Plantaris Tendon Rupture

[fred-s]

Sometimes aka "tennis leg." It is a small tendon near the calf that is not something you need, and in fact a small percentage of the population does not have one. I ruptured mine the other nite (feels like a pulled calf muscle). Doctor says I should be able to play in a 7-10 days. Anybody else ever do this? How long did it take you to heal? Any lingering effects?

[Chuck]

Several years ago I was playing doubles and I could have sworn that I got hit in the calf by a ball from an adjacent court. Then I felt the pain and went down like a wet sack. My family doc told me that I had ruptured this tendon. After a week or so I went to my orthopedic who told me I had torn my gastrocnemius. Point is, this injury is fairly tough to acurately diagnose, so before you rush to get back on the court and then really do some serious damage, make sure you know that it was the plantaris tendon. My injury took about 6 weeks to completely heal. The good news is that gastroc muscle is quite dense and tends to heals well.

[polakosaur]

just take time off and try to isolate that area with stretches after a week or so

[J D]

Fred, I had the same injury happen to me several years ago during a singles match. Fortunately, I was playing an M.D. and he was able to diagnose it on the spot. I finished the match without any problems, just a little discomfort. It was a little tender for a couple of days. I rested it for a week before I played again and didn't have any further pain or problems. If it feels like a pulled calf muscle, you may have a more serious injury. You should know pretty soon, though, if it's still bothering you much.

After that incident I was a little more careful about my warm-up routine. I do some light stretching, jog or hit enough to break a sweat, and then do some extensive stretching. I haven't had any leg problems since then.

[fred-s]

Thanks for the responses... Gotta few more days before I give it a try.