Any advice on how to get rid of a nagging achilles injury? It can become very sore just above the calcaneous. It is tender to the touch, slightly thickened. Maybe it had a partial tear and has healed with some fibrous adhesions? Not really sure. Wondering if anyone could suggest any rehabilitative modalities such as ART,myofascial, or anything else. I appreciate it
i also had an wicked achilles problem when i was still doing triathlons on a full time basis. i went to a physio and all he did was treat the inflamed area. i saw this guy for 3 months straight and it didnt seem to get any better. finally is had to pull the pin on the whole racing season and just rest (read that as sitting on the patio, drink and get a nice boiler around my waist).
after a few months of “rest” i went to go see and rolfer and she did a total body check, gate, structure, posture etc and she said “the problem isnt in you foot, its in your hip.” huh? explain? while the “problem” showed up in my achilles but the source was in my hip. due to tight glutes and TFL, i had a nasty femoral anti-version (my leg was rotated outwards) and becuase of this, my achilles was getting inflamed.
this was by no means ment as a slam for physios or a prop for rolfers, as we have discussed here before, there are good and bad of both out there. the key is, like dazed mentioned, making sure they check out the entire form and function of the body. you way be feeling it in the achilled, but it may be originating somewhere else in your structure.
For the first 3 weeks i would dramaticly reduce the loads on the leg
A brief outline
week 1
pool work, use flipper or vest to do running exercises in water.
Avoid running and jogging
week 2
If you can fully extend the foot, by standing on the toes without pain. Begin jogging.
week 3
Start progressing from a jog to a run.
Other therapy
Thermal heat wraps, for the lower limb improve tendons ability to stretch( avoid first 3 days)
after training sessions use ice massages and hot/cold treatments to reduce the swelling.
Keep us up to date with your progress
Most importantly get to a physio who can address the situation from a holistic point of view. The symptoms have manifested in the achilles but is most unlikely thats where the problem is and no matter how much you treat it or rest it, it won’t get better. Problem is likely to be in calf muscles (not just the superficial ones either) or the foot. Do your self a favor and get it checked out.
When seeking a physio, check out them first
e.g
experience with athletes
experience in managing achillies injuries
check other athletes experience with him/her
I appreciate your advice. I felt it was possible that I have some form of adhesions in the gastroc, possibly the soleus. Looking for someone here in Michigan who is worth a damn. Might go see Mike Prebeg in Toronto. I have seen him work on a few people and he seems good. He is a Chiro and a level 2 ART practioner as well as an ART teacher.
Good advice zoom.
you could always take a chance with cortisone in a very low dose. It has been very effective for healing such injuries from what I have seen.
its a fact that such injuries do not heal with rest,you need friction treatment and alot of rehab.also the achilles isa tendon and blood supply to a tendon is poor.essentric heal drops is the key to rehabbing a damaged achilles.trust me on this advice because- i have been there-
thats good advice. rest didnt help me at all, and although friction hurts like a moth@#%@#$@er, zoom is right, not a lot of blood flow down there, and it works.
You could also try doing some eccentric work for the tendon, like … from standing on your toes slooooooowly touch the groung with your heels. At first with two feet, and after a while with one foot.
Sorry zoom, missed you post :)! I had my share of achilles injuries and one thing I’we observed about them is that when you start running again, fast running (not with spikes) generates less pain than slow or sub.max running. I think it’s due to spending less time on the gound.