achilles tendonitis

[spider solo]

hmmm... I better lay off the way I was doing it till I find out more about it.... I was thinking the whole point was to stretch it so that it would approximate the conditions I would encouncounter for long periods of time on a steep incline with a backpack wearing snowshoes....basically flat footing it up hill under a load.
As oppossed to say bicycling...which I would think would tend shorten it, then do stretches so you could walk normally.

So I guess I was thinking that I would want to elongate the achilles or at least it's ability to go beyond it's normal range.

 

[paul ron]

WOWWWWW down there buddy! Sounds familiar! I had a problem just like you describe, but after doing the Doc, weeks of anti inflamatory shots, custom shoe inserts, and all that my HMO will bear, I finally had to get a new pair of shoes, because the old ones wore out.... Guess what?... the pain just went away like magic. It was the shoes all along. As an experiment I put on my old dogs for a week and the pain came right back, in exactly the same place. Threw those puppies right out.

 

[daxs]

For icing, fill paper cups with water and stick in freezer. to use peel, down the paper and do an ice massage right on the achilles.

And its true, women often develop achilles problems from wearing heels. Carmel has it right, it shortens the achilles.

My problem right now is my knee arthritis. Going down stairs can be painful. Interestingly, I can go out and run 13 miles w/o a problem. Well, I know I am not doing my knee any good. Can't help myself. Addicted to running.

 

[Artex]

For icing, fill paper cups with water and stick in freezer. to use peel, down the paper and do an ice massage right on the achilles.

Another good icing technique is to fill a zip-loc bag with water and freeze it. You can lay down a rolling pin on top while it freezes to make a nice indent for your heel.

 

[giggy]

thanks guys - great suggestions.

 

[DougPaul]

For icing, fill paper cups with water and stick in freezer. to use peel, down the paper and do an ice massage right on the achilles.

One can also get freezable plastic pouches that fit in a modified ace bandage that has a pocket for the plastic pouch at one end and some velcro at the other. Makes it very easy to wrap an ankle (or other body parts) and just ignore it while the ice does its work. No dripping to deal with either.

A drug store item.

Doug

 

[Woody]

I like Drewski's advise the best!

"More beer!! The more beer you drink the less you will run,the better tendonitis will be.."

 

[blacklab2020]

Had a similar problem a few years back. I found that it is highly dependent on the shoes you wear? Do they press or pinch around your ankle at all?

Stretching your calf is excellent advice...

This excersize is similar to that described by UnaDogger, but allows stretching of both calf muscles. I would do this by placing the front of my foot on something like a brick or raise it up against a wall or tree as much as possible with the heel on the ground. (rocks with 45-55 degree inclines are really good) Keep your feet shoulder width apart, the leg you are strecthign should be approximately 1 step forward and legs straight before and during the stretch. Move your hips forward over the leg you are stretching. You can also stretch the outside calf muscle in an almost identical excersize. This time bending the knee of the leg you are stretching somewhat. Again, move your hips forward and as you do this slightly angle your knee toward the inside, you will feel it in the outer part of the calf.

If either muscle is tight it might affect your achilles. Stretch both... and everything else while your at it.

Again, check your boots. I got it from old boots that lost support around my ankle from bending side to side and it started pinching my achilles without me noticing right away.


Calf raises should help. Icing and NSAIDS only seem to abate the pain indicating the presence of inflammation, IMO try to stretch and gradually strengthen the muscle. Tendonitis commonly develops from injured/strained muscles/tendons that become somewhat weak.

Being a climber, I have had a lot of tendonitis and tendon injuries. As a result I have found warm-ups are essential and that stretching is an absolute must and something that I will make myself do everyday and multiple times during an activity, and MOST IMPORTANTLY AFTERWARDS.

Best of luck to you.

Justin

Edit: Ice & NSAIDS are typically useful immediately after an injury to help the healing process. I say to stay away from them while hiking, because I feel they blind you to overuse of the particular muscle/tendon. If you gradually strengthen and stretch the muscle they should not be necessary. If they are necessary it seems that the tendon needs more of a recovery time. If you do hike to the point where you need to ice it, this will be a cycle that continues... strengthen and stretch before a hike... overdo it on the hike injure the muscle ... nsaids and ice, then stretch and strenthin again.. . then overdo it on the hike... and so on. Be Careful & good luck.

 

[sweeper]

Just finishing up with treatment tomorrow. Along with everything else mentioned above I was fitted with orthotics that support the arch and shifts my wieght forward.

 

[dug]

Had it in my teens. It was brutal. Like most tendon "issues", stretch! Hammies and calfs are the biggest. You don't want to tear it, that's an awful injury to come back from.