Calf Muscle Tightness: Overview

Calf Muscle Tightness: Overview

The calf muscles are powerful muscles of the lower leg that plantarflex the ankle, the motion of pointing the foot and ankle forward. When standing, contraction of these muscles allows the heel to lift to stand on the tip toes and allows for powerful push-off from the ground when walking, running, and climbing stairs. The calf muscles include the large gastrocnemius, which contains 2 parts, 1 on the inner side of the leg and 1 on the outer side of the leg, and the underlying soleus. Both muscles connect to the Achilles tendon to attach to the heel bone.

Many people can develop tight calf muscles from overworking the muscles, not enough physical activity, and wearing shoes like high heels. These cases can often improve with regular stretching. Calf muscle tightness can also develop from certain conditions or even be present from birth. In these cases, the tightness results from abnormal nerve signals that cause the calf muscles to continuously stay contracted or tightened.

This can result after a neurological injury, such as a stroke, traumatic brain injury, or spinal cord injury, and is also common among children with neurological conditions like muscular dystrophy and cerebral palsy. Calf tightness resulting from any of these conditions is called an equinus contracture or deformity. Equinus comes from the word equine, meaning horse, because of the lifted position of the heel bone, as seen in horses.

Calf muscle tightness prevents the ankle from being able to move into dorsiflexion, or upward movement, which makes it difficult to walk and can lead to a variety of other foot and ankle conditions, including plantar fasciitis. A health care provider will diagnose calf muscle tightness from a physical examination involving observation of the foot and ankle alignment, range of motion of the ankle with the knee bent and straightened, and an observation of the patient walking. Patients with calf muscle tightness will often walk on their toes.