What is Achilles Tendonitis?
Inflammation of the Achilles Tendon which connects the two major calf muscles to the back of the heel bone. Under too much stress the tendon tightens up and is forced to work too hard and, thus, becomes inflamed. The symptoms you experience may be pain along the back of the tendon- usually close to the heel- limited ankle flexibility, a lumpy build-up of scar tissue on the tendon.
Causes?
There are several things that can cause Achilles Tendonitis during your training. The following would/could contribute to the injury:
- Tight calf muscles
- Inflexible running shoes
- Uncorrected overpronation
- Lots of hill running
- Over-training too quickly
Treatment
In order to combat the pain and train properly, treating the cause of the problem is important, just like any other injury. The following can be tried one at a time to find the true culprit!
- Decrease mileage
- Heel lift in the shoe
- Stretching properly
- Better shock absorption in the shoe, and/or a shoe to correct the overpronation (obtain biomechanical analysis on a treadmill at a specialty running shoe store that offers to start)
- An anti-inflammatory (ice, ibuprofen) (relieves and/or masks the pain so start with the above first and foremost)
Exercises for Achilles Tendonitis
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