Calf muscle abreviation. The influence of foot and ankle disorders and the possibility of treatment with statical stretching.

The calf muscle (m. gastrocnemius) is a postural muscle with a tendency to shorten what is often present in patients with foot pain. The theoretical part summarizes the basic knowledge of anatomy, biomechanics of calf muscle and manifestations of its shortening in the periphery. There are also described the possibilities of conservative solution by static stretching and possible operative solution. The aim of this work is to find out whether the pain can be reduced or eliminated by a conservative method by static stretching in order to avoid the need for an operative solution to this problem. We present a set of 18 patients sent for rehabilitation with a focus on calf stretching. In a practical part we show 3 cases for which an individual exercise plan was introduced focusing on calf stretching for 6 months. Within 6 months, these 3 patients were goniometrically examined three times by a 3-month interval to measure the ankle range of motion (ROM). The results showed that 2 patients objectively increased ROM and subjectively got rid of pain. In 1 patient, despite the objective increase in ROM, the subjective sensation of pain still persisted. Thus, it can be shown that by static stretching we can increase the ROM and consequently affect the pain