Achilles tendonosis what to do

Do you mean stiffness or actual pain when running? If you are in pain then you need to stop running. Tendons take a long time to recover so you are looking at 6 months or more. Been there.

Yeah pain when running, and sometimes when doing calf raises as well.

In winter 2022 I got to a point where it was only a 1/10 or 2/10 pain (a lot lower than before) and I could manage it but recently it’s been a lot more painful and stuff when running or walking

You’re doing all the wrong stuff. This works…

sportsinjuryclinic.net

Achilles Tendonitis Exercises - Hakan Alfredson’s heel drop protocol

@astonornewkitchen2017b

Achilles tendonitis exercises which have proved most successful for chronic Achilles pain - are the Hakan Alfredson's heel drop protocol.

Link:www.sportsinjuryclinic.net/sport-injur...

Won’t these just have the same effect as calf raises/isometric calf holds?

I followed the heel-drop protocol for tendinitis/tendinosis and it helped me. It sucks to be in pain and off running with no timeline in sight, but hopefully this is something you haven't tried that would help.

Negative, just the opposite. I’ve suffered from Achilles tendinitis for close to 10 years, on and off. Tried everything, to the point of a doctor putting me in a boot for 6 months and then recommending surgery…

until, I caught wind of this exercise. thank God. works just the opposite of calf raises. What’s needed is for your tendons to re-align themselves cause right now they are like spaghetti. do these exercises correctly, 3X/Day, and you never need to stop running, from my experience.

Yeah it does suck. I’ve had this for years now but this is the worst instance so far. Every physio has just told me to do more calf raises, but I don’t get how doing calf raises or heel drops actually generates new tendon. Surely this only just makes your calves stronger?

Just seen this, I see- I’ll give it a go. Thank you!

The idea is to drop down, over time, faster and stronger on one ankle…and use your other leg to get you back into the starting position (calf fully raised). therefore, all the work is being done on your downward movement (fully lowered with ankle off the edge of your step)

You want to do eccentric heel drops instead of calf raises. Raise up with the good leg and drop down on the bad leg.

And is it worth doing on both legs or is that just a waste of time?

It will work for you. 3 sets of 30. Go easy at the beginning, and you may feel like it’s getting worse, but really you are just realigning your tendons to heal correctly

No.

Absolutely do it for both legs, one leg at a time. set of 30 on right, then set of 30 on left. repeat. Make sure you are exerting ZERO effort raising your calf back up for the next rep (That’s what the other leg is for)

Its not known why the negatives work better than raises. Indeed as you mentioned, some question whether it isnt just increased strength? As opposed to some sort of re alignmnet of collagen or stretching effect or combination. The studies that were done do massive amounts of reps. Far more than most anyone would do on their own. It was around 180 reps per day--90 per foot. I would learn them correctly from day 1.

There are several trials going on.

I take that back, I’m assuming both Achilles are bad…only do the exercise if you are feeling tendinitis or swelling in the Achilles. I don’t do this when my Achilles is ok.

1) Heel drops, morning/noon/night. Start at 10 a session, work up to > 100/day.

2) Activity... test regularly, walk as much as you can tolerate. Try slow running every 2nd day, stop immediately at pain. Over time, start running into the pain/discomfort a little.

3) Time. This takes a few months to fix.

It's so interesting. People have had Achilles trouble forever yet there isn't good consensus on what's best to do. Years ago when I hadn't experienced pain I heard friends advising other friends. Some said heel drops are very important. Others said to absolutely avoid heel drops because it will do more damage.

I'm currently in PT for Achilles pain and so am hearing from professionals in the field. My podiatrist says to NOT do heel raises. My PT asked how, after being in a boot for 2 weeks, am I supposed to regain strength in the weakened calf? After 4 weeks of PT the podiatrist said I could go on easy runs. My PT asks how I'm supposed to handle a run if I haven't done much to strengthen the calf. Neither the PT nor the podiatrist has suggested heel drops. But the PT has me stretching the calf, both with straight and bent leg leaning against the wall. Seems similar to heel drops but not quite as strong a stretch.

Reading Google, there are a lot of strong opinions. It's all very confusing.

A question for you: why only do heel drops when feeling tendinitis and not year round? That really doesn't make sense to me but perhaps you have an explanation.

What surface were you running on?