Post your Achilles Tendon injury and recovery experience story

Bump. This is a good thread.

I know a few posters have had Achilles surgery. Seems like many top runners have had procedures. As I wrote my ortho said year recovery as opposed to podiatrist 6 weeks or so to get back running. Big disparity. Both told me I fall into the group wher conservative treatment doesn't work. I certainly don't want to give up a year I'm rehab. Bye surgeon said rupture is easier than tendoosis. Any advice ?

Please help me. I did one tempo run in racing flats last April and my achilles (I think it's insertional achilles tendonitis because it's at the bottom and KILLING me still. It hurts right where the achilles attaches to the bone way at the bottom of the foot and the bone below hurts too.

I took 5 weeks off initially, which is huge for me. The pain came back after about three 20 minutes runs.

I am only running about once or twice a week now - down from my 100mpw training schedule and I can't even walk properly after getting up.

I have to be up for a couple hours to loosen the leg up. Seems like rest has not helped at all. It sucks.

Last Man, what are you doing for it? I did the heel drops, a TENS unit, DMSO, vitamin C, and ART on the calf, plus no running for 4 months. I cross trained like a beast with pool running, elliptical, and weights. It sucked but I was determined to do whatever was needed to kick this thing's a$$. I dont think rest alone will help it. Mine was insertional as well. I did the heel drops to floor level, not dropping the heel below the level of the toe.

nicky s. wrote:

Last Man, what are you doing for it? I did the heel drops, a TENS unit, DMSO, vitamin C, and ART on the calf, plus no running for 4 months. I cross trained like a beast with pool running, elliptical, and weights. It sucked but I was determined to do whatever was needed to kick this thing's a$$. I dont think rest alone will help it. Mine was insertional as well. I did the heel drops to floor level, not dropping the heel below the level of the toe.

I do a lot of stretching on my calves, self massage on the injury and ice a lot. I'll have to try the heel drops. I tried to do some before but it hurt really bad. I never heard of taking vitamin c for it. That helps a lot?

I had surgery 10 months ago. (I am a 44 yo female) Your ortho guy is correct....a year is more like it. It has been a long road but, worth it. I'm running about 30 miles per week and do once per week "speed session" on the Alter G. Email me if you want more details. Going in I thought I would be able to rush this along but, reality did not play out that way. I wasn't even walking without a limp for 12 weeks and I maxed out everything I could in regards to therapy. I started on an underwater treadmill and then went to the Alter G. I also started doing Graston about 6 mos after surgery to improve the scar tissue remodeling....did wonders.

http://lowerextremityreview.com/article/strategies-for-rehab-after-achilles-tendon-surgery

The link is from Amol Saxsana. I sent him a couple of emails with some questions and he directed me to some of his research. You might find it helpful.

Well it all started with a promising XC season. I was projected to be one of the best runners for the season. It was a lot of pressure, but whatever, I didn't give a fùck. I was killing speed workouts, leaving my teammates in the dust. I was jogging long runs while the others were racing to keep up with me. I felt unstoppable and I was sure I was going to be the best come November.

Around August, a friend showed me a documentary about the industrial production of meat in the US. It literally scared me for life. I decided to become a vegan and picked up Buddhism as a way of life. I became at peace with the world and its injustices. Immediately after becoming vegan and converting into Buddhism, my running suffered. I was falling apart in practice, the guys would leave me in the dust. Everyday in the back of my mind was the horrendous meat packing industry and how vile they treat animals and farmers. I couldn't get the thought of chickens being decapitated, of cows being poked with a large stake (no pun intended) and draining their blood out. It was even interfering with my classes and my grades consequently dropped. Coach took me to see a doctor, and he told me I was anemic and mentally fragile. I started taking iron supplements and started seeing a shrink.

November rolls along and I've been running decently the past week, call it luck. The big day comes and I'm ready to rip a large PR. I'm ready to show the world that I can still be the best. The race starts and I already feel like shit. I try to keep positive, but nothing's working. I go down this hill and I see a dung beetle right in front of me. Being the Buddhist that I am, I quickly step to the side to avoid squishing its poor soul, but I end up rolling my ankle and ripping my Achilles. Just like that, my race is over. My season is over. My career might be over.

Nowadays, I don't have the drive to run anymore. My sedentary lifestyle due to my religion and ethical views on farm animals takes up most of my day. I'm constantly injured, and frankly I'm thinking of quitting the field all together. I never reached my full potential, and I'm okay with that. I am now an active political advocate for the meat industry and farmers rights. I still train with my group and coach, but they are about to drop me. But I refuse to be part of a group that doesn't respect my views on this subject matter.

VA Guy regarding surgery - can't find your email? can you send me your email so i can bombard you with questions? i appreciate it. this is what i am looking for.

my email is

hburden53@aol.com

if you want to email me.

thanks

bump

My achilles problems started at least five years ago. Never stopping always hurting. I've had orthapedics want to cut but won't promise anything.

I've just run a little all while in pain. The best thing so far and it has only been five days is Ktape Pro. I'm a skeptic and the pain is not always gone but it has helped alot. I ran 30 minutes yesterday almost pain free but no pain afterward from the running. I used to limp walking from the car after running. So far so good. Good luck to all.

