Injury of the Week: Achilles Tendonitis

For the spelling police: *"prevalent"

I also don't think it helps that I'm on my feet 8 hours a day in crappy work shoes.

If I take a week or two off, how soon should I get back to the same mileage I was running? I don't have to start completely over, do I?

Why do you keep running on pavement and concrete if you're so injury prone?

I have battled achilles problems twice, and it ended up lingering and affecting my training for weeks each time because I was stubborn. It did eventually go away, but in hindsight I would have rather taken a week or two completely off and been done with it rather than 6 weeks of bad training. If I were you I'd do nothing for 7 days, then maybe cross train for a few and then start running. Don't worry, you won't lose much fitness at all.

txRUNNERgirl wrote:

I like the flats because they've helped with my stress reaction. I'm a forefoot striker, so I didn't think I would get achilles tendinitis. I think the main cause has been running too many hills on concrete and roads.

We warned you in a previous thread about you wearing flats. Flats will not prevent injuries, they'll make you more efficient, possibly more injury resilient, but they'll emphasize whatever muscular imbalances you already have.

(PS. I base this on no hard facts, just experience)

Last thing I want to do is advocate POSE, but there is research there that ties "forefoot" striking with increased stress on the Achilles tendon.

Take it easy. You're not a good runner (nor am I). If you can't take 4-6 weeks to heal this up completely, and not be totally pissed off that you can only run 1/3 to 1/2 of what you're doing now, you need to get your head checked / set your priorities straight.

PS. Consult a professional for rehab advice. Eccentric loading sounds great and all, in theory is works, but in practice you can do more harm than good.

txRUNNERgirl,

I can make you forget about your tendonitis, but it involves lengthy sessions of making out with me. It's the only way.

pjb wrote:

For the spelling police: *"prevalent"

Sorry son. You do the crime, you do the time.

I will actually second that. Eccentric loading early on seemed to prolong rather than help to cure my injury. Now that I have eased off of it I am pretty much sans pain. I'm not saying that it doesn't work, I'm just telling you about my experience.

I know it sounds strange, but I have also had very good results with acupuncture. It really helped to get the swelling and stiffness down.

Good thread so far, but I think one thing that is important is that there is no perfect formula. It is highly individual and will vary. Also, how it responds will also vary. For example, I do believe in ART therapy as part of the treatment protocol for people with tight calves causing the problem, but for the rare runner who does not have tight calves who winds up with an Achilles injury, ART may not work.

I am currently working on getting up a whole section on Achilles tendinopathies on my website. It is very much a work in progress and by no means complete (both, the web site itself and the Achilles info - I need to finish the text and add photos), but I do have enough on there that you may find it useful. Please check it out (you may have to click on Injury Resources if it does not load up), and ask me any questions you may have. It is just easier for me to refer people there than type everything out again.

It is interesting that you have had problems all on that side before, and this really suggests to me that something is "off" on this side. It may be anywhere from the foot to the pelvis, and it is possible that over the course of time you have changed your running form around (ever so slightly) to minimize pain in one area, and that just shifts the stress to another area. In this case, it is your Achilles tendon.

As far as acupuncture goes, somebody who I have been corresponding with who has a long-standing case of Achilles tendinosis just started acupuncture and has been very pleased with the results. I am not advocating it as the cure-all treatment, but it may be something to consider, along with everything else, since a few have mentioned it.

Wear high heels for a few days to keep you from running or irritating your tendon going up stairs.

Or put a heel lift in all your shoes. Once I used a crushed styrofoam cup. Anything.

The idea is to remind yourself not to leap out of a chair and run up the stairs.

Tom

NO on the high heels. It only aggravated my Achilles tendinitis.

tx-

i am suffering thru achilles tendonitis right now also. i am on my second week off of no running. my achilles hurts in the morning when i wake up. until i stopped running, it just hurt a little more each day. now it is hurting a little less each day. this 2nd week it is starting to feel a lot better.

i also have been running a lot of hills.

before i stopped running and the first week stopped, i did a lot of icing and ibuprofen, it seemed to help some at first, but after a week i eased off, because it didn't seem to help as much as basically ceasing the running.

instead of running, i've been pool running 5 days a week for an hour each session (2 weeks now). i've read good things about pool running maintaining your running fitness. i'll find out eventually how good it is when i start running again. the pool running is doing something cause my legs feel like they got a workout when i'm done, but they feel fresher and not as fatigued as after a hard run. i'm not sure yet how much fitness it will maintain, but it's better than sitting on your butt and eating ice cream. and like i said, my achilles is getting better each day, not worse, so it's not hindering my recovery.

also i had a 1 hour massage this week on both my legs. the therapist also did some stretching of my legs. i think it helped in the sense of trying to help address other areas that might be contributing (e.g. tight hamstrings, low flexibility) to poor form which perhaps your calf muscles might be trying to compensate for.

so...

1. stop running!!

2. try to pool run or some other XT

3. ice/ibuprofen as needed (but i think this should be for a limited timeframe)

4. get a massage (or even self massage your calves)

5. try to stretch gently every day

6. phase running back in slowly only after pain has gone away (maybe even wait a few days longer)

my 2 cents...

Yeah I agree with that. Not only did it not help my tendonitis, it got me severely beaten outside of a Walmart in Alabama.

renaissance girl wrote:

NO on the high heels. It only aggravated my Achilles tendinitis.

to the dude that said is it normal to have some slight "pain" when first returning I'd say yes. I remember when I had some bad achilles pains I was normally very good the first few days, but eventually there would be one day where I'd be sort of hurting and thinking I was tearing it so to speak (thats the best way I think I can describe the feeling). But on that one or two times the tendon was fine immediatly following said tearing. I mean perfectly fine too, sure I iced, but the achilles felt damn good after that episode and stayed that way. I concluded it was cause I was ripping apart scar tissue and thus regain strength / flexibility in the tendon.

seems to make sense. can anyone back that up?

achilles tendon sucks for me wrote:

to the dude that said is it normal to have some slight "pain" when first returning I'd say yes. I remember when I had some bad achilles pains I was normally very good the first few days, but eventually there would be one day where I'd be sort of hurting and thinking I was tearing it so to speak (thats the best way I think I can describe the feeling). But on that one or two times the tendon was fine immediatly following said tearing. I mean perfectly fine too, sure I iced, but the achilles felt damn good after that episode and stayed that way. I concluded it was cause I was ripping apart scar tissue and thus regain strength / flexibility in the tendon.

Does anyone have any advice for me if I am at the point that there's really no pain, but my achilles is still stiff in the A.M. and sometimes has a slight dull ache?

bump

Oh yes, and when should I start seriously stretching it again? Basically the pain is gone but it still feels stiff and consequently a little sore especially in the AM.