Achilles injury

I was coming to the end of a seven mile jog last week when I noticed my achilles tendon was feeling a bit tight. I dismissed it and kept going because I had had to run up a flight of stairs in order to cross a railway line. I managed to go about another half mile and suddenly felt the tendon go into a spasm/tear and I stopped immediately. I could barely walk due to the pain and limped the final hundred yards home. After a week I am now able to walk ok, but every time I try to break into a gentle trot, I get pain from the tendon. I have not been to see my GP as I cannot see that he can do anything to help. Any idea how long it will be before I can run again?

I have also injured my achilles, not for the first time. Advice from my physio is to take ibuprofen and use ice to reduce the inflammation. I would recommend going to a physio so that s/he can assess your injury and do some work on it to reduce scar tissue.
I would say that you will be out of action for 2-3 weeks, obviously this is dependant on the severity of your injury and what action you take.

KO - be so, so, careful with this - agree see someone who knows running injuries.

Something identical happened to me about 18 months ago - I muddled along for months, saw LOTS of 'specialists', had a scan etc (££s) but got conflicting advice ranging from 'never run again', cortisone injections (no way...) to using iburfrofen, frozen peas, stretches etc..

But it just got more painful. Stopping running altogether for 5 months - cross training made no diff

Eventually sorted out by someone who knew what they were talking about - he (1) addressed the cause of the injury (high heel tabs and a biomech prob) and (2) sorted out the end result (lots of scar tissue that had built up after I tore it and during the intervening time). The scar tissue was broken-up by deep friction massage (brings tears to the eyes !) and ultrasound

I would'nt run on at all until resolved

KO. I had an achilles injury, and it took 18 months to overcome. I tried all sorts icing, physio, rest etc. Sure I ran during this period but after a few weeks I would break down again. It turned out I was pronating, so that every time I ran the tendon was twisting and was unable to recover. Got myself some orthosesis, and have never loked back.

My advice is rest. Coz of poor blood supply phsio doesn't really work. Once you have no pain in the morning, wait another week. Then try running. If everything is ok, fine you've got away with it. Just remember in future any pain from the achilles stop running immediately. If the pain returns within a few weeks, you've got a much more serious problem. You have to find the underlying cause. Go and get your running gait analysed.

I hurt my achilles 3 months ago. it actually came on when i purchased a new pair of running trainers. I have tried resting till there is no pain, then as soon as I run, it returns within 10mins... it is driving me nuts.... 

I HAD AN INJURY JUST LIKE THIS 18 MOTHS AGO. I WAS ON A LONG RUN AND I FELT A SHARP PAIN JUST ABOVE THE BACK OF THE ANKLE. I HAD TO STOP STRAIGHT AWAY THE INJURY WAS VERY RED AND SORE.

I RESTED FOR 3 WEEKS  ICED THE INJURY FOR  HALF AN HOUR IN THE MORNING AND AT NIGHT. i ALSO PURCHASED ONE OF THEESE STRONG  ELASTIC FOOT SUPPORTS WHICH WAS REALLY GOOD AND COVERED THE INJURED AREA. I HAD THAT ON ALL DAY LONG FOR AROUND 2 WEEKS. WHEN I STARTED TO RUN AGAIN, I WOULD WEAR THIS AND IT MADE QUITE A DIFFERENCE, ALSO PLENTY OF MASSAGE AND DEEP HEAT .

Hi.  I started a thread on this - it's still on the health and injury front page.  It's a bit long and not all the details may interest but you should find it reasonably informative.