The next stage of recovery wasn't as straightforward as I had hoped.

​A Setback During Recovery:
My calf muscle tear recovery was progressing according to schedule until I had to fly to Hungary.
During my return flight, my injured calf suddenly became extremely swollen and painful. The pain increased so much that I became concerned I might have developed a deep vein thrombosis (DVT), which is a serious blood clot that requires immediate medical attention.
As soon as I landed, I went directly to urgent care for an ultrasound. Fortunately, the ultrasound ruled out a DVT, and everything looked normal. However, the increased pain and swelling significantly aggravated my injury, making it feel as though I was back to square one. 
As a result, I had to return to wearing my CAM boot for additional protection.

Transitioning Out of the CAM Boot:
Although a CAM boot is excellent for protecting an injured calf muscle, wearing it for too long can create other problems.
Because the boot changes your walking mechanics, it places extra stress on the opposite leg and can eventually contribute to discomfort in the knees, hips, or lower back.
My goal was to transition back to regular footwear as soon as it was safe to do so.
To make that transition easier, I used a heel lift inside my shoe on the injured side. The heel lift reduced tension on the healing gastrocnemius muscle and helped prevent overstretching the injured tissue while walking.
As my calf gradually improved, I decreased the height of the heel lift until I was able to walk comfortably without it.
I also wore compression socks to help manage swelling. Reducing the swelling noticeably improved both my comfort and my ability to walk.

The Subacute Stage: Managing Stiffness:
One of the biggest challenges during the subacute stage of a Grade 2 medial gastrocnemius tear was stiffness.
My calf felt extremely tight, making it difficult to take a full stride and properly push through while walking. Because I couldn't straighten and fully load my injured leg, I found myself hyperextending my opposite knee with each step.
The last thing I wanted was for a calf injury to turn into a knee problem.
To address the stiffness, I incorporated both acupuncture and cupping therapy into my recovery. My goal was to decrease the tightness, improve mobility, and restore normal movement patterns so I could walk without compensation.

Rehabilitation Exercises:
As my symptoms improved, I combined a structured physical therapy rehabilitation program with Pilates. 
Two of my favorite rehabilitation tools were the Pilates Foot Corrector and Toe Corrector. These are excellent pieces of equipment for improving foot mobility, strengthening the intrinsic foot muscles, and rebuilding lower leg strength after a calf muscle injury.
Progressive strengthening, balance exercises, and gait retraining became the primary focus of this stage of my rehabilitation.

Six Weeks After My Calf Tear
At six weeks, my walking has returned to normal, which feels like a huge milestone.
However, I'm still avoiding running, jumping, and explosive movements. Although the pain has improved considerably, healing tissue continues to remodel for several months, and returning to high-impact activities too soon increases the risk of reinjury.
I'm continuing to build strength gradually before returning to full Krav Maga training.

If you're recovering from a calf muscle tear, Grade 2 medial gastrocnemius tear, or another sports injury and would like to incorporate acupuncture or dry needling into your rehabilitation, you can book an appointment online.

A few weeks ago, I suffered a Grade 2 medial gastrocnemius tear (a partial tear of the inner calf muscle) during Krav Maga.
If you're searching for information about calf muscle tear recovery, I hope sharing my experience helps you know what to expect.

How I Tore My Calf: 
The injury happened during a jump in Krav Maga. I felt and heard a sudden snap in my calf and immediately knew something wasn't right. The pain was intense, and I had difficulty putting weight on my leg.
At first, I was worried I had ruptured my Achilles tendon, which often requires surgery and a much longer recovery.

Getting a Diagnosis:
Since I work in a physical therapy clinic, I went straight to work to have my coworkers evaluate the injury.
One of the first tests they performed was the Thompson test, where the calf is squeezed to see whether the foot moves. Because of the significant swelling, the results were inconclusive, so I was advised to get diagnostic imaging with either an MRI or an ultrasound.
Fortunately, my Achilles tendon was completely intact, and surgery was not necessary.
My official diagnosis was a Grade 2 tear of the medial gastrocnemius, also known as a partial calf muscle tear. This type of injury is sometimes referred to as tennis leg, although it can happen in many sports and martial arts, not just tennis.

Conventional Treatment for a Grade 2 Calf Muscle Tear:
My healthcare providers recommended:

• Wearing a CAM boot to protect the calf while walking
• Resting the injured leg
• Taking Tylenol for pain management
• Applying ice to reduce pain and swelling

These recommendations are standard treatments for many acute calf muscle injuries.

A Traditional Chinese Medicine Approach:
As an acupuncturist specializing in sports medicine myself I decided to incorporate acupuncture and natural herbs into my recovery.
While conventional medicine commonly recommends ice for acute injuries, Chinese Medicine  practitioners believe that prolonged icing delays the body's natural healing response. Instead, a traditional herbal alternative San Huang San (Herbal Ice) is used.
San Huang San is an external herbal poultice made from cooling and cold herbs and their role is to reduce moderate to severe swelling and pain. San Huang San is applied directly over the injured area. It is covered with gauze and typically left in place for about 12 hours. An additional benefit is that it provides continuous treatment without needing to repeatedly apply and remove an ice pack. 
This is what it looks like: