I have a small tear in my right calf muscle along the inner side. Yes, I've been to see a doctor about it, and he knows I ride pretty hard so he's recommended that I stay off the bike for a while. Initially it was very painful, but R.I.C.E. helped a lot. At this point it isn't painful to walk, just tight, but very tender to pressure. The tenerness runs from the inner side of the belly of the calf muscle along a straight line pointing to the middle of the back of my heel, but the tenderness ends about 5" above the heel.
I have two questions for the collected wisdom:
- How soon can I reasonably expect to get back to riding without risking reinjury? (weeks? months?)
- What can I do or eat to help the healing process?