Achilles Tendinopathy

What is achilles tendinopathy?

A dodgy tendon that connects your calf to your heel (insert joke about Achilles heel). In short, the tendon gets overloaded and causes pain – this is your body’s saying ‘Oi! Stoppit!’. Often dodgy tendons can feel stiff and sore when you start exercising and then ‘warm up’ like they’re an old car that needs a bit of warmth in the winter. Could be that first thing in the morning you can feel sore and stiff when you take the first few steps out of bed (guaranteed to make you feel 150 yrs old). Or it might be limiting your exercise – walking, running, sport, career as a pogo stick.

Why does achilles tendinopathy happen?

The tendon is a bit like a spring, when it gets overloaded it loses some of its ‘springiness’. It can get swollen, thickened, tender and the calf muscle can’t work as well so feels weak. The increased load can come from lots of different sources – could be an old ankle sprain, or you started running as part of a spectacular new years resolution, or you had to walk on the beach for an 3 hours trying to find your car keys. Tendons don’t heal super quickly, some of this is due to a blood supply that is more trickle than flow. Some is also due to pain and a negative feedback loop that looks like: Pain > Less use > Less muscle > More pain etc etc etc

What can you do about achilles tendinopathy? Achilles Tendinopathy Physiotherapy Newcastle.

Sounds weird, but strength is key. The tendon needs blood flow and its ‘springiness’ to be used, otherwise it gets weaker and stickier. Don’t stretch it (might just make it worse!) but get some decent exercises to start re-building the muscle. Top quality physio might also include: tape to offload the tendon, massage + mobilising, heel raises/orthotics and a collection of bad jokes. Also, best to try and find the cause, otherwise you’re on the ol’ regular-visits-to-the-physio train.

How long will achilles tendinopathy take?

You should see some change within 4-6 wks (depending on how long you’ve had it and how dodgy the tendon is). In reality, most tendons take 3 months to really start to get back to their old selves.