Achilles Heel Slowing You Down?
Up-to-date recommendations on treating Achilles Tendinopathy
What is Achilles Tendinopathy?
Achilles Tendinopathy is a pathological change of the tendon that attaches the calf to the heel bone. It is an injury due to overuse or excessive stress on the tendon over a long period of time. This kind of injury can happen to anyone but is more common in athletes that participate in running and jumping sports.
How Can I Tell if I Have Achilles Tendinopathy?
Symptoms of Achilles Tendinopathy usually increase gradually and start off as stiffness or aching along the tendon at the back of the heel. It progresses to pain when pressure is applied to the area, or when completing an activity such as running or jumping. It can result in decreased strength and performance on the affected side.
What Can I do About it?
Recent research is suggesting that to achieve the quickest and most optimal recovery, we need to begin loading the tendon as quickly as possible while preventing further injury.
1) First things first we need to remove the painful stimulus. If any of your activities are causing pain greater than a 5/10, we need to stop or reduce that activity for the moment.
2) Next, we need to load the tendon without exacerbating the pain. This promotes repair, and remodelling and assists in building tissue tolerance. It is important to know that a little bit of pain is good when loading the tendon, but too much pain causes more damage. Pain levels between 1-4/10 are acceptable, anything over this and you will need to regress the exercise. Below are a couple of exercises that load the Achilles tendon starting from the lowest amount of load and building to high loads.
Exercise 1
Gait training: Stepping the foot forward to place load on the Achilles tendon
Exercise 2
Isometric contraction of the calf muscle: Wrap a towel around the foot and push firmly against the towel without moving the ankle.
Exercise 3
Double limb calf raises off a step. Take 3 seconds to lower down and 1 second to push up. Progress to a single leg if this becomes too easy.
Exercise 4
Double foot jumps – progression to single leg hops.
Footwear and functioning of the lower limb can also contribute to Achilles Tendinopathy so if you are finding any of these exercises excessively difficult or have not assisted in reducing your pain levels, consult a Podiatrist for a customised exercise program and biomechanical assessment.