What is Achilles Tendinitis?
Achilles tendonitis is a running injury when not treated properly can lead to worse symptoms and keep runners from training and finishing races.
In this article:
What is it?
The calf is made up of two muscles of your calf: the Gastrocnemius and the Soleus.
The main function of these muscles and tendon are to point the toes down, and when you are standing to lift you up on your toes. The Achilles tendon is a fibrous tissue that connects the muscles to the bone.
Tendonitis is an acute inflammation of any tendon. Tendonitis happens when too much load is placed on the tendon, not enough to tear the tendon, enough to cause some micro-tearing which overtime creates a small inflammatory reaction. Tendinitis can turn into tendinopathy when there is no longer a lot of inflammation but still micro-tears. Achilles tendinitis and tendinopathy can occur as insertional or non-insertional; insertional Achilles tendonitis and tendinopathy occur at the heel where the Achilles attaches (inserts) onto the bone, and non-insertional Achilles tendonitis and tendinopathy occur at another location in the tendon, typically about 2-6cm above the insertion.
Who gets it?
Non-insertional Achilles tendonitis can occur in runners, the athletic population with limited dorsiflexion range of motion and are about to start a new exercise routine. It can also occur in sedentary people who do more activity than their bodies are used to and overload the tendon. So this could be if you’re a new runner and go and do too much too soon, or run too fast too soon.
What are symptoms of it?
Achilles tendonitis and tendinopathy typically presents with pain and stiffness in the calf. The symptoms are typically low in the calf, in the tendon portion of the Achilles.
Why is Achilles Tendonitis important to runners?
Achilles tendonitis is important for runners because you use your achilles and calf muscles to push and propel yourself forward when you run. These muscles provide the push off phase of running. If you have an irritated muscle or tendon back there you’re going to not have as good push off, could alter your gait and then cause other problems somewhere else in your body.
How do you prevent it?
Preventing achilles tendonitis is simple: don’t overdo it when running. This means progressively increasing your running distance and pace and not going all in all at once.
It starts in the beginning: start your training at a short distance and follow the 10% rule to increase your running distance over time. Keep the same pace as you’re getting into it… work on speed once you’ve hit your goal distance. Having this mindset helps you keep focus and not change too many things at once… something your body will thank you for later.
How do you treat it?
Rest: As with other injuries you’ll find listed on this website I don’t recommend complete bed rest for running injuries. Active rest is where it’s at. This means doing exercises and activities to tolerance, not overdoing it, and also not under doing it. Complete bed rest can worsen symptoms of tendonitis because your body starts feeling better because you’re not aggravating the injury, but by not doing anything you’re actually limiting your muscle’s tolerance to load which then in turn means when you do get back into your running you overdo it even if you ease back in and don’t do as much as before.
Strength: Modify your exercise routine to strengthen muscles in your whole body and strengthen muscles in the calf to tolerance. If you go overboard on strength exercises you can make tendonitis and tendinopathy worse. However, not loading your muscles enough can also worsen the problem.
Stretch: Stretching the achilles when it’s inflamed can actually make it worse. Stretching muscles with tendonitis and tendinopathy is not recommended without professional guidance. If you stretch your muscle too much it can make the tendonitis worse.
Recovery Passive treatments: These types of treatments include ice, heat, hot epsom salt baths, night splints and injections. At home remedies for Achilles Tendonitis are easy and cheap ways to handle pain and inflammation. When using ice the most effective type of icing for achilles tendonitis is an ice bath for 3-5 minutes, you can do this by putting your leg from the knee down in a bucket of ice.
Diet adjustments: When treating tendonitis continue to eat a balanced meal and make sure to get lots of protein. Protein gives your body the building blocks it needs to repair damaged muscles and tendons.
Video coming soon