I hate achilles tendonitis.

in my experience with achilles tendonitis, an important part of the healing process was actually continuing activity, just less of it. complete rest did nothing for it. the achilles doesn't get much blood flow so it takes a very long time to heal. if you do light jogging (every other day was best in my case), it might actually heal faster than if you did absolutely nothing. i'm not sure how severe you're case is, but once the swelling goes down a little bit, i would try jogging every other day. also, try to avoid hills. i tried to do most of my jogging on the treadmill. and make sure to ice afterwards. good luck!

OP you need to work on your plantar flexion of your foot.

Those little muscles on the front of your lower leg, yeah getting those big and juicy prevents AT pretty well.

downside is possible compartment syndrome but CS is better than AT. AT ends careers and can ruin your life post training. Compartment syndrome is very painful but the risks are still pretty low, and you can always get simple surgery for CS.

I used to have AT bad, could barely run. Worked my lower leg muscles, fixed my form, plantar flexion at landing and push off, and did static weights to improve my shin muscle.

- wrote:

Dude, your just a fail. I go up 150% in one week and I always mess up my achilles badly and I couldn't care less. Go run barefoot on grass and grow a pair. All I can say(and this is good advic coming from me trust me).

Yeah yeah yeah. The whole "nut up or shut up, man up and stand up, grow a pair, etc" mentality works until you realize you ignored warning signs, pushed through discomfort, and guess what. Now you turned a 1 or 2 week injury into a 6 month injury because you were too damn stubborn to listen to your body. A little AT turns into a full-blown tear because you "grew a pair". I hope you aren't a coach. Have a nice day troll.

And to everyone else, thanks for the advice. Greatly appreciated.

I've been dealing with this hassle on and off for years. When I have the injury, it's not from adding too much mileage too soon; it just comes out of nowhere. For example, this year I ran 3 marathons, Boston, San Francisco and Edmonton, with no trouble at all (even though those last two marathons were 3 weeks apart). Then a couple of weeks ago I was doing a harmless, slow 10k after work. I showered, sat down to drink some water, and when I stood up to walk, the pain was unreal. I couldn't walk without a limp for 4 days. That was 2 weeks ago and I haven't run since then, on the advice of my PT. I had to cancel my flights and hotels for the St. George marathon.

I don't know about you, but my pain is very low, at the point of insertion. It NEVER hurts while I run, only afterward, or the worst is when I wake up in the morning. I don't know what to do, but I can't keep training year after year in fear of this happening again. I have an appt to see an "Athletic Therapist" (whatever the hell that is) next week to get a second opinion.

I very much like the idea of running lightly every other day just to keep the blood moving down there. It's not the first time I've been told this; and mostly I am getting sick of not running.

I am just finishing recovering from AT. It's taken three months to get to full time running again. First take some rest, but this should include walking. The walking will help the blood flow. I worked on the treadmill and felt like I was actually getting somewhat of a workout with a 6% incline at 4.5 miles per hour, but still a walk. Added eccentric stretches, ran easy for a week, back to walking for a week and again some easy running and now after three months can run full time. But I am still a little paranoid and keep up the stretching and have run very little speed work. 4x 1/4 or 2 x 1/2. with easy running before and after. Now up to 30 miles per week, expect to be up to 50 - 60 before too long. Just keep hoping what I am doing is right.

I don't like you either. Now who's the jerk?

Anyone ever tried mendmeshop ultrasound? I have had this AT problem for as long as over six years now. Every time I get into the rhythm of 50miles per week or more, the problem starts. Right now I do have AT as well as patellar Tendonitis. It is very painful but I still do about 7 to 8 miles five days a week in the morning-all in the trails. Ten or so minutes after start, the pain always subsides. But when I wake up in the morning, it is excruciating.

Daniel Komen wrote:five days a week in the morning-all in the trails.

