How To Manage An Achilles Injury
/An Achilles injury is frustrating but very common. The Achilles tendon is a really important spring that propels you forward during walking, running or jumping. It is generally injured when you over load the Achilles spring with too much spring.
Common over Achilles springing can include some of the following common examples
Adding some sprint training or faster tempo sets when you haven’t done these for some time
Coming out of lockdown and trying to do your fave explosive gym class at the same intensity as pre lockdown
Going for a PB in a half marathon by sprinting the last kilometre
For those of us that are a bit older it can be going for a longer walk than normal. Initially the Achilles tendon can be pretty sore for 14-21 days. It is especially sore in the mornings on those first few steps. The pain is generally localised to the middle part of the Achilles tendon. Please note if your pain is at the bottom of the of the heel then that is a very different injury and requires different management.
Sometimes without the right management an Achilles tendon injury can drag on for weeks, months and years. Following the below advice will go along way to avoiding the above issue.
So what happens if you over load your Achilles spring with any variation of the above?
The first thing is to stop all spring like activity until you have seen us or a local Physio. That can include running, jumping and skipping. I can’t emphasise this enough. You can drastically reduce your time out of exercise if you stop all of the above.
Consider taking Neurofen. You definitely need to check with your pharmacist before taking neurofen or ibuprofen however it can really settle your tendon down. Ibuprofen reduces the activity of your tendon cells or tenocytes thus reducing the pain in your tendon.
Do the below exercises 2 to 5 times per day initially. Recent research has found that doing isometric calf raises can really help settle your achilles tendon pain down. Isometric calf raises are basically calf raises without moving up or down. You have to do them at around the mid point of the calf raise. If you raise up too high in the calf raise it can actually make you worse. Watch the videos below for two good options to start with along with single leg variations as progressions.
If you injured your achillies walking i’d start with 5 x 10 second holds (two legs) with a minutes rest between each set. If you are fairly fit and strong go for 30 to 45 second holds x 5 with a minute between each set. Jump on a bike and maintain your fitness with the bike. You should be able to push yourself pretty hard on the bike as it is a non spring form of exercise. Swimming or the cross trainer are other good options.
Please note if your achillies is sore with the above you need to come in as the chances are you actually have something else going on. We have plenty of options for fixing those as well!
What else can help?
Take any stretch off your Achillies by living in a pair of running shoes for the first week or any other shoe with a higher heel pitch. I don’t normally say this but even a half high heel is useful at offloading your Achilles pain early!
Walking around in thongs or bare feet is putting your Achilles on a bit of stretch and potentially increasing your pain.
If stretching is bothering your Achilles also consider stopping this until your pain is under control.
So to summarise if you have injured your Achilles Tendon the key take aways are
Stop any spring like exercise until you have seen us
Do these exercises 2-5 x per day as long as they make your Achilles Tendon better
Consider ibuprofen
Take the stretch off your Achilles Tendon by wearing a higher pitched shoe and limiting barefoot walking for at least a week
So come in early with this injury so you can get an accurate diagnosis. There are seven other causes of Achillies pain so if the above isn’t helping don’t freak out. We have plenty of tricks up our sleeve for the other causes also!
You can give us a buzz on 0293650004 or Book HERE to get your Achilles Injury under control ASAP
Thanks for reading!
Nick T