General Discussion Triathlon Talk » Achilles pain Rss Feed  
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2013-04-07 9:21 PM

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Subject: Achilles pain
Towards the end of my marathon training in February I started have tightness in my Achilles in the morning. Never pain, just tightness when I got up in the morning. I laid off running, but lately I have had a burning feeling in my heel along with my tightness. I do have a doctor apt on Tuesday, but I was wondering if anyone had advice for me. I want to run some ultras the end of summer through the winter, and I need to make a decision about Boston so I am panicking. I have been icing everyday up to three times a day, but still the same burning at times along with tightness in the mornings. I have never had straight pain, but I being cautious.


2013-04-07 9:28 PM
in reply to: #4690644

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Subject: RE: Achilles pain
roll your calves with a foam roller or rolling pin daily. for me at least the source of my achilles issues were tight soleus muscles loading the achilles too much. fixed calves --> fixed achilles!
2013-04-07 9:40 PM
in reply to: #4690654

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Subject: RE: Achilles pain

george-bob - 2013-04-07 7:28 PM roll your calves with a foam roller or rolling pin daily. for me at least the source of my achilles issues were tight soleus muscles loading the achilles too much. fixed calves --> fixed achilles!

To that, I would just add that it's all connected together.  Tight hamstrings can feed tight calf muscles, too.  Stay stretched, calf muscles and hamstrings.  Several times a day.  Good, deep stretching as much as possible, esp. before going to bed.  Try to keep your toes from pointing down when you sleep, which will cause the calf muscles to contract more.  There's some sort of boot you can wear at night if this is a problem -- it will keep your foot at more of a right angle.  Roll your arches with a ball of some sort between your foot and the ground -- I use a tennis ball and put one foot on top of the other when doing it for added pressure.  Some people prefer a harder ball such as a golf ball for rolling their arches.

For the PF, always wear shoes with good support, always.  When you get up in the morning, go straight into shoes -- never walk in bare feet at all or non-arch supported footwear.  I use old running shoes around the house that I washed up and took the laces out of.  It takes a while for your heels to stop hurting, but if you do this, and stretch repeatedly throughout the day, you should start to feel some relief within several days to a week or so.



Edited by SevenZulu 2013-04-07 9:46 PM
2013-04-07 9:46 PM
in reply to: #4690644

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Subject: RE: Achilles pain

i agree with stretching, and that everything is connected.  example: i had a tight glutes for a while and eventually got severe knee pain as the result; little time spent sitting on the foam roller and all was well.

you could also look into products like KT Tape for a little localized relief.

2013-04-07 11:48 PM
in reply to: #4690644

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Subject: RE: Achilles pain

rolling.

eccentric heel drops.

go easy on them- i.e. rest.

I don't believe that ice is the right treatment for tendons that feel 'tight'

2013-04-08 4:04 AM
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Subject: RE: Achilles pain
The responses all attempt to address the symptoms, but what about the cause? You don't mention it in the OP, so I'll assume you're not certain what it is. Did you change shoes in February (especially to a more minimalist design with less heel to toe drop and less support)? Change your running style during that time? Increase volume or intensity significantly? Identifying the cause is important to correct it permanently.


2013-04-08 4:34 AM
in reply to: #4690644

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Subject: RE: Achilles pain
SevenZulu: you are entirely right! best place to start: stretch, stretch, stretch! it won't (well, shouldn't) hurt!
2013-04-08 7:00 AM
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2013-04-08 8:11 AM
in reply to: #4690820

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Subject: RE: Achilles pain
TriMyBest - 2013-04-08 4:04 AMThe responses all attempt to address the symptoms, but what about the cause? You don't mention it in the OP, so I'll assume you're not certain what it is. Did you change shoes in February (especially to a more minimalist design with less heel to toe drop and less support)? Change your running style during that time? Increase volume or intensity significantly? Identifying the cause is important to correct it permanently.
I wish I could say there was a huge difference in what I was doing. I did find a off road trail along a lake shore I would run to on my long runs. I was not technical, but did have some soft areas, roots and other obstacles that would force me to change running style. I would run the area around the middle to end of my 17+ mile runs so I was getting fatigued as well. I just wonder if this impacted me.
2013-04-08 8:40 AM
in reply to: #4690644

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Subject: RE: Achilles pain
Do you run the same route all the time? If the road is crowned, your left leg is stretched further than your right because the road is deeper as you get closer to the edge. Try running that route in the reverse direction to equalize out the stress.
2013-04-08 9:15 PM
in reply to: #4690772

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Subject: RE: Achilles pain
morey000 - 2013-04-08 12:48 AM

rolling.

eccentric heel drops.

go easy on them- i.e. rest.

I don't believe that ice is the right treatment for tendons that feel 'tight'

I had a similar problem in 2011 which morphed in to full on tendinosis (slight tears on Achilles, more so on my left than right). I had to rehab it for a good four months. I did the rolling, the icing, the rehab, and the eccentric heel drops. Of everything I have studied and read up on the subject and read from posts on multiple websites, the heel drops are the things that work the best. I stopped doing them for a while and I could feel that twinge come back. It goes away after a couple weeks when I do the heel drops. Also, I like to make sure I do box jumps (side to side, angles and up and backs) before I start running.



2013-04-08 10:27 PM
in reply to: #4690644


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Subject: RE: Achilles pain
I dealt w/ achilles problems off and on for several months (solution-- more motion control bike clips/pedals).  Treatment, as already mentioned, was eccentric stretches, ice, iontophoresis (provided by physical therapy), rest and taping.  However, most effective for me, was the TP Therapy product created specifically for this.  You can find it on Amazon for $50-$75.  One use and, BOOYAH I was back to training!!!  I continue to use this almost every day.  It's a little roller attached to roller blade wheels (comes w/ a super useful foam block) that you roll your calves over.  [I would attach some cool demo of this if I was computer savvy.  Sorry.]  I really, REEEALLY recommend it!  It's been extremely helpful for me.  And, as already mentioned, figure out the CAUSE.  [A good physical therapist can help you w/ this!]
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General Discussion Triathlon Talk » Achilles pain Rss Feed