I felt a slight twinge in my achilles back around Christmas and decided to take the day off. I then didn't run the next day either and just stretched and iced. It really felt like nothing, but I wanted to be careful. The next day I went and ran 9 miles as I already scheduled it with a friend I hadn't seen in several years who was home for the holidays. I had been running 7-10 miles per day, so this wasn't anything out of the ordinary. I started feeling my achilles the last mile or so though, and ever since it has been totally messed up. I tried cross-training on the bike and elliptical, but those activities only made it worse.It was so bad I could not walk without making it worse for a while. I've now been lifting weights, swimming, and walking about an hour a day (walking actually seems to make it feel better now). I've also been stretching a lot, doing calf raises, massaging, icing, using my own little ultrasound massager on it, all that for about 3.5 weeks, and it still feels like crap, like if I even jog across the street it flares up and starts hurting.
What the hell is up? I've never had an achilles problem even half this bad. What more can I do to hasten the recovery?
I'm 26 if that matters.