Did I tear my calf muscle?

Might be a good idea to check with a doctor to make sure it's not a blood clot, given the length of your trip. You'd probably have other symptoms like a lot of swelling, cold foot on that side, etc. Otherwise, yes, possible it's a minor tear. You could have stressed it with the fins or your calves may have simply tightened up over the hours of travel and you may have moved too suddenly or in the wrong direction when you got up. People tend to get dehydrated on long flights and this can increase the likelihood of cramps and spasms as well. I've done this several times (mostly with hamstrings, once with both calves at the same time) and now for this reason I try to avoid running the day before or after a long flight. Swimming, or a walk or easy bike ride, seems to work a lit better to get the kinks out.

Not a doctor, but the usual RICE generally works for me. Also Advil if needed, compression tights/socks, doing whatever activity gets the blood moving without further stressing the muscle. If you can find a good massage therapist, that might help. Otherwise you could try self-massage or a foam roller or similar. Gentle stretching is probably okay but shouldn't go to the point of pain, and only when your muscles are already warmed up after activity. If even a gentle stretch hurts, I'd wait until it doesn't.

Edited by Hot Runner 2014-01-07 7:03 AM

Thank you so much for the input. Had an ultrasound. I have a large clot in the gastrocnemius vein. It is not a threat. It will just be very sore for a while.