I think it may depend on the location of the pain in your calfs because more toward the bottom could indicate achilles tendinitis.  Initially, I would say evaluate your shoes first and try compression calf socks to assist with circulation.  Also, try elevating your legs at night, but follow up with a professional regarding the possibilitiy of nerve damage/compression or spinal issues if the pain is waking you from sleep.  It is important to describe the type, location and severity of the pain to your doctor or sports PT because muscle cramping, for example, could simply be the result of a potassium deficiency in your diet or there could be something more serious going on. 

Hope this helps and wishing you all the best.

Often, shin splints are the result of overuse, increase in mileage, or tight calves. It is smart to continue to rest and ice as your pain increases, but I undrestand your frustration at stopping alltogether. Using preventative measures like stretching or support (heel cups or supportive shoes) may help you decrease your pain without bringing your running habits to a halt.

There are a few great products that I use to keep my calves loose before/after I run. The ProStretch Plus is a stretching tool that helps stretch the calf, achilles, and foot--this will help increase the flexibility throughout your lower leg (also great in case your problem does not root where the pain is ocurring). If your issue is lactic acid build up, self-massage therapy rolling is very helpful to bring oxygen and blood flow back to damaged areas where build-up occurs. The RangeRoller is a massage roller stick that allows you to roll out the tight or tender areas. Both products are portable and easy to use. Good luck!

hydration, strength training, foam rolling, stretching (or not), and of course, RICE when you have to, but the issue IME was simply poor form. If you are running upright? then you need to start leaning forward so that you stop overusing your lower legs.

Lean fwd from the ankles, they say. It was my cure! No more calf cramping!!

My input: barefoot / minimalist / Chi / Pose low-impact, high-cadence running; daily stretching (yoga) essential but NOT necessarily before and after running; good diet and water as often as thirsty if not more.

The story:

I went through some debilitating versions of this within a few months of getting back to running (after 20 years of not running). Time off helped; but I'd end up back there again after a while. Maybe I trained too hard, didn't stretch enough, didn't ice enough... maybe it was just part of the process of putting those muscles to work after so much time of not really working them... no way of knowing.

After hearing and trying ALL the above advice - and trying all of the ice / rest / stretch / water / electrolyte / etc - I was a little discouraged to learn that the going expectations - from ALL running research - is that injuries are nearly a given. I figured if that's the best the experts could assure me, I'd give the whack-os a run for their money. I decided to try out this "barefoot" and "minimalist" thing - if the idea of it reducing these types of injuries was BS, how much worse off might I be? Not much, probably.

I started by trying the "Chi" and "Pose" approaches while still wearing my motion-control shoes. That was challenging; but not too bad... and not really rewarding. I was too much of a sissy to go full-hog - and love running fast (for me) too much to slow down for full-on barefoot - so I got some Nike Free 3.0s (back when they were much more minimal than they are now). I still got soreness and injuries, but the trend has been toward less and less of them - and zero shin / knee / and low-back pain. All the other injuries / pains seem to be less and farther between.

I have found a significant difference in pains if I do my daily yoga / stretching routine; but zero correlation whether I stretch before and/or after running; warming up a bit and cooling down a bit seem to be more than enough without stretching. But that's with daily 20-minutes of stretching at some other time.

That's the background to my input: barefoot / minimalist / Chi / Pose low-impact, high-cadence running; daily stretching (yoga) essential but NOT necessarily before and after running; good diet and water as often as thirsty if not more.

Honestly, as a runner I struggle with calf pain as well.  I usually stretch as much as possible before and after running.

I also swear by the Moji 360, which is a massage device-thing for athletes.  I bought mine maybe a month ago and it really helps with muscle cramping and soreness, especially when I use it after my run.

Hope this helps!

Just like all the others, I was going to suggest some things such as stretching/hydration/calf sleeves/etc.  Those are the things I improved upon to help my calf issues.  Of course my problems were a bit different from yours and pretty certain it was muscular in nature.  Yours sounds different and you should probably see your doctor about it.  Hopefully you didn't listen to too much of the advice that was given because some of it may cause more harm to whatever the issue is.  The one person who mentioned a lactic acid build up might be on to something.  However, this isnt the regular build up from normal exercise.  Sounds like some sort of chemical imbalance, but I'm not a doctor!  That's why I suggested seeing a professional...

Hi!  We are seekingsome male runners with Achilles Tendon Pain. We really need your urgent help. Very appreciated!

Hello,

I am a Ph.D. student at the Division of Biokinesiology andPhysical Therapy, University of Southern California. I am conducting a researchstudy about Achilles tendon function and how it affects movement. I amcurrently looking for participants for this study who are (1) male runners (atleast 10 miles per week) within 18 to 59 years of age, (2) do or do not havehistory of Achilles tendon pain, and (3) do not have other illness orconditions affecting their lower legs.

The study will require one testing session for four hours(on USC, health science campus), which will include ultrasound imaging of theAchilles tendons, tendon stiffness measurement as well as hopping analysesthrough motion capture.

If you think you might be interested in participating inthis study, please contact me for more details. My contact information isprovided below.

Thank you for your time and consideration,

Sincerely,

Yu-Jen (Eugene) Chang, M.S., P.T.

Ph.D. student

Division of Biokinesiology and Physical Therapy

University of Southern California

1540 East Alcazar Street, CHP-155

Los Angeles, CA 90089

323-442-2948 (Office)

626-592-1203 (Cell)

323-442-1515 (FAX)

changyuj@usc.edu