Many runners assume that calf pain after running is normal, but that's not true. You don't have to feel pain after running.
In this article, we'll look at why your calf hurts, what causes calf pain after running, and how to quickly get rid of the pain.
What Is Calf Muscle Pain?
Calf muscle pain is a mild or sharp pain around the upper part of your lower legs. It usually occurs because of mild conditions like cramps, muscle strain, or more serious conditions like sciatica, Baker's cyst, or Deep Vein Thrombosis (DVT).
Fortunately, most conditions that cause calf muscle pain can be easily handled with lifestyle changes or by going to the hospital.
Why Your Calf Hurts After Running
Running puts a lot of pressure on your leg muscles. This pressure is completely normal and can make your legs stronger. In fact, in some situations, you don't think too much about the pressure, but it can cause pain in other situations. Other reasons your calf may hurt after running include:
Running Too Much
You may not want to hear this as an avid runner, but running too much can cause calf pain. According to a study by PLOS One, running any distance of more than 40 miles (approximately 64 kilometers) a week can lead to a higher chance of getting an injury or calf pain.
The chances are even higher if you try to drastically increase the distance you usually run in a short time. For instance, trying to go from 2 kilometers a day to 6 kilometers a day in three days will definitely put a lot of strain on your calf muscles and cause a lot of pain.
Not Warming Up and Cooling Down
Not properly warming up before or cooling down after running can increase your calf muscle pain. That's because a good warm-up routine can loosen up your muscles and prepare your joints for the impacts of running while cooling down, which can help you adjust right after.
Wearing Wrong Shoes
The heel-to-toe drop is usually the difference in height between the heel of your running shoes and the front part. It's important to redistribute impact to your lower legs. Standard running shoes usually come with drops around twelve degrees, but there are shoes that come with six--, eight-, four-, and zero-degree drops. With zero degrees, your shoe is basically flat, and there's no cushioning when you're running, which means your calves and knees will have the greatest impact from running.
Another downside of running shoes with zero drops is that they can force you to shift your weight to your toes, which can increase the load on your calf muscles. Putting too much load on your calves can cause pain and make your legs hurt after running.
Increased Neural Tension
Your nervous system links your brain to every other part of your body. They also receive and send information from and to your brain. However, having tight muscles can prevent the nerves from sliding around in their sheaths and cause increased neural tension.
One of the most notorious muscles that increases neural tension is the piriformis muscle in your buttocks. Many people have their sciatic nerve running under or through the piriformis muscle. So, when the muscle becomes tight, it may prevent the sciatic nerve from sliding around and ultimately lead to calf pain.
Muscle Overload
Muscle overload usually happens when you put a lot of pressure on your legs by suddenly changing directions or running more frequently. It can also happen when you change the terrain you run on, for example, changing your routine to running uphill instead of flat surfaces.
The effects of muscle overload can be gradual rather than instant. So, watch out for any muscle tightness after running or exercising, especially after you've made some changes to your routine.
Wrong Gait or Technique
There are wrong and right running techniques to prevent calf and muscle pain. If you constantly land on your toes or forefoot, you're likely to overstimulate your muscles and increase the soreness in your legs. It can also cause soleus muscle strain, which is the muscle that helps you lift your heel off the ground.
High Arches and Flat Feet
Your feet have three arches, each of which is formed by the tarsal and metatarsal bones. These arches are there to help you redistribute force when your feet hit the ground. Unfortunately, many people are born with arches that are either too high or too low. This means the impact travels up their legs as they walk and run because they aren't properly distributed.
So, if you have high arches or flat feet, you may want to consider that as a factor in your calf pain and handle the situation adequately.
Cramps
Cramps can happen anytime, whether you're doing physical activities or not. They're more common around the calf region when you're doing physical activities. They're also very painful, and even though the pain usually clears up quickly, they can happen several times a day if you don't hydrate well or take certain nutrients that your body needs.
To handle muscle cramps, it may be helpful to stretch out your legs or the affected area, massage it with your hands, apply ice or heat, and try to walk around.
Varicose Veins
Running a lot with damaged valves in your legs can disrupt blood flow and make the veins in your legs bulge. This condition is called varicose veins, and it can cause pain, itching, swelling, and burning. Wearing compression socks from Hywell Store can help you redirect blood flow to your calf where you need it the most and reduce any pain you get there after running.
Muscle Tears
Running can cause tears in your calf muscles. This is because athletic activities often involve sudden movements that can stretch your muscles beyond their capacities. These tears can cause a lot of pain during and after every running session. In some situations, it may even cause bruising and swelling.
Shin Splints
Shin splint is a common condition among athletes that can lead to sore calves if you constantly engage in physical activities like running. The discomfort and pain are usually around the shin bone and can be mild at first. However, the more you exercise or run, the worse the pain becomes.
Some of the common factors that can cause shin splints are poor footwear, overtraining, and muscular imbalances around your ankle.
Treating this condition as soon as you notice it is important to prevent stress fractures and prolonged injury that may take weeks, if not months, to resolve.
Deep Vein Thrombosis
Calf muscle pain after running, in rare cases, can be caused by deep vein thrombosis. This condition occurs when the blood flowing through your veins slows down or clots up. In some serious cases, deep vein thrombosis can lead to another life-threatening condition like pulmonary embolism.
Contusions
Getting a direct blow to your muscles can damage your calf tissue. This may further lead to damaged blood vessels under the skin.
