Shortstuff, ice is good in the acute (early) stages of soft tissue injury. It works on the skin's pain receptors and speeds up the inflammation process (recovery) by causing secondary hypoxia to damaged cells in the tissue - all good things for healing.
After the acute stage, gentle stretching is recommended to help re-educate nerves and re-align damaged tissues.
Rest means resting from activites that could aggravate your calf, so running, hill walking etc. You may still be able to cycle and swim and this should be encouraged as increasing blood flow generally will help in the healing.
If you're still having problems (healing depends on the degree of tear) seek professional help - physio, sports therapist etc.
Comments
Shortstuff, ice is good in the acute (early) stages of soft tissue injury. It works on the skin's pain receptors and speeds up the inflammation process (recovery) by causing secondary hypoxia to damaged cells in the tissue - all good things for healing.
After the acute stage, gentle stretching is recommended to help re-educate nerves and re-align damaged tissues.
Rest means resting from activites that could aggravate your calf, so running, hill walking etc. You may still be able to cycle and swim and this should be encouraged as increasing blood flow generally will help in the healing.
If you're still having problems (healing depends on the degree of tear) seek professional help - physio, sports therapist etc.