Achilles Tendinitis

nop2008 · July 2016

Hi!
I've been told I've got AchillesTendinitis and I'm currently waiting to be referred to to a physiotherapist.
Has anybody else experienced this and what exercise do you do?
I currently do one class of HIIT a week (Insanity Class) and 2/3 spin classes.
I'm hoping at the very least I can still do spin

Machka9 · July 2016

I tore (micro-tears) both Achilles tendons in 2002. I couldn't walk or cycle for weeks, and then when I started cycling again, I had to lower my saddle slightly and only spin easily. It was 6 months before I was back to cycling as I had been before.

I did a lot of upper body and core work in that time. On the plus side, I had great abs!

From my understanding the Achilles tendon takes a long time to heal and requires rest. However, wrapping it can help (there's a special way to tape/wrap an Achilles tendon, which I had to learn). And there is some evidence that alternating between heat and ice can help a bit. Your physiotherapist should be able to advise you. Meanwhile, I'd suggest resting for now, until you see your physiotherapist.

nop2008 · July 2016

Thank to ever so much. That's really helpful x

danielleiwilliams7 · July 2016

I have just finished PT for this treatment. Mobilization/massage (I like using a lacrosse ball) followed by stretching exercise. On a stair, lift up on your toes on the affected leg, then push your heel down past 180 degrees, use your other leg to push back up to standing. Recommended 90 reps a day. I do way less but have already found some relief. Also orthotics in my shoes (I have flat feet). And for me compression socks while running seem to lessen the post workout pain which I ice immediately after!

danielleiwilliams7 · July 2016

Oh and I do Crossfit so I didn't completely rest but eliminating jump rope, box jumps and running for a few weeks. Am now doing all of those though not fully healed, it is not nearly as debilitating. There is debate about complete rest, some training Aids in the healing process and I'm on a weight loss mission so total rest was not an option!

mkakids · July 2016

I went through this last winter. I could walk, but was in pain, for a month. Then I started walking for exercise (slow and short at first)...then moved on to running (which was my exercise of choice prior to injury).

Once I was cleared to walk as exercise, I also started doing some upper body lifting again.

I was able run after about 10 weeks.

Djproulx · July 2016

nop2008 wrote: »

Hi!
I've been told I've got AchillesTendinitis and I'm currently waiting to be referred to to a physiotherapist.
Has anybody else experienced this and what exercise do you do?
I currently do one class of HIIT a week (Insanity Class) and 2/3 spin classes.
I'm hoping at the very least I can still do spin

As a runner and cyclist, I have suffered achilles tendonitis on a number of occasions. I think a PT visit will be very helpful in determining the cause of the tendon pain. As far as treatments and exercises: You can't typically "run through it" or tendonitis can become a chronic recurring issue. So I would stop the movements causing your discomfort until you get some guidance from the therapist. As far as treatment, I do both stretching and self massage. The stretch described above by @danielleiwilli is a good one, balancing on a stair with your front half of the foot on the stair and the heel hanging over the edge. Raising and lowering helps to strengthen the muscles. Don't do this if you are in pain, though! Another good achilles stretch is performed as follows: Face a wall and put both hands on the wall straight in front of you at shoulder height. to stretch the right Achilles, place left foot closer to the wall and right foot slightly back. While palms are pressed against the wall, put the pressure on your right heel (not the ball of the foot) and bend the right knee forward by pushing your right glut towards the wall. Feel the Achilles stretch. Then reverse to the other side. Reverse to stretch the left achillles tendon. I do this stretch before and after every run or workout.

As far as massage, a self massage is easy to do. To provide some cross friction to the irritated area, I take a sitting position, and pinch the achilles lightly between my thumb and middle finger. Gently rub (wiggle) the achilles back and forth between your fingers, moving up and down the tendon. The idea is to put some cross friction on the fibers to get them to "lay down" and relax. A lacrosse ball can be used on the calf muscles, but I get better results on the achilles by using my fingers. Finally, I will also apply Bio Freeze to the Achilles to obtain temporary pain relief when I have mild symptoms.

Hope that helps.

BrianSharpe · July 2016

I just started running again about 6 weeks ago after taking time off to recover from the same thing.

My RMT had me spend a lot of time stretching my calf and applying heat / foam rolling the painful side along with a few ART sessions and shockwave therapy (hurt like crazy but helped a lot)

I had no problem keeping up my riding but +1 on keeping the cadence a little higher.

I also stumbled across an article in Runners World that suggested the "epidemic" of Achilles tendon / PF problems may be exacerbated by shoe manufacturers reducing the heel to toe drop in newer iterations of shoes (lo & behold the newer version of my long term shoes had reduced their drop by 2mm...)

nop2008 · July 2016

Djproulx wrote: »

nop2008 wrote: »

Hi!
I've been told I've got AchillesTendinitis and I'm currently waiting to be referred to to a physiotherapist.
Has anybody else experienced this and what exercise do you do?
I currently do one class of HIIT a week (Insanity Class) and 2/3 spin classes.
I'm hoping at the very least I can still do spin

As a runner and cyclist, I have suffered achilles tendonitis on a number of occasions. I think a PT visit will be very helpful in determining the cause of the tendon pain. As far as treatments and exercises: You can't typically "run through it" or tendonitis can become a chronic recurring issue. So I would stop the movements causing your discomfort until you get some guidance from the therapist. As far as treatment, I do both stretching and self massage. The stretch described above by @danielleiwilli is a good one, balancing on a stair with your front half of the foot on the stair and the heel hanging over the edge. Raising and lowering helps to strengthen the muscles. Don't do this if you are in pain, though! Another good achilles stretch is performed as follows: Face a wall and put both hands on the wall straight in front of you at shoulder height. to stretch the right Achilles, place left foot closer to the wall and right foot slightly back. While palms are pressed against the wall, put the pressure on your right heel (not the ball of the foot) and bend the right knee forward by pushing your right glut towards the wall. Feel the Achilles stretch. Then reverse to the other side. Reverse to stretch the left achillles tendon. I do this stretch before and after every run or workout.

As far as massage, a self massage is easy to do. To provide some cross friction to the irritated area, I take a sitting position, and pinch the achilles lightly between my thumb and middle finger. Gently rub (wiggle) the achilles back and forth between your fingers, moving up and down the tendon. The idea is to put some cross friction on the fibers to get them to "lay down" and relax. A lacrosse ball can be used on the calf muscles, but I get better results on the achilles by using my fingers. Finally, I will also apply Bio Freeze to the Achilles to obtain temporary pain relief when I have mild symptoms.

Hope that helps.

Wow wow wow. Thank you so much for taking the time to tell me all that. I'm actually blown away that someone I don't know would take their time to be so helpful. You're a really wonderful person for doing that and I hope if you ever have a question that needs answering that someone gives you the same help xx

Djproulx · July 2016

.[/quote] Thank you so much for taking the time to tell me all that.[/quote]

YW . I'm simply a fast typist with delicate achilles tendons.

ladipoet · July 2016

I had tendinitis in both Achilles heels tendons several years ago. Doctor recommended stretching it daily so I did. Got myself one of those devices (for example: a smartflexx stretching device, prostretch plus, etc. - I forget what brand mine is but it looks very similar) and stretched both tendons in both heels religiously every day. After a couple of months worth of this, the tendinitis went away and has not recurred since and that was easily 10+ years ago; however, I also don't think my case of tendinitis was as severe as the OP's case may be.

Achilles Tendinitis

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