Achilles Tendonitis

[tdbates78]

I think I may have this. I'm a regular exerciser, and have been for years. I typically work out at the gym 4-5 days a week and we are active, hiking and walking, the other days. A few days ago, out of nowhere, my achilles area started to hurt. It doesn't hurt when I'm not doing anything, but when I walk up/down the stairs, or in the mornings when I wake up, it's very sore and difficult to walk. 

Does anyone have or had this? How long does it take to go away? It looks like I have to refrain from working out to keep it from getting worse. I can do that, but exercise is my escape, the one thing I do for myself where I can be with friends or zone out kid-free, so I hate to give it up for too long if I don't have to. 

Thanks!
Tracy

[Kassia]

I've had mild cases.  Ibuprofen, ice, and rest definitely helped.  I think I used my spin bike a lot when I had symptoms (I'm a runner).  You could do upper body work while it's healing.  I don't know if stretching would help - you could do a search on treatment for that.  Maybe youtube has some good videos for stretching the area.  

[happi duck]

Do you have a muscle roller like "The Stick"?  Sometimes it helps me to roll on my calves and especially along the sides of the shin bones.  (You can also just use hands instead of a roller)

If my achilles hurts I often find "knots" along my shin bone and getting rid of those helps my achilles area.

When it isn't actively hurting stretching seems to help.  Ime when it's actively hurting stretching makes things worse until I've worked on the leg.

[lmrich]

I am sorry. The achilles tendonitis is a tough one! I have had a few flare-ups and have been told I need a surgery.. (not going to happen anytime soon) so in the meantime I have tried everything.  

Ice seems to be best for me. You need to raise your foot/achilles above your heart to help with swelling. I let it rest. Like, really STAY OFF IT. Do 24 - 48 hours on staying off it. 

Some advice says to use heat and not ice and others say to stretch it instead of rest. So you need to see what works best for you. 

If it is really bad, and you want to keep it up, I recommend sleeping on the couch so you have to keep it up. I find that if I try to sleep in a bed and elevate my foot while sleeping, I always end up sleeping with my leg off the elevation. 

 

[Xuzi]

I dealt with this a few months ago. What helped the most was icing it a few times a day (literally stuck an ice pack into my sock so I could still do things around the house), and massaging it a few times a day. There's some youtube videos on a type of tendon massage you can do for that area of the foot. It's painful to do at first, but it made the biggest difference. I also wore compression ankle brace (looked like a sock with no toes).

I also didn't stop exercising entirely, but I did lessen my intensity. I was doing step aerobics at the Y at the time, and I stopped putting bricks under my step. I stopped running, but still went for walks. When I did workout DVD's I'd modify the really jump-y moves of the cardio workouts, or if the pain was really acting up I'd do strength training.

It took about 3 months to completely go away.

[tdbates78]

Thank you all! So sorry for the delayed response. I ended up with a cold and then a busy weekend and haven't been online much.

It's been a week and it still aches, especially when I come down a set of stairs. I walked around Ikea yesterday and think I overdid it because it really hurt. I'm trying to elevate it and I've had to take ibuprofen a few times which I try to avoid unless absolutely necessary.

Thank you all for the advice. I'm going to try some exercised and massages and see if I can get it to go asap. Its so annoying! Tomorrow I'm doing a barre fusion class which I think/hope should be okay. I'm just going to avoid going on my tiptoes as that too hurts. I'm really hoping it calms down before next weekend, as we are heading up to the mountains (I'm in NC) and plan on hiking the Linville Gorge and a few other places. 

[happi duck]

I try to avoid taking ibuprofen.  I have found turmeric capsules to be helpful instead.  I've read that they should also include black pepper to be effective.