pretty much gone, but because I probably did some actual real muscle damage vs just a stretch, I still have weakness that I am rebuilding.

 

[Lvovsky /Pasha/Pavel]

Thanks for the link - good info. And good luck with recovery!

My calf is improving but I just noticed bruising below ankle joint. There was some discomfort there but no pain. May have to get it checked out. Internet says “swelling from a calf injury often ends up in the ankle or foot due to gravity pulling it downwards”

 

[raytseng]

yes i experienced that to delayed and actually up to 1week after. bruising and black and blue in ankle down to the side of foot even, even though those areas are not painful. it went away about day10 as recovery kicks in and if you are able to keep up with the inflammation.

 

[Lvovsky /Pasha/Pavel]

@raytseng My injury doesn't seem as bad as yours. Inflammation was gone after two days of icing (every 1-2 hour) and compressing. There is some pain if i make fast/jerky movements. Some therapists recommend doing heat pads after inflammation is gone to remove muscle stiffness. Seems to work for me but there are so many contradicting (or rather not very aligned) sources of information out there. The doc I saw did not mind the heat after few days but recommended icing at night before bed to keep inflammation from returning.

 

[Andy Mink]

Thanks for the link - good info. And good luck with recovery!

My calf is improving but I just noticed bruising below ankle joint. There was some discomfort there but no pain. May have to get it checked out. Internet says “swelling from a calf injury often ends up in the ankle or foot due to gravity pulling it downwards”

Anything like this?

skiing was Both times I popped the muscle while in powder. First was standing just below a kid who took a spill below a big bump. No one could see him from above. I leaned forward a bit, one ski sunk the other didn't. POP! Next time was just "walking" through powder. One ski sunk, the other didn't. POP! I wore a walking boot for several weeks after each one. BTW, my ankle did get a little black and blue (more greenish) after a week or so.

 

[Lvovsky /Pasha/Pavel]

Nope! Nothing around my knee or above the calf... greenish ankle - yep...

 

[raytseng]

@raytseng My injury doesn't seem as bad as yours. Inflammation was gone after two days of icing (every 1-2 hour) and compressing. There is some pain if i make fast/jerky movements. Some therapists recommend doing heat pads after inflammation is gone to remove muscle stiffness. Seems to work for me but there are so many contradicting (or rather not very aligned) sources of information out there. The doc I saw did not mind the heat after few days but recommended icing at night before bed to keep inflammation from returning.

I think if you see a physician or PT who can look at your specific case the info will not be contradictory, its just really hard to give general advice because its hard to evaluate your status. Basically if you are injured/inflammed you need ice, but if you are actively rebuild/rehab you need warmth to stretch and build.
If you attempt to rebuild while inflamed you just make it worse and are setback or get into a chronic inflammation cycle.

If you're already able to even attempt dynamic movements you're probably halfway through that program if not more as it seems you don't have too much actual loss of strength, just pain.
I would say though do not skip the 10minutes low resistance stationary bike warmup. Bike is somehow the cornerstone for pt I've done before for various injuries and it works. My very first paid PT I went to for a hip injury, I was shocked like I'm paying just for the guy to use half my session by saying go do bike for 15min? but it does work.