Achilles Tendonitis: Minimalist or Support Shoe?

I was running in minimalist shoes for two full years and developed achilles tendonitis in both feet. I tried several different "minimalist" shoes and they never got better. I switched to the Mizuno Elixir which helped a little. When I added the Blue Superfeet insole to the Mizuno Elixir the pain went away almost immediately. Now, just looking at a minimalist shoe makes my achilles ache. I will never run in a minimalist shoe again. I have nothing against them, or people who preach minimalism, it just didn't work for me. Good Luck! I do not wish AT on anyone.

The thing about minimalist shoes is that you will probably need to adjust your form. If you don't, don't expect for your injuries to go away. I used to have achilles tendinitis, and when I switched to lower-drop shoes, I noticed that regular running shoes had trained me to land with my feet too far in front of my center of mass, so that I could "roll into" my foot strike. Now I run in zero offset shoes, and this has allowed me to plant my feet better, thus my tendinitis has gone away. On top of that, running in minimalist shoes makes your lower legs stronger, which I would tend to think makes you relatively less likely to get injured or stay injured.

First, you need to let your achilles tendon heal. This means putting less stress on it. That means resting for a while and getting a shoe with a higher heel and/or more support. Warning: This can take a *long time* :(

Once you're past the acute phase of injury, minimalist shoes could, in theory, offer some benefit by helping to stretch out your calves and related tissues. More limber calves exert less stress on your achilles tendon, meaning you could avoid a relapse. But minimalist running in general puts more stress on your achilles, so...kind of a catch-22. If you go minimalist, go slowly and carefully.

I tried to do this with my achilles problems, but I think my calves are just too...short. Concerted stretching and strengthening campaigns have helped, but I still run into problems if I try to run in something with too low a heel drop.

With achilles issues perhaps more than others, YMMV.

Some people's bodies can handle it, and some can't. Whichever camp you're in, proceed with caution.

I would say, buy some minimalist shoes and where them around. I would tend to think that standing flat-footed might take some of the pressure off of the points of tension that have come about by running in shoes with higher offsets. If you had tendinitis from running with minimalist shoes, I would tell you to walk around in higher-offset shoes.

Also, I don't know how bad your tendinitis is, but in my experience, continuing training with lower volume can be the best thing to do. If you are totally shot, that's another thing...

As someone who worked through a multi-year battle with achilles tendonitis I would agree with most of what lolzzek said. I like running in minimalist shoes. However, I have found that I have to be consistent about hamstring and calf stretching and strengthening to stay free of achilles problems. A surprising amount of the problem is often attributable to tight hamstrings putting additional stress on the calves which then manifests as achilles inflammation.

ASTYM and foam rolling was a huge help to me....

I developed it from sprinting in minimalist shoes. Now those are the only shoes I can wear with no pain, but forget top speed in them.

minimalist x 100000!

Go barefoot!

Minimalize me baby wrote:

The thing about minimalist shoes is that you will probably need to adjust your form. If you don't, don't expect for your injuries to go away. I used to have achilles tendinitis, and when I switched to lower-drop shoes, I noticed that regular running shoes had trained me to land with my feet too far in front of my center of mass, so that I could "roll into" my foot strike. Now I run in zero offset shoes, and this has allowed me to plant my feet better, thus my tendinitis has gone away. On top of that, running in minimalist shoes makes your lower legs stronger, which I would tend to think makes you relatively less likely to get injured or stay injured.

I really love how many minimalist preachers say that traditional shoes causes injuries, but when people get injuried when wearing minimalist shoes, it´s something wrong with their form or training.

Public Hair wrote:

I developed it from sprinting in minimalist shoes. Now those are the only shoes I can wear with no pain, but forget top speed in them.

Should I gradually transition into minimalist shoes and then run in them full time?

I hurt my achilles a few weeks ago and bought some Hoka One Ones. They look ridiculous and they're not a miracle cure, but I can run

wel,l wrote:

I really love how many minimalist preachers say that traditional shoes causes injuries, but when people get injuried when wearing minimalist shoes, it´s something wrong with their form or training.

Or they'll say you didn't transition slow enough.

Injury free for years wearing regular shoes. Suffered serious calf strain after slow gradual switch to minimalist shoes.

lahwf wrote:

Should I gradually transition into minimalist shoes and then run in them full time?

If you like them. Calf strength, calf/hamstring/foot flexibility, and support when doing stuff that can give it acute strain are all important.