can someone recommend a foot/ankle specialist around manitoba or saskatchewan (or anywhere else in canada) with specific experience in assessing and helping sprinters and achilles problems.
Get an ultrasound, this can tell if you have any acute tears and how much tendon breakdown you have (tendinopathy).
thanks for replying Sharmer, will take your advice?
what comes next after one knows how much damage is done. Are there any symptoms, that might tell if the damage is irreparable, before one has an ultrasound done? also, might a few niggles here and there daily, while carrying out light exercise(walking, jogging, even standing & sitting) be an indication of an achilles progressively tearing itself down to where the tendon is hanging on by a few threads.
dan phfaff, donovan baileys coach, said when they opened him up and looked at the achilles, after he blew it out playing a pick-up basketball game, that it was just like fishing line tangled up. Do u think it became like that over time to the point where it snapped or that it just became like that after it snapped?
Also, is their any relation between improperly healed foot injuries (such as tears of ligaments & tendons in the ball of foot or unknown stress fractures) and achilles injuries? Basically can unknown foot problems lead to achilles tendonitis.
Mark Witherspoon, Barcelona Olympics, 100-meter semifinal: torn Achilles tendon .Still in peak form, Leroy Burrell injured the arch of his foot and sat out the rest of the year 1992.
I have had bi-lateral achilles pain for 7 years. Given this long duration the ultrasounds scans showed only minor bilateral tendinopathy. A pinch test is a good way to assess the degree of damage. If its sensitive then its likely to be breakdown there. The tendon wont break down to the point where its just hanging on by some threads. The opposite happens with tendinopathy, it thickens. Usually complete ruptures happen to chronically stiff and tight tendons. I wouldn’t worry about having it hanging up by a few threads.
The best treatment of achilles pain is combing the right strengthening exercises with moderate massage through the soleus. Try combining single leg eccentric calf raises with conventional calf raises. Starting with sets of 3 x 10 reps. Stay in flats and keep out of spikes. You can do acceleration work in flats.
Foot problems and AT, when fluid is within the retrocalcenal bursa it can present achilles pain.
thanks for sharing some info and your personal experience sharmer!
now if I could get a name for a good doctor w/experience dealing w/sprinters & achilles injury here in canada, that’d be nice.
Charlie, Number 2, Athletics Coach(canadian I think), where is the top place to treat achilles injuries re: sprinter. in canada, so long as one of you don’t mind chiming in.
I’m thinking and hearing that calgary is the place for rehab. re: sports injuries.
Can someone confirm.
how does fluid accumulate in the retrocalcenal bursa, and is the area in which the fluid collects, located between the top of the heel ball and the achilles tendon area directly across from the ankle?
does this fluid accumulate if one spends too much time trying to maintain technique, form, and speed once they start breaking down at: i.e. full out 60m dash to 80-90m, full out 120 dash to 150-160m dash, in other words does this fluid occur when an athlete pushes too hard after their optimal technique wanes and the last 20-30-40m of a speed/speed endurance run are run at slightly different decelerating technique?
The retrocalcaneal bursa in situated in the feet between the Achilles tendon and the calcaneus (heel bone). With repeated trauma the bursa can become inflammed.
Achilles tendon bursitis is often mistaken for Achilles tendinopathy. I not would try identify one factor that causes this build. Look at the overall intensity of your program.