Introduction
The calf is a section of the lower leg that extends from the hollow of the knee to the heel and includes the rear muscles of the lower leg. This area is involved in many body movements. Calf pain is a very unpleasant pulling or stabbing pain for the person affected, which can occur during various natural movements and increased physical activity or even at rest. If the pain is severe, the affected person may be severely restricted in everyday activities, resulting in a loss of quality of life.
The possible causes
In order to effectively investigate the causes of pain, it is first of all important to differentiate precisely between the type of pain, its duration and its temporal occurrence. In acute and irregularly occurring calf pain, whose symptoms improve after a few minutes, muscular causes are usually responsible for the calf pain. This can be a pulled muscle or a torn muscle fibre.
Muscle cramps can be caused by heavy physical exertion such as jogging or excessive alcohol consumption. This causes a shift in the electrolyte balance of the body and, above all, a lack of the mineral magnesium can quickly trigger a muscle cramp. Regular and long-lasting calf cramps can be caused by overstraining the muscles, by a high level of physical activity or by anatomical malpositions of the foot, which put increased strain on the muscles.
Chronic nerve damage is rarely the cause of calf pain. This can be caused by compression of a spinal nerve root due to a slipped disc in the lumbar spine or degenerative processes in the spine. In this case, symptoms such as sensory disturbances and loss of strength often still occur.
A special case of stress-related pain is the so-called lodge syndrome. Here, painful pulling in the calf occurs repeatedly, accompanied by sensory disturbances such as tingling or a numbness as well as tension and swelling of the affected area. Particularly affected are competitive athletes and bodybuilders, in whom the muscle volume increases significantly in a very short time.
Finally, the possibility of a circulatory disorder in the vessels of the lower leg should not be disregarded when investigating the cause. This can be a peripheral arterial occlusive disease or a venous congestion or inflammation. pAVK is the abbreviation for the so-called peripheral arterial occlusive disease and describes a circulatory disorder of the legs.
In most cases the cause of pAVK is arteriosclerosis. The calcium deposits in the vessels are then so pronounced that not enough blood can penetrate the lower areas of the leg. This results in reduced blood flow, which causes a painful “ischemic pain”.
This pain occurs particularly easily during physical strain. Those affected must then pause and linger for a short time to allow enough blood to flow through the leg again. As a special feature, the resulting pain is resistant to painkillers.
Unfortunately, there is actually no treatment option for PADK. If the cause of the calf pain is due to a vascular disease in the form of deep vein thrombosis of the leg, the quickest possible therapy should be carried out to minimize the consequences of the disease. First, the administration of a blood-thinning agent such as aspirin is indicated, which inhibits blood clotting and facilitates the flow of blood at the constriction.
So-called thrombolytics are used to dissolve fresh thrombi in a targeted manner. Alternatively, a thrombus in the groin area can be removed surgically, for example. This procedure is called thrombectomy.
After the thrombosis has been dissolved by medication or removed surgically, prophylaxis is necessary. For this, drugs such as Marcumar® or NOAK’s can be used. These inhibit proteins that are necessary for blood clotting.
The torn muscle fiber of the calf is probably one of the most common sports injuries. The reason for this is overloading of the musculature; often as a result of insufficient warming of the muscles or overestimation of one’s own ability to cope with stress. As already mentioned, a torn muscle fiber is one of the typical sports injuries and is accompanied by acute shooting pain when the fiber is torn.Usually the existing action is broken off and the person concerned must take a careful attitude.
The rupture of the muscle fiber can be accompanied by a bleeding of the muscle, which then appears as a bruise. The most effective treatment consists of the so-called PECH-scheme (pause, ice-cooling, compression, (calm) holding) and a subsequent stress pause. Learn more about the topic: Torn muscle fibersIn contrast to torn muscle fibers, the strain is not a real cutting of muscle fibers, but only an overstretching of the muscle fibers.
Calf strain is also a frequent sports “injury” and usually results from insufficient warming up before the sport or a highly stressful movement during the sport. The calf strain also causes a sudden onset of pain, which subsides in the following minutes. Depending on the extent of the strain, the sport can be resumed after a short break.
Furthermore, a pulled calf almost never causes bleeding in the muscles, so that no haematoma (bruise) occurs. You can find more information about muscle strain here:The herniated disc is one of the most common neurological diseases in our society and is usually a disease of the later period of life. A herniated disc is also usually caused by a heavy load, in which the core of the disc presses on an outgoing nerve.
T ypical for a herniated disc are sensitivity disorders in so-called dermatomes. The corresponding dermatome for the outgoing nerves of segments L5 and S1 extends over the calf of the affected person. The sensitivity disorders in the calf area often manifest themselves in the form of pain that cannot really be controlled.
In most cases they are accompanied by numbness or a tingling sensation. A Baker’s cyst is a bulging of the knee joint capsule backwards in the direction of the hollow of the knee. The cause of the cyst is usually an increased production of fluid within the knee joint capsule.
The reasons for this can again be very diverse. In most cases, the reasons lie in an inflammation, but there are also many known cases where the cause is not known exactly. In the case of a Baker’s cyst, the resulting pain is localized in the hollow of the knee rather than in the calf and occurs particularly during sports activities or when the knees are bent.
However, the treatment of a Baker’s cyst is quite simple, so that the pain can be relieved quickly. You can find more information here: The Baker’s cystThe compression stocking is a form of therapy that is often used in people with so-called edema. This means people with water retention in the lower legs or people whose blood vessels in the legs have flow problems.
A common problem when buying stockings, however, is that their size is not accurately measured, so patients are also provided with stockings that are too small or unsuitable, which can cause calf pain. Another possibility is that patients do not put the stockings on correctly. For example, by not pulling them up completely or something similar. This also causes the stockings to fit incorrectly, which can lead to calf pain.
