Achilles Tendonitis
I’m a chiropractor at Lushington Chiropractic Clinic in Eastbourne. Many patients that come to see me at our Eastbourne chiropractic clinic, have heard of Achilles tendonitis but don’t really understand what it is or what it means. This blog will hopefully give you more understanding.
What is Achilles Tendonitis?
Achilles tendonitis is an injury to the band of tissue(tendon) that runs down the back of your lower leg to your heel. There are 2 types of Achilles tendonitis. One is insertional Achilles tendonitis, where the portion of the tendon that attaches to the heel becomes inflamed. The other one is Non-insertional Achilles tendonitis where the middle portion of the tendon becomes inflamed. Achilles tendonitis is characterized by inflammation, pain and stiffness. The Achilles tendon can also get little tears in the tendon, and in worst case scenario, it can rupture. This means it can completely tear off the heel bone, making a loud “Pop” followed by pain and swelling in the lower leg.
Did you know that the Achilles tendon is the thickest and longest tendon in the body?
The Achilles tendon forms when the calf muscles (gastrocnemius and soleus) unite into a band in the lower half of your calf. This tendon attaches to your heel bone(calcaneus). Due to this, the Achilles tendon is sometimes referred to as the calcaneal tendon. The tendon was named after Achilles, the Greek mythological figure, because it is the only part of his body that remained vulnerable after his mother had dipped him in the river Styx
When the calf muscles contract, the Achilles tendon helps to lift the heel. This is what helps us to stand on our toes during walking, running or jumping. Although it is a strong tendon, it is also vulnerable to injury due to its limited blood supply and due to the high tensions it is placed under.
What causes Achilles tendonitis?
Achilles tendonitis is caused by repetitive strain or intense strain to your Achilles tendon.
These include:
- Activities that include running and jumping which cause repeated strain to the calf muscles
- Activities such as tennis or squash that require sudden stops or changes in direction
- A sudden increase in training, like running
- Getting older, as the tendon becomes weaker with age
- Getting older, as the tendon becomes weaker with age
- Physical problems such as a flattened arch, tight calf muscles or obesity
- Wearing heels regularly
- Having bone spurs on the heel
- Wearing shoes that are not supportive or poor fitting
When people come to our chiropractic clinic in Eastbourne, it is important for us to figure out what the underlying cause of the problem is.
What are the Symptoms of Achilles Tendonitis?
Symptoms include:
- Pain in the back of your leg or heel
- Warmness to the skin of your heel
- Stiffness, especially first thing in the morning
- Swelling
- Crepitus -which is a crackling feeling/noise when you move your ankle
Sometimes people get confused about whether they have Achilles tendonitis or plantar fasciitis. A good way to distinguish between them is where the pain is on the heel. It the pain is at the back of the heel, it points to Achilles tendonitis, whereas if the pain in under the front of the heel, it is pointing to plantar fasciitis. This is something we will be able to help diagnose at our eastbourne chiropractic clinic. Click here for other blogs written by chiropractors from our eastbourne chiropractic clinic that explain more about plantar fasciitis.
How to treat Achille Tendonitis
Treatments to help with the pain for Achilles tendonitis tend to include, non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs, corticosteroid injections, extracorporeal shockwave therapy and surgical scraping. These have proven to help with short term pain but whether they help with long term or not is still to be decided.
It was thought that the best course of action was rest and ice. However, new research suggests that rest if not the way forward. There is a school of thought that once fibres of a tendon are damaged, they will never repair, so the best course of action is to make sure that other fibres of the tendon get stronger in order for the tendon to manage its task. There is more research being done into how isometric exercises for tendon damage have better results. It is generally accepted that isometric exercises improves pain and function with the patella tendon, but help with the Achilles tendon is still under investigation. In general, it is thought that the best course of action if your injury has come on by an increase in training, is to decrease the training again but not to stop completely. Also specific exercises can be done which load the tendon but do not compress the tendon, which are referred to as isometric exercises.
Want to find out more about foot and ankle pain?
If you’ve enjoyed this blog and want to find out more about foot and ankle pain, then please check out one of our other blogs below.
An Eastbourne Chiropractors guide to Plantar Fasciitis
Things I have learned from my ankle injury – A chiropractor’s perspective
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