Question
Hi! I was wondering if you could point me in the right direction. I have been having calf muscle pain for over a year now. It is in both legs, neither one feels worse than the other. It hurts pretty severely upon standing. The longer I have been off my feet, the worse it feels when standing up. Getting out of bed in the morning is pure torture! After the 1st 10 steps or so, the pain is pretty much gone, other than just a tired overall weakness in my legs. The muscles in my calves are also very tender to the touch. I have spoken with Doctors about this and they have all said it is probably because I am overweight (5'6" 250 POUNDS). I know I am overweight but I truly believe there is more to it than that. I am very concerned I have some type of dangerous circulation problem. The pain in my muscles feels just like it would a couple days after a very strenuous workout. Like I pulled the muscles really bad. I would really appreciate any insight you can give me, or even if you could recommend a specific type of Doctor I should see about this. Thanks so much!

Hailey

Answer
Hello, Hailey,

There exist a number of possible explanations for your calf pain.

One of them is a circulatory problem.  For that, you should get a referral to a specialist from your primary care physician.

Another is that your calf muscles are very tight, fatigued and sore.  For that, I direct you to my article, Pain Control through Movement Education -- a direct route -- at somatics.com/movement.htm.

If you have a postural swayback, your weight is shifted forward over your feet, and your calf muscles must tighten to support your weight, and tend to stay tight even at rest.  For that situation, you need postural retraining.  (See somatics.com/conditions.htm).  I recommend specifically that you see a clinical somatic educator for that purpose.  The link to the list ("PRACTITIONERS") exists at the top of the article page given, above.  You may also undertake self-help by using the program, The Cat Stretch, found at somatics.com/page7.htm.

with regard,
Lawrence Gold