So over the past few days, I’ve noticed that my left calf muscle feels sore, almost as if I pulled the muscle. I have not done anything to it to warrant it feeling pulled—the most I’ve done, aside from my day-to-day normal activities like walking up and down the stairs, walking to the mailbox, and playing fetch with Maggie, is to take Maggie for a walk. There has been no strenuous exercising, no unsual movements, no sleeping on it weird, and no taking a tumble down the stairs or tripping over my own feet.
So today, I was at work and was back in the kitchen when I heard my phone ring and I knew it was hubby. I kicked off my heels and made a dash towards the front desk and got about five steps before I came to an immediate limping halt! I want to say I felt it pop, but I think I’m just imagining that. But I do know that at that moment, every step was painful, and I couldn’t stand the pain to even try and stretch the muscle out. I could barely walk on it and I was limping like crazy.
So what happened? What did I do? I have no idea.
My online friends (who I turn to for things such as this) suggested I get a calf brace to help the muscle relax, so I called Dick’s and they had them, so off I went (my boss also told me to go, because she was hurting just watching me hobble around). At this point, I put my shoes back on (very low heels, about 1″), and it actually felt better and I was able to walk without as much pain (because the muscle didn’t need to stretch as far). Long story short, Dick’s DIDN’T have them, and I was ticked off—so apparently when I called to ask if they carried them, they just told me yes without actually CHECKING THE SHELVES. 😡
On the way back, I called Rob, our neighbor who is a doctor, and asked him what I should do. He said ice for 48 hours, 800mg of Ibuprofen every four hours, then heat and Iboprofen after 48 hours. So I stopped at Walgreens and picked up an ice pack wrap thing, some packs of Icy Hot pads, and some Ibuprofen. When I got back to the office, my boss had gone to the chiropractor (down at the end of our building) and picked up some Bio-Freeze for me! (Awwwwwwww, see—she can be awesome!)
The ice pack does help a bit, and I’m sure the Ibuprofen doesn’t hurt…but the worst part is trying to walk after sitting for a bit. Oh, the pain.
So, what really sucks is that I had really just started to get into a groove with my walking/exercise schedule: come home, let Maggie out, go for a walk. There’s no way I could walk a mile in this condition. 🙁