i tore my calf muscle,how long before i can start phsical therapy?
349003
As soon as doctor says just keep asking.
918687
Make sure you use the pressure garment. The last thing you need is a emobolism. (clot that will move through body and to heart or brain. Then you are "bye bye" forever.) The swelling will probably last a few weeks. As long as no drainage, pus, or red inflammation you should do well. Go to the docs on the scheduled follow up days and whatever you do....FOLLOW THEIR GUIDANCE. If they say, keep elevated...you do that. If they say do not walk onto flat of foot...you do that.  Trust me, listening to their expert advice will enable you to heal faster. Take care.
483868
Depends on what you did to your knee that caused the pain- and you call a doctor for an evaluation, because many things can have gone amok:)  If the pain is acute, go to an Emergency Room.\n\nFirstly, if you inured it, the rule of thumb is RICE\n\n    *  Rest: Resting is important immediately after injury for two reasons. First, rest is vital to protect the injured muscle, tendon, ligament or other tissue from further injury. Second, your body needs to rest so it has the energy it needs to heal itself most effectively.\n    * Ice: Use ice bags, cold packs or even a bag of frozen peas wrapped in a thin towel to provide cold to the injured area. Cold can provide short-term pain relief. It also limits swelling by reducing blood flow to the injured area. Keep in mind, though, that you should never leave ice on an injury for more than 15-20 minutes at a time. Longer exposure can damage your skin. The best rule is to apply cold compresses for 15 minutes and then leave them off for at least 20 minutes. (Read The Proper Use of ICE).\n    * Compression: Compression limits swelling, which slows down healing. Some people notice pain relief from compression as well. An easy way to compress the area of the injury is to wrap an ACE bandage over it. If you feel throbbing, or if the wrap just feels too tight, remove the bandage and re-wrap the area so the bandage is a little looser.\n    * Elevation: Elevating an injury reduces swelling. It's most effective when the injured area is raised above the level of the heart. For example, if you injure an ankle, try lying on your bed with your foot propped on one or two pillows. \n\nAfter a day or two of R.I.C.E., many sprains, strains or other injuries will begin to heal. But if your pain or swelling does not decrease after 48 hours, make an appointment to see your primary care physician or go to the emergency room, depending upon the severity of your symptoms.\n\nOnce the healing process has begun, very light massage may improve the function of forming scar tissue, cut healing time and reduce the possibility of injury recurrence.\n\nGentle stretching can be begun once all swelling has subsided. Try to work the entire range of motion of the injured joint or muscle, but be extremely careful not to force a stretch, or you risk re-injury to the area. Keep in mind that a stretch should never cause pain. For proper stretching technique, review Flexibility Exercises.\n\nHeat may be helpful once the injury moves out of the acute phase and swelling and bleeding has stopped. Moist heat will increase blood supply to the damaged area and promote healing.\n\nFinally, after the injury has healed, strengthening exercises can be begun. Start with easy weights and use good form. See Strengthening Exercises.
97609
If she is not on any other medications that are for arthritis, and she is not on blood thinners, she can take Ibuprofen or Alleve.  Heat should be applied to the muscle 48 hours after the initial injury (before that you use ice).  However if she is doing things to continue irritating it, she should use ice at the initial time she is irritating it.  If it doesn't get better soon, she might consider physical therapy.
142411
It depends on your age and the extent to which you are immobilized.  Ask your doctor and/or your physical therapist for advice.\n\nGet well soon!
16736
The doctors are right. I developed one on  my shin after a wreck. 6 months later it was flat and only minorly discolored, 8 months later it was no longer painful to the touch and the coloration had gone, 10 months later it no longer hurt to run. It does take a while, I would wait as long as you can to decide to get it drained, because I was told this can be painful. But if there's absolutely no change in color or size after 7 months, you may want to go for it, cause that's about when the calcification process starts (Eventually it will turn hard.) Healing time also depends on where the hematoma is located. If there is mostly bone and not alot of muscle mass, it may not take as long (i.e. top of foot, hand, etc.) In areas with much muscle mass and fat, it may take a long time, because the muscle absorbs all the protein.\n\nHere's what you can do to hurry it a little: \n\nFill a styrofoam cup with water and freeze.\n\nTear the top rim off so a half inch or so protrudes like chapstick.\n\nMassage the hematoma lightly with this ice for 15 minutes at a time, 3 to 4 times daily.\n\nAt night, use some form of localized heat, that can be comfortable and not dangerous or painfull. This will help promote bloodflow in that area.\n\nDON'T rub or massage the area, you may make the area bleed again under the skin, starting you back at day 1.\n\nEat a diet rich in protein.\n\nGet extra rest if the hematoma is on your legs or feet.\n\nGood luck, I hope this helps you.
