Achillies Tendon Strains
Achilles tendon strains are frustrating especially during a lockdown when you’ve committed to getting fit, to get better at running, or you’re just loving the fact that we get these beautiful Waiheke Island bush trails to ourselves.
The achilles tendon is a really important spring that propels you forward. It is generally injured when you overload your spring Achilles spring.
Common overloading of your Achilles spring can include some of the following common examples
Running again because the gym is closed when you haven’t run for weeks or months
Adding some sprint training which you aren’t used to
Doing too much running without recovery days
For those of us that are a bit older it can be going for longer walks than normal. Initially they can be pretty sore for 14-21 days. Especially in the mornings. The pain is generally localised to the middle part of the Achilles tendon.
Please note if your pain is at the bottom of the back of the heel then that is a very different injury and requires different management. Sometimes without the right management they can drag on for weeks, months and years. Following the below advice will go a long way to avoiding the above statement.
So what happens if you overload your achilles spring with any variation of the above?
The first thing is to stop all spring-like activities until you have seen your local Waiheke Physio. I can’t emphasize this enough. You can drastically reduce your time out of spring like exercise if you stop all explosive exercise.
Consider taking nurofen. You need to check with your pharmacist but neurofen or ibuprofen can really settle your tendon down. Ibuprofen reduces the activity of your tendon cells thus reducing the pain in your tendon.
Do the below exercises 2 to 5 times per day. Recent research has found that doing isometric calf raises can really help settle your achilles tendon down. Isometric calf raises are basically calf raises without moving up or down. You have to do them at around the midpoint in the calf raise. If you raise up too high in the calf, it can actually make you worse. Watch the videos below for two good options to start with.
If you are unfit I'd start with 5 x 10 second holds with a minute rest between each set. If you are fairly fit and strong go for 30 to 45 second hold 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 springform of exercise. Swimming or the cross trainer are other good options.
Please note if your achilles is sore with the above you need to come in as the chances are you actually have something else going on. Believe it or not there are around 7 things that can cause Achilles type pain and we have loads of tricks up our sleeves to help get them under control also. If you need some help with getting your Achilles pain under control no matter how long it has been there and you live on the Motu click HERE to book online or give us a call on 09 372 2343.