Calf Heart Attack

When was the last time you heard of a “Calf Heart Attack?” 

It may have been a while, if at all…but it’s worth mentioning again. If you don’t know about it, it’s been dubbed “a weird but serious injury.” (Parker, 1996, Running Times)

A ‘calf heart attack’ isn’t directly related to the heart muscle – but here’s how it’s like a heart attack: the outer sheath surrounding the gastrocnemius (calf muscle) isn’t flexible enough to handle the increased blood flow to the area during exercise. When this happens, the sheath can’t expand to accommodate the extra blood, and the swollen gastroc doesn’t have enough room within the constriction…and that can often become problematic, sometimes causing micro-tears (or larger) within the calf muscle. Eventually, when those torn fibers heal, they’re re-enforced with scar tissue (which is less flexible than the original muscle tissue), and that often leads to another injury. It’s a recipe for cyclical tears and recurrences…and pain.

It’s not the same as a calf pull. For those of you who have pulled a calf, that sensation is a true muscle pull, and it can be debilitating; but the “calf heart attack” is a deeper-rooted pain caused by ripped fibers that take longer to heal and are often susceptible to continued re-injury.

John L. Parker, Jr, associate publisher and editorial director of Running Times magazine, was a sufferer of this type of repetitive injury until he realized that he needed to treat it differently – and regularly – with purposeful attention and care. His treatments included down time for healing, cautious re-entry into running, attentive stretching, and regular massages with The Stick.

In addition to his normal routine, he gave focused care to those micro-rips deep in the gastroc. They needed this extra attention to promote true, long-term healing.

So if you, too, have been having recurrences of a deep calf injury that won’t seem to go away, think of the micro-tears associated with a calf heart attack. It’s not a muscle pull and it won’t heal the same way. Allow your calves ample time to rest and recover before starting your running/exercise routine; begin again slowly with caution and ease; and be sure to stretch and massage the calf, encouraging fresh oxygenated blood flow to move deeper into the area in order to activate targeted and thorough healing. Then repeat on a regular basis.

It’s an oldie but a goodie – watch out for “calf heart attacks,” and don’t let them hold you back.

Parker’s Running Times Article

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