I’ll go and see a doctor if it happens again but since it’s getting better, I’m more curious than worried for the moment.
As I was walking down a couple of steps yesterday afternoon, I felt a sudden, extremely sharp pain in my left calf. I’d describe it as “cramp-like” in nature, but much more intense than any cramp I have ever experienced. So intense actually, that I doubted for a few seconds that I could put my foot back on the ground. I did but could barely walk and spent the rest of the day limping and in serious pain at every single step, every time I moved the other foot forward in fact.
I initially thought it was an exceptionally nasty cramp, but I started wondering when I realized that my calf muscle was perfectly relaxed and soft to the touch. The pain however didn’t go away and I still had serious trouble walking to the bathroom over twelve hours after the onset of… whatever it was.
I felt slightly better in the morning and I realized that my gait was back to normal if I walked slowly. Actually, walking seemed to do me some good, although the pain was still relatively sharp. It’s now been over 24h and the pain is still present but subsiding. I can walk more or less normally
I have never had anything like this before, I hadn’t been particularly active physically in the preceding days and I don’t remember doing any weird or silly movement while I was walking down the stairs. I do remember having a dull, unexplained tenderness in that calf about a month ago but it wasn’t in the same spot (at the back, close to my foot then / on the inner side roughly in the middle now) and incomparably less sharp.
Do you have any idea as to what it might be ?
You could have a blood clot.
- Leg pain, cramping or soreness that often starts in the calf
Deep vein thrombosis (DVT) - Symptoms and causes - Mayo Clinic
Definitely get it checked out most soonest. Although they aren’t common, a sudden and unexplained persistent pain in the calf can be a sign of an aneurism or thrombosis (blood clot). You mentioned that you haven’t been very active, which can often aggravate an incipient aneurism. I would not wait for the pain to come back; take yourself to urgent care or a G.P., especially if you have hypertension, obesity, or any family history of strokes or thrombosis. A clot can migrate into the heart or brain with severe consequences, so this isn’t something to fuck around with.
Stranger
Wow, thanks for your replies. It might be more serious than I thought…
To clarify, I am reasonably active. I workout moderately 2-3 times a week and walk well over 10,000 steps daily. I just hadn’t been particularly active in the previous days.
Please get it checked out. I had the same symptom in the same calf; it was a blood clot that did travel to my lungs. I had no idea my lungs were compromised; no trouble breathing, etc., by which I mean I was in danger and did not know it. Take care of yourself.
It could be a blood clot. See a doctor ASAP.
Recent thread about foot pain that turned out to be a blood clot: Foot injury - advice? {It’s a blood clot}
This killed my late husband. Only 6 weeks prior, he had been pronounced in perfect health after a complete physical. He was 55.
Don’t postpone. I urge you to get yourself to medical care ASAP.
My best to you!
Check Homan’s sign and if one calf is warmer than the other. Both checks for deep vein thrombosis (blood clot).
OK, there’s a hospital just 10 minutes from where I live, I’ll check their website.
And there I was thinking I’d get answers like “It took you 48 years to figure out what a cramp was ?”
The pain is almost gone today, except when I make the move linked to by squeegee. My left calf doesn’t feel warmer than the other, though.
Thanks for your posts.
I occasionally get these at night. I believe them to be charlie horse. I’ve been checked for bloodclots recently (from something different but same area), so I know it’s not that. What I found was magnesium supplements help. Also, during the cramp a swig of pickle juice helps quell the cramp, oddly enough.
I’ve checked the hospital website but haven’t been able to get a quick appointment.
I still have a vague, lingering tenderness, but I can walk completely normally now.
I used to get charley horses all the time when I was running. The solution, for me, during the cramp was to pull the foot up TOWARD you, not away, as is the natural instinct. So don’t point it out, pull it in. Once I figured that out – at least with my body – I’m able to stop them very quickly or even before they fully develop into that muscle-ripping pain. This doesn’t quite sound like a charley horse to me, or at least not one I’ve ever experienced, in which 12 hours later serious mobility issues were still present. Nor would lingering pain last a week or more.
Persist. A clot can kill you, and it’s a simple ultrasound to detect if you have one, not really a big deal.
It sounds like from what others are saying that you need to get this checked out right away. Excuse my ignorance, but why must you wait for an appointment? Is there no urgent care or ER available?
I tried to get an appointment but the person at the other end was particularly unpleasant and kept on asking me for a specific doctor/specialty. As if I knew. I should have gone to ER immediately instead. It was my first contact with that hospital and I’m starting to suspect I should try another one.
I went to a different hospital, for a completely unrelated problem last summer and got a much more professional welcome.
I hope you can just make your way to the ER of the other hospital. Surely you don’t need an appointment for the ER?
My clot was detected at an Urgent Care, so that’s certainly an option. If they don’t have ultrasound imaging in house they’ll make an appointment for you at an imaging center or at the radiology department of a local hospital, which will cut all the red tape.