Getting rid of Achilles Tendonitis?

Eccentric heel drops (google it).

ssssssssss wrote:

Eccentric heel drops (google it).

Should I still do them if I feel pain?

I've had success doing it, even if the pain was mild. If it's more than "mild," I'd wait until it feels better.

concentrate wrote:

ssssssssss wrote:

Eccentric heel drops (google it).

Should I still do them if I feel pain?

yes. still do them .

Thanks.

Most people don't want to read long posts, but I know I sure did when I was dealing with achilles issues. YMMV, which is how these things go.

I struggled with my achilles for nearly 9 months. I didn't realize how serious it was, so I kept cutting back for a bit (to like 20 miles/week), start feeling OK, then going back up to 40 miles, start hurting again, repeat. Occasional zero weeks were mixed in.

Finally I took a month and ran about zero miles. I became somewhat more disciplined about the strengthening routine I'd been meaning to do: Serious hip stabilizer and core work (in addition to squats, deadlifts, etc to get generally stronger).

Then, I re-zeroed my mileage. I literally started at 15 miles per week and proceeded per Daniels's suggestion: Run a given mileage for three weeks, and then increase your weekly mileage by one mile for every day of the week you run.

I was running 5x/week at the time, so after three weeks at 15 miles, I bumped to 20 for three weeks, 25 for three weeks, and so on. Only easy running. Occasionally I'd have to stop to do heel dips, but that always worked out any kinks. If I felt any hint of that old pain after a run, I'd take it easy the next day.

Once I got back up to 40 for a few weeks, I realized my Achilles hadn't hurt in a long time. I bumped up to 50 and haven't looked back. Now I've averaged 50 since the beginning of November, with a few 60+ weeks in there, with two or three hard workouts a week.

And I'm in *way* better shape than I was when I got injured, despite the fact that I'd been doing my sporadic low mileage injury thing from Nov 2012 to like Sept 2013. Even though everyone always says this happens, I was amazed at how quickly I got back into shape. It takes a long, long time for your existing base to evaporate, especially once you start running again (even if you're only running 20 miles a week)

Of course, now I have a calf strain to deal with (opposite leg!), but my achilles is dandy. .

So, my advice, which you'll hear from plenty of others:

1) Stop running for now. I'm sorry. It sucks, but not as much as it seems like it will. From everything I've learned about this injury, you will almost certainly only make it worse by trying to run through it. If you take a break now, you'll be in way better shape 6 (or even 3) months from now than if you dick around with this injury.

2) Don't jump right back into the mileage you're used to.

3) Hip and core work! Now!

4) Eccentric heel drops. Lift up with both legs; lower yourself on your injured leg. Pain is fine. Once you can do this with no pain, gradually and carefully start adding in calf strengthening - lift up with your injured leg, for instance.

Icing doesn't give you bloodflow. It's a pointless waste of time and probably just tightens the whole area, which you then tug at when you stand up next. I don't recommend icing.

The boot just helps it heal while a little more stretched. Not terrible, but it still needs regularly bloodflow to heal. Sleep in a splint if you want, sure, but don't wear it during the day.

Wear shoes. Don't pull at your tendon if you don't have to. Going around barefoot is dangerous while it's still healing. You need that little bit of heal lift to make sure you aren't causing micro-tears with every step.

Eccentric drops are the #1 thing you can do to strengthen the area while still stretching it fairly far. I find the bent knee ones to be safer to do correctly than the straight leg ones.

If it's comfortable to walk, then walk. You NEED bloodflow. The achilles takes so long to heal because it barely gets bloodflow. Look at the back of your heel and you'll see it's stark white unless it's swollen. Blood brings to the site of injury all the ingredients needed for it to heal. So do your eccentric exercises and some walking. Jog once jogging is comfortable. Run once running is comfortable. You're looking at a few weeks of walking before you can jog. Then a few weeks of jog/walking before you can run.

I had achilles tendonitis that was quite persistent and wouldn't go away despite my efforts. Someone recommended a local chiropractor to me who performed both active release and the GRASTON technique. I highly recommend seeing someone who is certified in both of these techniques. I went from struggling to run in the summer without a lot of pain to completing a successful cross country season.

Like many have said before, the eccentric drops worked for me.

Shoebacca wrote:

Eccentric drops are the #1 thing you can do to strengthen the area while still stretching it fairly far. I find the bent knee ones to be safer to do correctly than the straight leg ones.

+1 to the bent knees or the one where you sit and lift up (w/some light weights on the end)--a former professional baseball player told me that one while visiting his store.

Also, strengthening glutes, hamstrings and core/balance work helped as well. Check shoes, avoid a stiff heel counter.