Achilles Pain

kennyb3

No medical advice sought.

But just wondering if anyone who has had pain in theirs before what sort of stuff have they done.

The pain isnt sore enough to stop me running, its more a case of being stiff before and after a run. it seems impossible to stretch and is a difficult area to ice.

Only thing i can think of is a few days rest and moving runs to grass.

Is there usually a particular reason for these? eg runners that dont suit or just over use.

Any ideas appreciated

mrak

KennyB - welcome to my world.. I hope for your sake you are only passing through! Important thing to note is that it's often chronic - i.e. there's a good chance that you are prone and will always have it to some degree. I'll pm you with what I do.

kennyb3

really hope its not the start of a long term problem myself. felt bit stiff before my race the sat before last. have kept running on it since but think a rest may be in order. thanks i would appreciate that mrak.

stevie_b

i had a sore achilles at the start of the year from basically doing too much. i know people often run through a mild pain without any problems, but i let the pain go away completely before resuming normal training. i did try a couple of gentle runs but i didnt feel they were doing me or my achilles any good - ie it was more painful afterwards.

it seems to be gone now, and i'd put that down to warming up properly, warming down properly, stretching properly, and not overdoing it!
maybe others who have run through the pain without any problems can advise?.....

Gonzales

Gents,
I'm in the same boat & attendingg a physio. The root of my problem lies in ankle flexibility & calf strength.

My physio has prescribed calf raises until failure i.e. stand on the edge of a step on your toes & ball of bad foot, go up on your tip toes & back down, repeat this until you can do no more. Rest & repeat x 2.

He also get me to stand facing a wall with my big toe about 4 cm from the wall, then I must flex my knee (with my foot & heel firmly planted) & try to touch the wall with my knee, If you can touch the wall increase the distance from the wall to increase the amount of flex required.

I'm just a week into therapyso let's see how it goes.

Odysseus

I started to suffer from this and ended up getting a pair of orthodics [sp] which ahave really helped it.

kennyb3

Odysseus wrote: »

I started to suffer from this and ended up getting a pair of orthodics [sp] which ahave really helped it.

did it get rid of it fully? was your achilles sore to pinch/touch post run? did you get a gait analysis done?

Odysseus

kennyb3 wrote: »

did it get rid of it fully? was your achilles sore to pinch/touch post run? did you get a gait analysis done?

Not fully I got a niggle on Saturday. I got a Biomechanical assessment done. before that it was as you described above. Seemed to work well for me not problems that have stopped me from running.

Odysseus

Hi Kenny, forgot to add if you need so pm I can you the name of someone thought quite high in with the Irish sports and he don't a get deal.

shels4ever

kennyb3 wrote: »

did it get rid of it fully? was your achilles sore to pinch/touch post run? did you get a gait analysis done?

I'd go to a physio, had problems myslef for a few months last year jsut took time to get over, my issue was due to been a lazy Sh1t for years and year so my legs weren't able for it. Took a very slow increase in miles and lots of stretching to get over the problems.

tunguska

kennyb3 wrote: »

No medical advice sought.

But just wondering if anyone who has had pain in theirs before what sort of stuff have they done.

The pain isnt sore enough to stop me running, its more a case of being stiff before and after a run. it seems impossible to stretch and is a difficult area to ice.

Only thing i can think of is a few days rest and moving runs to grass.

Is there usually a particular reason for these? eg runners that dont suit or just over use.

Any ideas appreciated

You could have flat feet(aka fallen arches). Have you had this checked? Its a simple test, just go to your physio and ask him to see if you have fallen arches and he can do it there and then, no equipment needed. If it is flat feet he'll probably recommend orthotics.

If you dont have flat feet the other thing Id recommend would be trigger point therapy(this is not medical advice!). If youre a member of a gym they should have a thing called a "foam roller." This is just a cylindical piece of foam about 4ft long and 6inches in diameter. And what you do is you place your calf muscles of one leg on the roller and place your other leg on top of this leg, push down, then roll back and forth. Its the equivalent of a deep tissue massage and it works savage like. Serioulsy it'll do the job. If youre not in a gym you can buy a foam roller off amazon(about 30 quid)and do the trigger point therapy at home.

kennyb3

shels4ever wrote: »

I'd go to a physio, had problems myslef for a few months last year jsut took time to get over, my issue was due to been a lazy Sh1t for years and year so my legs weren't able for it. Took a very slow increase in miles and lots of stretching to get over the problems.

not sure its that, have been running similar mileage since jan and had no problems before (including years of football). same runners etc. but im always the first to say physio to someone else so will go asap, originally thought it was just pain i could get through but done some reading and realise this sort of thing can turn nasty if you try run through it