Reply to: Aargh! Pulled muscle or something

[b0redom]

My vote is with MTT. I would give it a couple of days and then find a place that does deep tissue massage and get yourself booked in. I had a similar problem some time ago and that has helped a lot.

[SimonMac]

Break a leg.

KUATB

[rhubarb]

Break a leg.

[mudskipper]

Here's hopping you get the gig. Good luck!

[Mich the Tester]

OK, it was still bad this morning, but I thought it had improved slightly, and it still hadn't swollen up or bruised at all. After almost losing my balance in the shower a couple of times due to sudden shooting pains when I leant on it the wrong way, though, I decided to give the GP a go.

I hobbled round there (it's next door), which at least proved I could hobble twenty yards or so, and asked if there was any chance of getting to see the doc. The receptionist did her thing of looking at the screen and shaking her head slowly, offering various useless options such as going to the other surgery several miles away in another town this afternoon. I replied that, in that case, I could see how it went over the weekend and, if it got worse, go to the Urgent Care Centre at the Royal.

Visits there must come out of the surgery's budget or something, because as soon as I said that she said "Take a seat, we'll see what we can do" and two minutes later I was in with the doc

He prodded and poked at it a bit, and gave his verdict: just a pulled muscle. He said the Achilles tendon was fine, and it would have been swollen and more painful if it was a full-blown muscle tear.

Prescription: rest it as much as possible, ice packs wouldn't do any harm and might well help alleviate any pain, and ibuprofen if I felt I needed it. Job done

Now for that interview... which I suspect I won't get, but it's an excuse for a drive

What, exactly, did you feel when it happened? Was it just a shooting pain, or did you feel anything like a stone or a knife hitting your calf? Often if you tear a muscle you'll feel like something has hit it, or a knife has been stuck in it. Also, a slight electric shock is a common feeling with a tear.

[NickFitz]

try to arrive 20 minutes early, find your way to the gents, lock yourself in a cubicle. Then stand on your head with your back and legs leaning up the wall and clench the bog brush handle in your teeth.
hold this position for 10-15 minutes

Goes without saying for any professional contractor, surely?

[NickFitz]

Leeds?

Cambridge Science Park. Handy for Addenbrookes

Just had a phone call from the agent. He had another candidate in there earlier, so he's been able to tell me specific stuff they're keen on - and what the other guy didn't answer well on. Bit of last-minute revision going on now...

[EternalOptimist]

As I mentioned, I'm going in an automatic so my left leg is just sitting there doing nothing the entire journey. Anyway, if it drops off when I get there, it's only a couple of miles from one of the best teaching hospitals in the country

try to arrive 20 minutes early, find your way to the gents, lock yourself in a cubicle. Then stand on your head with your back and legs leaning up the wall and clench the bog brush handle in your teeth.
hold this position for 10-15 minutes

[stek]

Aargh! Pulled muscle or something

As I mentioned, I'm going in an automatic so my left leg is just sitting there doing nothing the entire journey. Anyway, if it drops off when I get there, it's only a couple of miles from one of the best teaching hospitals in the country

Leeds?

[NickFitz]

NF - I really think that the 160 mile journey is going to do you more harm than good. Unless of course you need the contract

As I mentioned, I'm going in an automatic so my left leg is just sitting there doing nothing the entire journey. Anyway, if it drops off when I get there, it's only a couple of miles from one of the best teaching hospitals in the country

[FiveTimes]

NF - I really think that the 160 mile journey is going to do you more harm than good. Unless of course you need the contract

[NickFitz]

so would you say your pain threshold is a tad low?

No, I'm just not one of those twats who insists on giving a grandiose name to whatever ails them, like calling a cold "flu", or saying I've got "gastroenteritis" when I mean I chucked up after a dodgy kebab

[Troll]

gave his verdict: just a pulled muscle.

so would you say your pain threshold is a tad low?

[NickFitz]

OK, it was still bad this morning, but I thought it had improved slightly, and it still hadn't swollen up or bruised at all. After almost losing my balance in the shower a couple of times due to sudden shooting pains when I leant on it the wrong way, though, I decided to give the GP a go.

I hobbled round there (it's next door), which at least proved I could hobble twenty yards or so, and asked if there was any chance of getting to see the doc. The receptionist did her thing of looking at the screen and shaking her head slowly, offering various useless options such as going to the other surgery several miles away in another town this afternoon. I replied that, in that case, I could see how it went over the weekend and, if it got worse, go to the Urgent Care Centre at the Royal.

Visits there must come out of the surgery's budget or something, because as soon as I said that she said "Take a seat, we'll see what we can do" and two minutes later I was in with the doc

He prodded and poked at it a bit, and gave his verdict: just a pulled muscle. He said the Achilles tendon was fine, and it would have been swollen and more painful if it was a full-blown muscle tear.

Prescription: rest it as much as possible, ice packs wouldn't do any harm and might well help alleviate any pain, and ibuprofen if I felt I needed it. Job done

Now for that interview... which I suspect I won't get, but it's an excuse for a drive

[mudskipper]

Sounds like you've torn your calf muscle, and given the cracking sound it might be torn all the way through, in which case it needs operating (could be the tendon, but you describe pain in your calf). Yes, a muscle can make a loud crack when it tears. Get to the doc and get it scanned and looked at by an orthopaedic chappy to make sure it doesn't need stitching back together again. If the doc knows what he's doing he'll show you how to tape it so you can at least get around the place. Either way, it'll take several weeks to heal and the first couple of nights it'll hurt like hell.

I prefer the 'trod on a snail' explanation.