Right ive been to 2 different physios and a sports massage therapist with this one.

Basially i had an issue in my left achillies which Felt like achillies tendonitus.

If i jumped on my bike and rode off it hurt like a bitch. I spent 3 weeks off the bike and at physio she said tendonitus. advised that i stretch and keep moving , walking , biking etc the pain never went away till i ran 18 miles. After that i never heard a peep out of my left achillies tendon. Still fine to this day that was in march. Shortly after that i went off to do a race and my right achillies and knee right where the it band rubs on the knub at the side of the knee and my hip joint all started to give me bother. I thought It band tension and again physio and she diagnosed Tendonitus in that achillies and pretty much ignored my knee and hip as they were pretty minor pain that went away with use.

No im no expert but ive had tendonitus in the distant past and know that if you were to use a tendon with tendonitus in it for say oh a 300k audax you would be crippled.

Strangely i feel better after having used my achillies. Ie today ive done 90k …it was mildly painful when on the bike , soon as i get off its as good as new ! which as you can imagine is doing my nut in , its doing the physios nut in and the sports massage doesnt seem to help either.

Been stretching my it bands especially well and doing all sorts of other leg and hipflexor stretches, been doing calf raises excentric and linear. Keeping well hydrated and fed

Any other ideas , anyone had anything similar ?

One thing ive changed since i got back into racing (having been touring exclusively for 3 months) was my cadence , is it possible that going from a cadence of about 50 during touring to a cadence of 90-110 rpm could cause this (although ive always been a singlespeeder and fixie rider so should in theory be used to high cadence)

anyway any help appreciated at this point in time i will try almost anything. I cant keep racing on my base fitness for much longer i need to train !

Does your Achilles become swollen – as in visibly swollen?

Look further North young man – find a manip phsyio and get your back looked at in the first instance and/or straightened. I’ll put a few quid on there being a subluxation somewhere north which is causing a chain reaction down South. The things you have all described all point to that for me.

Of course I am not a trained Physio or owt but have experience of all of the above from competitive racing….

I agree with NZCol.
Get a another opinion. If the Achilles tendon is the problem there will probably be a lump where there has been a tear, or swelling, for the itus part. As there is not much else there, fat or other organs, it is quite visible.

If you have had ITBS or hip problems too, then your legs do start with your lower back. I found back and stomach exercises helped with a recurring Achilles problem I had.

It can work both ways though , and this is more informational. If you roll your ankle for example you’ll find a compensatory upstream set of problems – examples would be your IT band becoming tight and possibly your glutes firing differently. Then your knee might be come sore with some patellafemoral pain etc. Its almost like a response to the ankle roll.

However as roper said, if you’ve norked your achilles you’ll find a very obvious swelling (like it doubles in size), lump or similar. If its just sore and inflamed (with that grating tendonitis feeling in the sleeve) then you may find that something further up the line is doing it. I rode last night for a few hours and i know that cos I have been sat at my desk for 2 60 hour weeks I’ll suffer. I can almost name the things that will start agg’ing me ! Its all back related. A few stretches and a bit of self (and mate) manipulation and it frees up the jamming in my back. Its a definite possibility.

ah wierd see the way i was trained i’d start at the bottom and work up, check foot alignment and then see how its affecting the rest.
micro tearing of the tendon wont necessarily give you huge amounts of obvious swelling but will give you pain.

also ITB can be an overuse injury so maybe your overdoing things..?

deffo get a 2nd opinion, and mayve go see a podiatrist for a 3rd opinion on the feet affecting your problem. good luck mate

bit of a hijack but i have similar problems. My right Achillies tendon has gone sore/tender after i tried running. Mostly used to cycling with a bit of walking, but with very tight back of legs.

It was sore whilst running so I stopped and walked home. That was a week and a half ago now and the swelling has only just started to go down. It was twice the usual size but is now getting back to normal although below the ankle bone is still swollen and tender. The last two days it is however starting to be quite sore and tight while I walk whereas before I could walk no problem.

Is this a tear in the tendon (is that what tendonitis means)? Or am I just too fat and need to stop bouncing on my feet and go back to riding a bike

as much as you will get people saying yes its this and that its no substitute for someone looking at it in the flesh and being able to take everything into account.
if you are worried then go get it checked by a podiatrist or physio.

AndyPaice – go find yourself a good sports physio.

fatmuthabubbard – yep you can look at it top down or bottom up. Have done a lot of work over the last 5 years with a git analysis guy who is adamant that foot alignment and particularly orthotics are the work of the devil. which is interesting as he is supposed to be pushing them ! He focuses more on posture, muscle balance and organising the spine and supporting core , seems from his work that a lot of the alignment problems simply go away with these and specific foot strengthening exercises. His statement is that footbeds and orthotics make your feet ‘lazy’. I’m no guru on this, just reporting what we’ve been looking at.
But I think trail_rat might need to try and research some alternative physios who might have a clearer view – it can be very hit and miss depending on experience etc.

I had similar issue with my achilles tendon. Tried several remedies including physio massage, rest, chiropractor, anti-inflamatories, and “just exercising through it” with no luck on any.

Was at the point of having to give up cycling for a few months, but what actually wound up working for me was a Chinese Medicine solution – acupuncture (with the little electrical shocky wires as well) and infrared heat, and some nasty-tasting tea stuff. I reckon the tea did FA, but the acupuncture and heat definitely made a noticeable difference within first treatment, and only needed three treatments plus a week off the bike before I was back riding without problems.

Not saying it’ll be a miracle cure for you (although it was for me), but if you go this route, make absolutely sure you use a reputable Chinese Medicine doctor – not the various Chinese herbal places that seem to be taking over the high streets and malls.

Good luck. My experience is whatever you do, don’t just keep exercising it hoping that it’ll go away.

NZcol, he has a point to a certain degree and a lot of orthotics are prescribed inappropriately and can just take over from normal functioning feet, but they have their place where indicated, just as stretches/strengthening exercises have their place.

being someone who works with feet alignment problems daily, orthotics certainly aren’t the work of the devil..!!