Hi, as luck would have it, i've strained both of my lower calf muscles from too much exercise would you believe... :-(

I was wondering if anybody knew of a specialist doctor who spoke English in Zurich and could help advise me.

And/Or does anyone know someone who specialises in sports massage (and preferably speaks English too) I think would probably help a great deal.

It's uncomfortable bordering on painful and I need to do something about it quickly.

Many thanks

If you have swiss medical insurance, go to your family doctor first. He should write a recommendation letter to a sports therapist so that your insurance will cover the 10 sessions.
Most doctors can speak English.
Some / many sports therapists can also speak English.

HAT

Go to your generalist first and get from him an order for physitherapie, like this you'll be covered for 10 sessions.

I was also having muscular and ligament problems due to too much excersize.

I went to the Praxis für Chiropraktik un Phisiotherapie Zürich Enge.

It is at Alfred Escher-Str. 38, 8002 Zürich

Dr. Aviram Bodnar treated me and he speaks english.

It was good, he made me an acupunture treatment and massage to relax my tendons.

The cost is around CHF 60 per session when you take the 10.

At the end the problem and the solution were simple.

I did too much sport, and I didn't stretched the muscles after the sport.

Then the muscles stayed in tension and then pulled the ligaments producing then the pain I had on the joints.

He just teached me how to stretch and after that I do the stretching and the problems are almost completely gone.

You could try to do that first, before going to the doctors and spend money.

Lookup for good stretching excercises and see if that helps.

Best to start at your doctors for initial assessment.

I studied Sports Medicine and stretching is very important in avoiding such problems.

I learnt some great stretching technics on one of the course I did. If anyone is interested, I could descibe them here. Primarily designed to increase flixibility after an injury, but can be used generally as well. Worked really well for me on the calves as preparation for a Tiathlon where I managed to do a sub 40min 10k run and for the first time my Hamstrings hurt after an event.

yes please.

Damn I knew I was opening myself up to having to write more on this. Stay tuned will write something shortly and paste here.

Obviously easier to expalin with a demonstration

I personally go to www.sportclinic.ch where they do speak english and depending on your injury you could perhaps claim it via your umfall versicherung (accident insurance via work)

I would recommend them. Im still going through physio now.

Resistance Stretching exercises. These generally need the help of another person, but some can be performed alone depending on the muscle you are working on etc.. (i.e. you could provide resistance against an object or use a towel etc...) In the end having a helper is the best method.
I take no responsibility for any injury caused by trying these exercise. If in doubt please consult a qualified person/doctor before trying these etc..
These should be done as a gently stretching and not a challenge to show off how strong you are as this may cause injury. Probalby start off really gently, then as you become more experienced, you may be able to increase the pressure, but these exercises should not be painful (unless thsi is post injury where I would be very cautious about attempting any such exercise without proper training).
Background:
These stretches are based on taking advantage the way the muscles work in unison. i.e. for every muscle in the body there is at least one apposing muscle (think of Bicep and Tricep).
There are fours exercises in total.
As the OP was about the Calf muscles, I'll write this based on that, but can be adapted to any muscle.
All calf exercises can be done either on the floor, or on a massage couch etc.. with the patient lying down or seated with legs horizontal. The helper is located facing the soles of the patients feet.
The Helper should explain each exercise and control the duration (count outloud).
1/ The first exercise is designed to work the opposite muscle which in turn should cause the calf muscle to relax.
With the foot roughly in the central point (in-between point and fully lifted) the foot should be held on top by the helper and the patient should work against the pressure but whilst the foot remains static. This is NOT a test of streangth, the idea is the cause the calf muscles to relax. This is held for a count of 10, then the patient relaxes. As they relax the helper should gently move the foot up, taking the calf muscle to it's full stretch. Note this position for reference. Hold this full streatch for a few seconds then release.
Repeat 3-4 times.

2/ Muscles work by continually contracting an relaxing, even when you hold a static position against a pressure, individual muscles sections are contracting and relaxing continually. This execrcise extends this further by stretching whilst working against a pressure.
Again with the foot at about the mid-point the helper applies pressure against the patient pushing down. Then the patient needs to ease the pressure so that the helper is able to slowly push the foot to it's full extension then hold this for a few seconds before relexing. Again this is done GENTLY. It may be easier to cup one hand under the heal to give better control.
3/ By working the Calf muscle then relaxing it, it is possible to increase the stretch.
Gently push the foot so that the calf is fully extended (Patient MUST relax). This is your Starting position. Now HOLD this position against the patients pressure for a count of 10, then the patient relaxes. As the patient does so gently stretch the calf further. This is your new starting position. Again have the patient apply pressure whilst the position is held for a count of 10, then stretch again to a new position. This should be repeated 3-4 times in total.
4/ Reverse of 2.
Pressure is applied to extend the foot. The patient lets the helper 'win' slowly. Once the foot is fully extended, the patient relaxes and helper stretches the calf to the full extent. Repeat 3-4 times.

Note:
It will also help if some massage if given pre & post these stretching excercises. After concentrate on aiding the removal of toxins towards the heart. Next installment maybe I can give some techniques here.
This was done from memory (from many yers ago), but somewhere I have notes on this and will try and dig these out when I have a minute so I can update this post.

Hello I saw your post ,did you get any treatment for the pain?I`m a massage therapist,15 yrs experience in Canada, Asia and Europe .I am living in Zurich and am working privately here.If you are interested,drop me a line.Have a good one

Thanks to everyone who replied, I really appreciate it and it's great to know that when your in trouble there is someone who can help here.

After only 1 massage session, I am feeling much better and can walk around with much less pain. I think that it will heal itself in the coming days / weeks.

Hello Kyo,

It might be a bit late, but if you still have problems with your calfs then you should try "The Stick" which is a great way to treat and massage your muscles yourself. It has helped me a lot with a knee injury but is also great for preventing injuries and improving recovery.

www.thestick.ch

Three posts in one day, all on old threads and promoting one product: sounds a bit fishy. It may be that the product is great but if you want to promote a product that you're selling, why not use the appropriate forum: commercial?

Just trying to help Ziger... The other thing I can recommend that I found very useful is osteopathy, I think these guys do miracles when traditional doctors cannot help. But that advise seems already covered. I am neither an employee of The Stick or an osteopath ;-)