Try getting away from the trails for some time. For a healthy achilles trail running is good, but when you already have AT, running on trails will make it worse

You mean resting for a while? Perhaps I can do that. But if you mean to change to other surfaces, I have to say that I have tried all surfaces and the best so far is dirt/pine leaves trails. It is on a rolling terrain so I get to go up small/short hills as well go up.

I had it and went to PT. The therapist told me it was caused by tight calf muscles. The tendon connects the muscle to the heel bone, and my calves were tight therefore constantly pulling on the tendon until it became inflamed. So aggressive stretching of the calves helped me a lot. Jimson Lee has some good stuff on AT on his website www.speedendurance.com

I have battled insertional achilles pain for 6 years.

Eccentric calf stretches is the common first recommended reparative therapy. Here is link to the original research.

http://ajs.sagepub.com/content/26/3/360.abstract

Didn't work for me although I frequently read / hear from people for whom it works. I tried many things that didn't help.

Changing my running form and a great chiropractor skilled in ART & Graston techniques have been the solution for me and others.

Not sure if you have midpoint Achilles tendonitis or insertional Achilles tendonitis. Either way, I've written posts on each. If you aren't doing eccentric heel drops, you really should be.

http://runningwritings.blogspot.com/2011/08/injury-series-eccentric-exercise-and.html

http://runningwritings.blogspot.com/2011/09/injury-series-flat-eccentric-heel-drops.html

Here is what I posted in another forum about AT. I have been dealing with it for the four years of my college career now. I have found that professionals offer no assistance (at least in my area).

Stretch your calves, roll your calves, strecth them again, repeat forever. It's a tough issue I have been dealing with for years now. I suggest doing the toes on the edge of the step and letting your heels drop method.

Also, ice it like a mother. Take Aleve (try ibuprofen too if you prefer). Honestly, only Aleve was able to bring my inflamation down.

At night and whenever I am sitting I wear a foot brace. (

http://www.amazon.com/Plantar-Fascitis-Night-Splint-Brace/dp/B001PB07S8/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1316151517&sr=8-2

) This prevents the tendon from relaxing and then tearing when I try to walk. Also, I never walk around barefoot. I always have shoes on because it has an elevated heel.

At first, I tried the strengthening approach, but it just got worse and worse until I really hurt myself and I had to hang up the shoes for 3 weeks. I think if you do all of the above, you can maintain it, but I honestly believe (after receiving no help from a myriad of professionals) that it is just a bio-mechanical issue that we were born with. No fix.

Yes, I am running. My achilles is permanently swollen. I built up a large bone deformation on my calcaneous because I ran through it for so many years. I have to slice the back of my shoes to make room for the size of the back of my heel. The swelling will most likely keep returning with increased training. It's something we have to deal with, or get surgery. I may get surgery after my senior year.

My achilles is getting better (I hope). At least it seems that way. Gentle stretching about 20x a time is helping. I will VERY VERY VERY VERY SLOWLY begin to stretch it, reach a tightness and hold for 30s, then slowly slowly go back to neutral.

It must be equal in length/flexibility to your other achilles or you will have even more problems. Don't be concerned about its size, but rather how it feels/flexes. Also, don't press it or squeeze it.

has no-one reccomended eccentric calf stretchs yet? I found they did the trick, managed to get over AT in just two weeks having stoped at the first sign of pain. I also did lots of calf drops and absolutely no running other than a couple of one mile jogs.

Given what other people have been through, I am sceptical if mine was actually AT, but it was extremely painful at first, just went away quickly. I had hamstring tendonitis afterwards as well, less painful, but I tried running through it and it took three months to cleae...

Sorry to bring this topic up from the dead, but I have a question for Norther Star.

I have trouble with my achilles on both sides. The pain originated at the insertion point on both sides.

After 7 month rest now it's much better, but now the pain moves back and forth between the insertion point and the midpoint.

How would you suggest to do the eccentric exercises?

Wish I had more time to write now, but search for some of my post on eccentric calf raises for this. I cannot emphasize enough that if you don't use very heavy weight, these won't be that effect. Good luck!