Contusions aren't as obvious as many other types of injury to the calf because they often appear as bruises or black and blue spots on the skin. If left untreated, contusions can affect your organs and bones. As contusions heal, they can change from purple bruise color to yellowish green or reddish blue.
How to Prevent Pain in Your Calf Muscle
While you can treat the pain in your calf after it happens, there are ways to prevent it from ever happening in the first place. Some of these preventive measures are
Run in Short Distances
Jumping up for a six-mile run immediately after sitting down all day can overwhelm your calves and cause pain. To prevent that from happening, engage in short periods of activities throughout the day before your run. For example, you can take the stairs in your office instead of elevators or do jumping jacks. These types of activities can help you warm up your muscles and loosen them up for any rigorous activities.
Do Strength Training
Strength training can help you reduce the likelihood of getting injured when you run. The best areas to strengthen are your ankles and feet because, according to a 2020 study, runners who followed an eight-week ankle and foot strengthening program were able to drastically include their injury level after each exercise.
Apart from strengthening your ankles and feet, you can also specifically strengthen your calves with the following exercises:
- Heel Drops: To do this exercise, stand with your heels hanging off the edge of a raised platform or step. Shift onto your toes and drop back down until your heels are below the platform level. Make sure you feel the movement in your calf muscles and repeat the whole movement ten to fifteen times.
- Soleus Stretch: To do the exercise, face the wall with your legs apart' Place your palms against the wall. Move one leg in front, but keep both of your heels on the ground. Keep pushing the front knee to the wall until your calf muscles stretch out. Do this for thirty seconds and do four sets.
- Toe Raises: Spread your legs apart. The distance between your legs should be about the size of your hip. Slowly lift yourself onto your toes and stay in this position for about one to three seconds before you go back down. Repeat ten to fifteen times and perform three sets.
Wear Proper Shoes
This goes without saying, but wearing proper shoes can help you avoid pain after running. The right shoes can provide support because they usually have great heel-to-toe-drop degrees.
Hydrate
Drinking enough water before you run can decrease the likelihood of muscle cramps in your legs. According to the American Council on Exercise, the optimum level of water to drink before a run is around twenty ounces and another seven to ten ounces for every ten to twenty minutes of your workout.
How to Treat Calf Muscle Pain After Running
While preventing calf pain can save a world of pain, the preventive measures aren't always effective. When that happens, you can treat the pain in your calves with the following methods.
Rest
Constant pain after running can mean you're overloading your muscles, especially if you've recently changed your running speed, distance, or area. So, resting can help your body catch up with these changes. In these situations, you should pay attention to your upper body when you are resting.
Resting is also great for recovering from acute injuries like bruises, ligament tears, muscle ruptures, and tendon injuries. You can improve your healing journey by wearing compression sleeves while you rest and using and applying an ice pack to the area for twenty minutes or more per day.
Use the P.E.A.C.E Method
The P.E.A.C.E method consists of five steps that can help you prevent further injury immediately after you get one. These steps are to protect and elevate your legs, apply anti-inflammatory modalities, use compression, and educate yourself by reading about your injury or seeing a doctor.
To protect, use a splint or cloth bandage on your calf to keep the muscles from overexerting themselves. To elevate, put the legs on a pillow or any surface that lifts up your legs to reduce swelling and improve circulation.
Applying anti-inflammatory modalities includes using an ice pack or other things that can reduce inflammation in the affected area for ten to fifteen minutes will reduce the inflammation.
You can compress the affected area with compression socks or bandages, and educating yourself will help you know what to do after using the P.E.A.C.E method.
Stretch
Flexibility around your calf area can help you absorb and transfer the pressure that has accumulated from your running routine without tearing anything. Static stretches can prevent your calves from tightening up and make the area more flexible.
Foam Roller
The area around your calves is made up of connective tissues, muscle, and skin. Some of the tissues of muscles in that area can get tight or develop knots, which can cause pain. To handle this, use a massage foam roller to break up and loosen the area.
Professional Help
There are some conditions you may not be able to accurately diagnose without a doctor. So, to prevent complications in the long run, we advise that you seek professional help if, after resting, stretching, or using the P.E.A.C.E method, the pain still persists.
When Does Calf Pain Become a Problem?
Anyone from beginner to experienced runners can develop muscle pain during or after a run. So, feeling pain once or twice is no cause for alarm. However, if the pain keeps occurring and gradually becomes even more painful, you may have to get your calves accessed by a professional.
Calf pain can also be a cause for concern if you find it difficult to walk even when you've not been running, or there's some persistent discoloration in your calf.
Conclusion
Calf muscle pain after running isn't a big deal as long as you can identify the root cause and work around it. However, if you can't think of a reason why your legs should be hurting, we advise that you see a physical therapist or doctor.
FAQs
Is it okay to run with calf pain?
Running with calf pain can make the pain worse and prevent your calves from healing. Our advice is that you rest and prevent any physical activity during this period.
How do you fix tight calves after running?
You can fix tight calves after running by massaging or icing the area and doing some static stretches to increase flexibility.
How often should I replace my running shoes?
The rule of thumb is that you should change your running shoes after every five hundred to seven hundred kilometers or three hundred to five hundred miles. That's when the midsole cushioning of shoes usually becomes weaker and absorbs less shock.
Do flat shoes cause calf pain?
Yes, flat shoes cause pain because they usually have very little or zero heel-to-toe drop degree that provides very little protection from impact.