Question:

Should one roll / stick the Achilles as well as the calf or stay off it?

Thanks

VA Guy wrote:

I know a few posters have had Achilles surgery. Seems like many top runners have had procedures. As I wrote my ortho said year recovery as opposed to podiatrist 6 weeks or so to get back running. Big disparity. Both told me I fall into the group wher conservative treatment doesn't work. I certainly don't want to give up a year I'm rehab. Bye surgeon said rupture is easier than tendoosis. Any advice ?

A year is correct. You'll feel good in half that time, but to be fully healed, it takes around a year. The reason for this, is that the Achilles tendon does not have it's own blood supply, it slowly draws blood from surrounding tissue.

Last Man Standing wrote:

nicky s. wrote:

Last Man, what are you doing for it? I did the heel drops, a TENS unit, DMSO, vitamin C, and ART on the calf, plus no running for 4 months. I cross trained like a beast with pool running, elliptical, and weights. It sucked but I was determined to do whatever was needed to kick this thing's a$$. I dont think rest alone will help it. Mine was insertional as well. I did the heel drops to floor level, not dropping the heel below the level of the toe.

I do a lot of stretching on my calves, self massage on the injury and ice a lot. I'll have to try the heel drops. I tried to do some before but it hurt really bad. I never heard of taking vitamin c for it. That helps a lot?

I wouldn't do massage on the tendon itself. I aggressively massage and roll my calf to loosen up the muscle so it doesn't pull on the tendon. I read about vitamin C so I will have to try it. A PT told me to heat up the injury before therapy and heel drops, and to ice it afterwards. I have started taking cissus caps and they seem to help with the pain. These things are a b*tch of an injury and take a LOT of time.

I am also seeing a specialist in two days so I will let you know what he says and if he has any new ideas. I've had insertional for about 9 months now. It has gotten a lot better and I can walk without pain, but even 1/2 mile of running makes it flair up and I'm in pain the next day.

I'm dying here.

I haven't run in a month trying to get over some horrific PF. The PF pain has gone away (though still have a mess of lumpy, creaky tissue in the foot) but the last week or two my achilles has gotten progressively worse.

I haven't even been able to walk without limping the last 5 days. I'm not running or anything but this achilles thing has sprung out of nowhere and is FAR worse than the PF because it hurts all day long.

The last few days I've had dry needling and TENS at the PT but it's not getting better at all.

This just seems absurd that this has sprung up while doing NO activity at all.

Any advice?

I started having issues in April with insertional tendonitis. Went the typical "I can fix it myself" route, which didn't work, and ended up going to see a foot/ankle specialist which was not helpful other than getting an MRI which confirmed it was tendonitis and not a calcaneal fx or something else. I did physical therapy for about a month, with very little success.

This has been the biggest help to me so far: I got clip in pedals for my bike, I started biking 3-4 days a week for 60-75 minutes. I don't know if I've strengthened my hamstrings (which have both been strained in the past), glutes, evened out some imbalances, etc....but after 1 month of increasing biking and holding back on running a bit, I was able to run 20-30 minutes 3x a week. I do a 15 minute walk before running to loosen up, then a 10-15 min walk after to cool down.

I also started doing the eccentric heel drops, 40 with a straight knee and 40 with a bent knee. I've started holding stretches longer, 2x30 seconds for all. Especially focused on stretching the hip flexors and hamstrings. I have made significant improvement over 2 months ago, but still have some pain. If I have pain while I'm running, I stop. Don't be so stubborn. I've hd to tell myself that running an extra 10 minutes or whatever is not worth being sore for a week.

What did not help me at all was NOT doing some activity. Hiking felt good, I went for walks as well, and I did the stationary bike before I got my pedals. Even now, the one day that I take off during the week is the most painful day I have.

Back in 2008 I had an issue with my right achilles tendon. I was training as hard as ever (90mpw) and running my best times so far (25:45 8k). After a 10 mile run in early October, I felt some discomfort in my right achilles. I didn't pay too much attention to it that day, but the next day, the pain hadn't improved and I was limping as soon as I started my morning run. I took a few days off and tried to train again but the pain was still there. I had to call it quits for the rest of the season. I took 2 weeks off and tried to jog again but after a few minutes the pain flared up again.

I ended up taking about 2 months off or so. I didn't cross-train. All I did was the heel drops with some weight on my back.

FYI, the pain was 2 inches or so above the insertion to the achilles. I remember I could feel the creepitus (vibration) when touching my achilles tendon and moving my foot up and down.

Honestly lightweight trainers and racing flats have done a world of good for me.

Totally agree with NOT to stop activities re AT.

As I said in another Achilles Tendon injury thread last week(?), one may be better off keeping some form of exercise to ensure blood circulation through the Achilles tendon while waiting for it to heal. And for those with moderate (not severe) AT injury, there may be a sweet spot mileage range that would allow you to still run w/o worsening the AT injury, though you better not do much, if at all, speedwork during that time.