Don't Let The Achilles Tendon Be Your Achilles Heel

The Achilles tendon is the longest tendon in the body. It is essential in walking and running by controlling foot plant. It can withstand tremendous pressures up to 1,000 foot pounds or more. At the same time, it is the most frequently ruptured tendon and many people suffer from Achilles tendonitis. It can be a mild pain with walking or running to a complete rupture and everything in between.

The causes are numerous. They can be purposeful or accidental. The purposeful causes include adding mileage or speed to your workout, adding hills or stair climbing to your routine, or just by doing too much too soon after a layoff. The accidental causes include sudden sprint or deceleration, a kick to a hyper extended tendon, lack of flexibility, or stepping into a pothole on an uneven field. Every Achilles injury should be taken seriously, whether it is a mild strain or a complete rupture.

The easiest way to identify tendonitis is to use your fingers and squeeze along the tendon to feel for point tenderness and swelling. Sometimes you can feel a squeaking with movement which is the tendon rubbing against the tendon sheath. Tendonitis can manifest itself as a gradually increasing pain toward the end of the game to not being able to put your foot on the floor the morning after a hard practice. Once tendonitis has set it you will be more prone to rupturing the Achilles later. With the Achilles inflamed, it will be in a weakened state. Some ruptures happen out of the blue and you feel like someone has kicked you from behind or hit you with a baseball bat. A rupture can be identified by feeling along the involved side and there is a gap in the tendon compared to the uninvolved side. The inability to walk with a normal gait is another giveaway sign.

Treatment can be difficult unless we walk on our hands and not our feet. Heel lifts can be helpful as well as a walking boot. The RICE treatment (rest, ice, compression, elevation) can be beneficial along with massage, iontophoresis, lazer, and electrical muscle stimulation (EMS). The massage and EMS helps bring healing nutrients to the area. Iontophoresis delivers steroids through the skin via an electrical current. Doctors will sometimes inject the tendon with steroids but caution should be taken following such treatment. For mild to moderate tendonitis, there is an excellent taping technique that takes much of the stress off the tendon for those who will play anyway. The foot should be relaxed in a slightly plantar flexed position and the use of 3 inch elastic tape is necessary. Your sports medicine professional would be able to provide this service. Rupturing the Achilles can be a life crippling injury and most have to be repaired with surgery. Try sewing together two frayed ends of a rope and you will get an idea what the surgeon is dealing with. Rehab must be followed religiously to have any hope of a good result.

The good news is we do not have to get tendonitis in the first place. Always warm up and stretch before activities. A warm tendon will stretch twice as far as a cold one. Stretching exercises are simple and easy to learn with a 30 second hold on each rep. Heel lifts are an effective exercise for strengthening the calf muscle to take the stress off the Achilles. Building up your endurance will help eliminate fatigue related injury to the tendon. Strength, endurance, and flexibility are keys to preventing these and most other injuries. Achilles injuries should always be taken seriously, with a visit to your sports medicine professional if symptoms persist.