Achilles Tendonitis - Prevention and Treatment

The Achilles tendon is the muscle at the back of the calf which connects the heel bone to the calf muscle. Famously named after the Ancient Greek here Achilles whose mother Thetis tried to make him invulnerable by dipping him into the river Styx which flowed through the underworld. However, she held him by the heel which the water did not touch, and this spot remained vulnerable. Nowadays we use the term "Achilles Heel" to refer to a person's weak spot. For many athletes and runners today, the Achilles tendon really is their "Achilles Heel".

Symptoms

It's possible for the tendon to become inflamed, and even for it to partiaslly or completely rupture. A complete rupture is normally indicated by being unable to lift your heel off the ground or to point the toes. You may even hear (and will most certainly feel) the pop as it ruptures. Less severe damage is indicated by pain when pointing the foot up or down.

Prevention

The best way to prevent achilles tendon injuries is to warm-up before starting to exercise. The next time you see pro athletes on TV, watch their routines before the event starts. You'll clearly see lots of stretching of calf muscles, standing on tiptoe and small squat jumps. In some sports events you will probably even see trainers bending the athlete's feet to and fro to stretch the muscles. These are all great things to do before exercising, and if you're prone to Achilles trouble you should do discrete exercises several times a day to strengthen the muscles.

Causes of Achilles Tendinitis

There are a number of reasons for Achilles tendon injuries, many of them working in combination with each other.

Overdoing training
Poorly selected shoes
Different shoes or running surface
Flat feet
Poor gait while running

Treatment

If you've completelt or partially ruptured the tendon, then an immediate visit to A & E will be needed, and you will probably be looking at surgery to re-attach the tendon or sew it back together. If you're lucky, you'll be looking at just a few months in pot. Whatever happens, you won't be doing any serious exercise for at least six months.

For less serious inhuries, you must immediately cut back or stop your training schedule. Muscles cannot recover if you punish them when damaged, and if you do carry on you could end up with a serious rupture. There's plenty of other ways to exercise, swimming and upper-body resistance training in the gym being excellent examples.

If you feel pain after training, apply an ice pack or kold blue bandage immediately. You can also take an anti-inflammatory drug like Ibuprofen or Aspirin.
Bear in mind that you should not take anti-inflammatories for more than a few days - do not exceed the recommended dose.

If after a few days you're still in pain then go see a doctor.

And finally, try and address the root cause of the problem. Make sure you have correctly fitting shoes and use a pair of cushioned insoles specifically designed for sport. These are available from High Street chemists, but are considerably cheaper from a specialist supplier. If that doesn't help, try and get your doctor to refer you to a podiatrist for a specialist opinion.

So that's it, ease up and address the cause or carry on training and make it worse. Think long-term.

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Intelligent Shoe Advisor