I’m fed up. I’ve had a bad achilles for about 4 years now. I have tried resting it for a few months, had orthotics made for my running shoes, stretched it, seen a physio, seen a sports masseuse..

Nothing has made the pain go. It has been manageable – I can run pain free but then suffer the following day after a night in bed.

This year, after a half marathon, it caused me enough grief to go see a sports doctor who treats a lot of runners. It’s chronically inflammed and I had a steroid injection into the bursar. I am told that most people can resume light running after a couple of weeks. Great I thought.

Injection seemed to do the trick. Follow up appointment showed that the inflammation hotspots had all but gone and I was walking pain free. Also religiously following stretching programme on achilles, soleus, hamstring…well – just about anything that could be connected.

5 mins very gentle on the treadmill – no pain at the time, or warning that anything was wrong….following day I am walking like I have spent the night with Mr Big on D Wing.

Cycling doesn’t hurt it – But I am itching to run as well.

Anyone got any magical remedies? I feel like I have tried EVERYTHING, and gotten no further down the line…

Ignore the pain and run regardless – you may well find that the pain goes away if you do this enough.

Did you properly follow the eccentric loading program that your physio probably advised?

If the bursitis issue has been correctly diagnosed then no amount of stretching will help it.

Also religiously following stretching programme on achilles, soleus, hamstring…well – just about anything that could be connected.

Have you tried stopping those? Because they might be the thing that is giving you stick and irritating the bursa.

Push for an MRI to get a proper diagnosis.

I had sore achilles for years, I just kept running regardless. Nothing seemed to work and I would split the back of running shoes so nothing touched it (as it was really sore to the touch). They’re ok now, but only as I’ve stopped running completely….

Have a look at this link,

http://www.therapeuticassociates.com/sports-medicine/runners%E2%80%99-morning-heel-pain-understand-it-and-heal-it/

I’m having some success using the Strasburg sock ( when I remember to put it on)

I was diagnosed with a partial Achilles tear (not ruptured) two months ago. I spent six weeks in a orthopaedic boot which I used at work. And when this was removed I was told to do the physio exercises which I will take a photo of if needed? It’s still very tender walking uphill and stairs.

My consultant has said it can take many months for Achilles injuries to heal. My Mum ruptured hers playing football and spent six months off work.

Ask for a ultrasound scan of the tendon.

I’ll preface this with that I am not a doctor, physio or anyone qualified. I have also not sought professional diagnosis for my issue. I have, however, googled extensively…..

I have had I believe to be achilles insertional tendonitis for a couple of years, possibly more. It would be pretty much non existent if I stopped running for a while but as soon as I resumed, I would have morning pain which would soon abate after ‘walking it off’. if I pinched the tendon it would be very painful nearest the foot where it joins the heel bone.

I have been naturally a heel striker when I ran, however when I trained for Ironman several years ago I was advised by a coach to run on my forefoot – landing and taking off from the balls of my feet. Also with my feet landing directly under my body and leaving the ground in a kicking motion. it took a bit of getting used to and occasionally painful calves but I stuck with it and I feel that it really helped keep my legs fresh for the last leg of the Ironman.

a few years on, after lapsing back to heel striking, I developed achilles tendonitis. i tried a few of the recommended techniques with no improvement and have read many conflicting opinions on the cause and the cure. I have had great success over the past several months going back to forefoot running and this has all but cured the tendonitis I was experiencing and has also resulted in me running faster and with less pain elsewhere after the run (hips, hamstrings etc).

There are a number of threads on here already you may try a search and treatment depends on where the pain/inflammation is along your Achilles. The treatment is different depending on this.
I had pain along the mid tendon as oppose to where it inserts and had some success using the Afredson protocol and now I am back to running around 40+ mpw and hope to get to around 50 which will be sufficient for me to race on (I am 50 in a few weeks)
I would stop the stretching routine immediately. Stretching is recommended by everybody as they simply assume it is the right thing to do! For some injuries it appears to help but in my experience it certainly made my Achilles pain worse.
I suspect my ankle/Achilles pain is chronic and although it cause me little problem now I cant see ever being sympton free. I focus on mobility and a gentle pre run warm up, anlke rotations, fast walking and very easy jogging before I actually start to run. Dont bother with pre run stretching and maybe do a couple of minutes of post run stretches (probably habit as much as anything else)

Apparently insertional is harder to treat than mid portion so one of my work colleagues says (Foot and ankle consultant).

Some info here

cheers guys

JeffC – this seems to be the closest description to what I am experiencing. I too heelstrike – so looking to try midfoot running as advocated by the latest physio I have seen. But it actually seems to aggravate the area more (I tried it before I gave up running)

Seemingly I have an “accessory” soleus too. an additional part of soleus muscle that is present in 3% of freaks people. and a correspondingly short achilles. So from a mechanical point of view, it may not follow all the standard rules in terms of repairing itself.

There doesn’t seem to be a consistent school of thought from any of the medical experts that I have seen. I’ve given each a chance – periods of inactivity (not run now for 6 months). Stretching , not stretching. Stretches to not overload the achilles (eg not doing heel dips).

I wore a night splint boot (ouch), podiatrist made up insoles…subsequently told to remove them by another physio who believed them to be “masking” the issue rather than making it better.

I guess my issue being – I can live with a bit of achilles pain. But I don’t want to run if I am going to degrade it further, and risk a tear.

rich c – Member
Have a look at this link,

http://www.therapeuticassociates.com/sports-medicine/runners%E2%80%99-morning-heel-pain-understand-it-and-heal-it/

I’m having some success using the Strasburg sock ( when I remember to put it on)

Oh my.. thats a really useful link. All this time I thought I had a bruised heel from football and rugby. This info is going to be so helpful! Thanks.

The tenderness and instability at morning time is common,as the link shows its normally disappeared by the time you have walked down the stairs to put the kettle on.

As well as my achilles injuries I suffered with peroneal soreness for over 6 months. It eventually cleared up (almost anyway) but something that helped a lot was frictional massage to break down scar tissue. I have had a lot of success from a sports focused “semi” qualified masseur who is prepared to spend time massaging etc than with many highly qualified (and expensive) physio’s. The treatment as well as being painful for me is hard work for them.

Point being dont just assume a highly qualified professional is going to get you running quicker than one that is experienced and determined. If you are near the Wirral I can put you in touch?

Surfer – if you are having pain in your peroneals get some dry needling done on them. Worked wonders on mine.

Thanks Wanmankylung. I am at the end of a frustrating 18 months all told between achilles and Peroneal pain. Pretty much pain free now but a long way from where I should be in terms of performance

Here’s another good link for self diagnosis and treatment of achilles tendonitis: http://www.athletestreatingathletes.com/ata-blog/2013/03/achilles-tendonitis/