Sorting a painful achilles

Hurt my Achilles playing a random game of squash 6 weeks ago. Super stiff in the morning, eases up during the day and sore by evening. Been doing static calf stretch and single calf raises but doesn’t appear to be improving, what else works?

It hurts it hurts
I get the same from running, only cure is resting.

I had a lot of little tears from not warming up properly.

Physio had a dig at it to free the scar tissue (murdered me, but in a good way), ached for 2 weeks after but has been hassle free for the last 5 years now.

Must get my other leg looked at now (knackered something in the knee on astroturf).

I’m a evangelical “strassburg sock” promoter.

Sleep in one for three weeks and wake up ‘born again’.

Stop trying to beat my KOM and attend the Baby Bike Bash

Pinch it and massage up and down between thumb and first joint for 5 mins morning and night. sore as…but works.

Stiffness in the morning would indicate that the pain is coming from inflammation, so I’d work on getting that down (structures can be inflamed without any visible signs of swelling). Things that work are ibuprofen and contrast bathing. The more you are able to elevate your leg during the day the less painful it should be in the evening.

Contrast bathing: you need one bowl of hot water or a hot water bottle wrapped in a towel, and one bowl of cold water or ice pack wrapped in a towel.

Method: put your ankle in the hot bowl/hot water bottle for 5mins, then cold bowl/ice pack for 5mins. Repeat once more for a total of 20mins. Doing ankle pumps (bending you ankle back and forth through full range repeatedly) throughout will also help

Eccentric load bearing exercises are the recommended rehab for tendinopathy. Currently doing 120 a day for my patella. Physio reckons I might be able to start weight lifting again in about 6 months!

The eccentric exercises certainly reduce the pain when I do them. First or second set hurts but after that the pain reduces a lot.

http://www.physio-pedia.com/Tendinopathy

Eccentric load bearing exercises are the recommended rehab for tendinopathy.

The OP is already doing this, single calf raises.

The OP is already doing this, single calf raises.

Eccentric would be single calf lowers. You don’t to the raise bit (with the injured tendon).

So the protocol would be raise up onto toes of both legs using the uninjured leg for strength and then lower with most of the weight on the injured leg. Some pain is acceptable during the lower phase, there should be no pain during the raise part of the motion. Holding on to a door frame helps with balance and allows you to control the rate of descent.

Comprehensive review of treatments for achilles tendonitis. Eccentric heel drops are recommended – maybe not the same as calf raises depending on how you’re doing them?

Eccentric heel drops are recommended – maybe not the same as calf raises depending on how you’re doing them?

Not at all the same, see protocol above.

Grizedaleforest/Footflaps, that article is great, but unless I’ve missed something it doesn’t mention how many reps you should start with/build up to etc.

Can you advise please?

I had exactly this a couple yrs ago. ice for 10mins or so, maybe longer or until it goes numb anyway, then warm it up and move it around. Try and do this up to five times a day. Gentle exercising only until it stops hurting. ie, gentle stretching and assisted heel drops. go careful on it, it can take a while. Mine was about ten days of icing it five times a day and then two or three weeks slowly getting back to normal levels of activity. If you think it’s better and go in too soon it’ll start all over again. mine did.

advice comes from this guy
http://chrisgordonsportsphysio.co.uk/about/

edit.. oh and make sure you don;t have tight calfs. get a roller on them.

finbar

In the summary section…

“Three sets of 15 heel drops, both with a straight knee and a bent knee, twice a day for twelve weeks, pushing into mild or moderate pain. When you become able to do the exercises without pain, you should progressively add weight by wearing a backpack with dumbbells, textbooks, or other heavy objects”

Go see a physio

My bro-in-law muddled through with exercises and blind faith it’d heal until it spectacularly ruptured during a hockey game. Two years later he’s still recovering, it is not a pleasant injury to heal.
I ruptured my own in the dim and distant past playing rugby and now anytime it’s a bit off i’m on it with the physio.

Oops, thanks GDF.

If you have access to a gym, you can use a leg extension machine and use the ok leg to push the plate away and then control the plate returning with the injured leg. You get more control this way and can adjust the force whereas with single leg lowers you have to start with body weight which might be too much.

I will never use these machines 😯