71079
It depends.  Commonly it resolves on its own in 6-8 weeks if you don't injure it again.  Heat pads, anti-inflammatories, muscle relaxants, and stretching exercises can be used to partially relieve symptoms.  Many people find massage to be soothing during this healing period.  Because of the time sequence, many people mistakenly assume that one of these treatments actually cured their back pain.  It is also important to examine your postures and activities for any that may be causing you to irritate your back.  Some overweight people find that losing weight decreases the frequency of their back problems.\n\n***** HOWEVER keep in mind that a small number of cases are caused by very serious conditions ranging from herniations to tumors and metabolic diseases which can severly weaken the bone and injure nerves.  It is very important that these conditions be excluded before any manipulative forces are applied to your back.  Otherwise you risk serious nerve or spinal cord injury.
270882
if you needed the therapy the doctor would have told you...you are going to have some pain and stiffness for the next few weeks but keep moving it!!!!
330625
Take a Dixie cup or some other small paper cup and put water in there and freeze it.  After you get back from the run, grab the ice and tear of the paper a little ways to uncover the ice.  Then use it to massage your ankles and shins.  This really helps stop the swelling and inflamation and thus the pain.  Popping a few Advil can also help get rid of the inflamation.  Try running on grass.  It's softer and absorbs more of the force.  Also go out to a running store and have them help you pick out shoes.  I remember walking into one once and they had me take off my shoes and walk in front of them.  They came back with a pair of shoes the fit my high arches perfectly and gave me the right amount of support.  It was pretty amazing and it did help my shin splints get better.  If you find that the right shoes, grass running, and ice massages don't help, you may actually have stress fractures.  Give it a few weeks to see if the pain goes away.  If you still have it, and it hurts to even walk, go into your doctor for an xray.  Before I got really good shoes I had shin splints so bad that I was actually getting really close to tearing through my tendions.  At least that's what my doctor said.  Hope that helps!  Oh, and one last thing, never ignore the pain.  It means that your body needs to recover and heal.  I used to just "walk off" most of my injuries, including pulled muscles in my back.  I ended up doing a lot of damage to my body and I can't run anymore.  I'm only 23 and was a competative sprinter for 6 years.  I cant even take a lesurly jog anymore.  Not to feak you out, but take care of yourself!
171238
you could try a heating pad. I just went to see the doctor for the same thing and now I am on a muscle relaxant. He also suggested physiotherapy. I found those new heating patches to be quite effective.
942785
A good rule is to use ice on the injury for 20 min, then off for 20 min, then ice again for 20 minutes in the first 24 hrs.  NO HEAT until you ready to start exercising again, it can cause the injury to swell/ hurt/ deteriorate if you start to soon though.
256049
You can apply heat before you play if it is stiff to help loosen it up.\n\nAfter you play, ice it to cut down the swelling and inflammation. \n\nTake aspirin or some other anti-inflammatory, like an NSAID (non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug). You might even try taking an NSAID BEFORE you start to play. \n\nDo not ice it longer than 15 or 20 minutes. Then you can allow it to warm up to room temperature (for 45 minutes or so) before icing it again (see reference). Follow the RICE procedure (rest, ice, compression, elevation). \n\nAfter a day or two, if it is still sore, you can use heat to stimulate the lymph system and circulatory system to remove damaged material and toxins from the damaged or injured area.
904859
Rule of thumb: RICE it for first 72 hours.\n\nR: rest\nI: ice\nC: compression\nE: elevation\n\nIf it still hurts, better go ahead and see a doctor....good luck.
387355
Edema means swelling. That's all. there are other factors involved if u have swelling 4 months after an incident. Talk to a different doctor to find out the reason why your leg is swelling. it could be any number of things. Also, when you have swelling, apply a cold pack(not HOT Please) to the area for 15 minutes and then remove. wait half an hour and then repeat. your swelling should go down, but u still need to talk to a doctor so they can test u to see where the problem lies.
968565
It will probably take weeks if not a few months for it not to be sore any longer, an ex of mine did this once and was in pain for a while after getting it fixed.  Now he didn't have these but maybe there are some pt (physical therapy) exercises you can do to help it heal.  Good luck hope you feel better.
272907
Good Luck on your treatment, Tendinitis sux.  I just wanted to emphasize that you should do your best to avoid future repetitive motion.  I sometimes get a flair up of tendinitis on a three-day holiday from using the TV remote control or computer too much.:(
901452
If you sprained or damaged you achilles tendon at all expect it to take a long time to heal. Tendons in general take an extended an amount of time due to limited blood flow in these areas. One of the key things to do here for your foot is rest, rest, rest. You need to elevate your foot as much as possible above the level of your heart, primarily at night. Stick it on a pillow for example. Another thing you will want to consider is a good supportive brace. A brace will keep your foot in the right position for healing and will help further damage hindering the healing process. If it all possible uses crutches as well just to keep the weight off the foot. Stretch as often as possible, to prevent it from healing stiff. Do not do any stressful excercise on it this will only make it worse. E.g. running, biking, and any other action sport. \n\nIt will take a full year before your ankle will be completely healed. Ligaments and tendons if damaged require a very long time to heal. If you keep the things I told you in mind, your ankle should feal good w/in two months. After that you will notice some stiffness and slight pain in the morning or after extensive stress on foot. But after 4 months your foot should feel quite workable. It will still be weak and easier prone to sprains in the future. Because of this I highly recommend using support braces each and every time you are active.