Achilles tendonitis

[LJ]

Seems I've developed it on a long run yesterday. Any second hand advice to relieve it would be welcome. Its on the right leg, with pain just south-west of the ankle bone that radiates into the back of the achilles. Tried an hour on the bike today and that was too painful.

[pinkpanther]

Hi LJ

Have you tried put ice on it. A few minuets 2-3 times a day they would do good.

[Lardy]

Don't forget that the ice is on there though- I'm always seeing people in work who have left ice on the heel. It goes numb quickly because there is very little tissue cover- it then freezes and you can't feel it because it's numb. Any mountaineers on here will tell you what comes next.
short sessions of ice are probably best initially.
Good luck

[Frankie - B]

Any mountaineers on here will tell you what comes next.

Erm I have some cool Pictures

Lee, try to put something under your heel, inside the shoe, to relieve the strain on the tendon.

And get it checked by a doctor!

[LJ]

Thanks chaps! I'll do all of the above, including getting some sorbothane heel pads.

I guess I was looking for a quick fix voodoo solution that would get me running again today

[into the mist]

Had this very badly after tour of wessex this year. Advice is twofold, firstly RICE (Rest, ice, compress, elevate) and then get hold of some over the counter stong ibuprofen as an anti-inflammatory. Hope it clears up soon- mine had that 'grating' feeling to the touch-

[LJ]

mine had that 'grating' feeling to the touch-

Thats the one

I have had it before but right along the tendon at the back. The pain in this case seems to originate at the side of the tendon which I'm hoping is good news for a quicker recovery.

[RTW]

My advice is to rice it and as it is christmas to also treat the patient with liberal doses of alcohol and food until stupified.

[mrowkoob]

Tendinitis in the achilles tendon is very hard to get rid of. The most common cause. Too much strain ie overtraining. Overdoing the running perhaps LJ? I only have bad news for you. The best cure for tendinitis is.... rest. So no running. If youre not careful and train anway it can turn chronic and you´ll have to live with it so if if this your first time. Take a break. The most annoying part is if you start to run again too early the tendinitis will be back in a flash.
Find a good physical therapist for treatments and training (stretching) programme and if a doctor suggests steroid injection in that area DO NOTagree to this. Start up with ibuprofen 600 mg x3 daily (provided you have no history of stomach ulcers) and good luck to ya

[Sprinter]

LJ, I had AT in my left heel. I read about a woman who made a splint out of cardboard to make sure she kept her foot in a raised position when she slept, thereby letting the tendon heal in with the tendon extended. I didn't want to go that far, but what I did was everytime I woke in the night I flexed the ankle - taking the tendon through the full toes up to toes down motion. I stopped scar tissue building up when the heel is relaxed. I found it worked for me.

Also, don't stretch too hard. The push against the wall stretch is good, but go easy - it's easy to get annoyed and try to stretch away your pain, but it doesn't work.

Now the bad news, I did take 10 days off running and riding. It drove me crazy, but it's worth it.

I'm over that pain, but now I have patella maltracking, caused by my tensor fasciae latae pulling on my IT band which is pulling my knee cap/tendons. The pain is very worrying as I have to run the Tokyo marathon in about 50 days.

[lone wheeler]

Get to the physio quick as you can, bottom of chorley new road Lee. nr beehive pub. The same thing wrecked my season last year, both ankles but mainly right one were creaking, feels awful and bloody hurt too! was painful to walk even. The ice and hot water alternanting does work but isnt pleasant. The creaking by the way is the broken down tendon strands all loose! urgh.

[Lardy]

Check out the research on achilles tendinopathy by Professor nicola Maffuli. He's one of the worlds top TA specialists and writes between 18 and 30 papers a year on it. He works in Stoke..
He's also my mate, luckily.
If you have any problems with any of the words or phrases in the research give me a pm and i will sort you out.
Bear in mind that there is a lot of cack talked on forums (not neccesarily this one, of course) so only take waht you are told by the professionals with anything less than a pinch of salt. TA probs can be a right bugger, especially if the problem is metabolic, which i think most will turn out to be when the research is "complete."
Mosgt of all, Good Luck and do as they say when you pay them......

[LJ]

Thanks Lardy...I had seen his name linked with this issue when I did a google. He's helped many a sportsman with achilles problems including footballer Thierry Henry. I doubt if I phoned him he would want to help out old LJ

The ankle has been on ice today (on and off) and its sore *wince* I have however had this before on a few ocassions. A few years ago I spent a month getting over it in one leg, only to start running again and immediatley getting the problem in the other leg. Two months out!

Its nice to have all your support and share your experiences though, so thanks for this.

[stumpytrunks]

LJ, I have a friend who has a lot of problems with her achilles. I've looked into it for her and was told by the strength and conditioning coach at the institute that the only thing other than rest that can be done is a lot of straight and bent leg calf stretches. Rest is the key. Maybe see a physiotherapist as there may be some issues with flexibility and ankle / knee / hip control. Also maybe see a podiatrist as you might need orthotics.

I'm over that pain, but now I have patella maltracking, caused by my tensor fasciae latae pulling on my IT band which is pulling my knee cap/tendons. The pain is very worrying as I have to run the Tokyo marathon in about 50 days.

I had that this year as well. I found strapping the knee cap so that it is elevated form the soft tissue underneath really helped the pain and let it heal within a week. Could hardly walk before I did that, let alone ride. If you need a few stretches I should be able to help.

[Lardy]

LJ, I'm sure i can sort it out. He refers athletes from UK wide and the odd overseas person to me in Cardiff, often for biomech, insoles and things and stuff...
Try the ice (RICE) stuff first though.