Start these exercises when your pain has decreased by about 25% from the time when your injury was most painful.
1. CALF STRETCH WITH TOWEL - Sit on a hard surface with your injured leg stretched out in front of you. Loop a towel around the ball of your foot, and pull the towel toward your body. Be sure to keep your knee straight. Hold this position for thirty seconds. Then relax, and repeat three times. When you do not feel much of a stretch anymore using the towel, start stretching the calf in the standing position described next.
2. STANDING CALF STRETCH - Facing a wall, put your hands against the wall at about eye level. Keep the uninjured leg forward and your injured leg back about 12-18 inches behind your uninjured leg. Keep your injured leg straight abd your heel on the floor. Next, do a slight lunge by bending the knee of the forward leg. Lean into the wall until you feel a stretch in your calf muscle. Hold this position for 30-60 seconds, and repeat 3 times.
3. ACTIVE RANGE OF MOTION OF THE ANKLE - Sitting or lying down with your legs straight and your knee toward the ceiling, move your ankle up and down, in and out, and in circles. Don't bend your knee while doing this. Repeat 20 times in each direction. Push hard in all directions.
4. ANTERIOR COMPARTMENT STRETCH - Stand with one hand against a wall or chair for balance. Bend your knee and grasp the front of the foot of your injured leg. Bend the front of the foot toward the heel. You should feel a stretch in the front of your shin. Hold for 10 seconds, and repeat 10 times.
1. CALF STRETCH WITH TOWEL - Sit on a hard surface with your injured leg stretched out in front of you. Loop a towel around the ball of your foot, and pull the towel toward your body. Be sure to keep your knee straight. Hold this position for thirty seconds. Then relax, and repeat three times. When you do not feel much of a stretch anymore using the towel, start stretching the calf in the standing position described next.
2. STANDING CALF STRETCH - Facing a wall, put your hands against the wall at about eye level. Keep the uninjured leg forward and your injured leg back about 12-18 inches behind your uninjured leg. Keep your injured leg straight abd your heel on the floor. Next, do a slight lunge by bending the knee of the forward leg. Lean into the wall until you feel a stretch in your calf muscle. Hold this position for 30-60 seconds, and repeat 3 times.
3. ACTIVE RANGE OF MOTION OF THE ANKLE - Sitting or lying down with your legs straight and your knee toward the ceiling, move your ankle up and down, in and out, and in circles. Don't bend your knee while doing this. Repeat 20 times in each direction. Push hard in all directions.
4. ANTERIOR COMPARTMENT STRETCH - Stand with one hand against a wall or chair for balance. Bend your knee and grasp the front of the foot of your injured leg. Bend the front of the foot toward the heel. You should feel a stretch in the front of your shin. Hold for 10 seconds, and repeat 10 times.
