prognosis

This just in from my physical therapist: I have torn 20-50% of my soleus muscle, which is the larger calf muscle that's a bit deeper on the calf (as opposed to the gastroc, which is more external). That is pretty much what I thought had happened, and although this means at least 4 - 6 weeks of no power lifts, no running, etc. it's not nearly as bad as an achilles tendon rupture or a detachment of the muscle from the tendon, either of which would require surgery. I am very blessed that this injury wasn't worse; it easily could have been.

The treatment is physical therapy twice a week for at least a month, plus I am supposed to keep it elevated as much as possible, ice it 3 times a day, and do some mild stretching. My PT is using a laser to reduce swelling and move blood into the area, and short wave to speed healing. When he was diagnosing the injury, he asked me to quantify the level of pain in various parts of my calf. When he got to where the tear is (a couple of inches above the achilles), there is a lot of bruising from blood leaking from the tears, I said it was a 6 (on a scale of 1 to 10) and he said, "I would hate to see what your level 10 is". :-)

I can still work out - I did a nice back workout last night on the machines and some free weights - but my power lifts are out because of the strain they would put on the calf. And I got a "get out of jail free" card exempting me from cardio for a couple of weeks, which I can't say I mind. I will be able to use the stationary bike after a couple of weeks, most likely. The biggest challenge for me will be not getting frustrated at my impaired level of movement and reduced speed.