Achilles Woes

I havent read all the posts on this thread, so I am not sure if anyone else has mentioned this... but - its worth thinking about how other niggles and parts of the body all fit together in the bigger picture.

I lost most of last winter to achilles tendonitis. I was injury free for about 4 years and I hit big mileage. But then last winter I had knee niggles, a calf pull and then achilles tendonitis that would not go away. I would rest, then it would come back as soon as I started very short runs again. I had a great physio and we traced it all back to my lower back. It had got all locked up so I had reduced mobility on my left side - the different strengths between my sides was noticeable. As soon as we got it unlocked, I was able to stretch effectively, and can keep the achilles tendonitis away (and all the other niggles too!). I now do a whole load of work with my back and core to stop it locking again, but can recognise when it starts so that I can stop it.

If you keep getting recurrent achilles tendonitis, it might be worth investigating if it is a symptom of something else.

Hi,

 Haven't read back, but you might want to consider your shoe type as a cause, especially if you're new or have recently upped your mileage before the problems started.

I had this last year after being recommended motion control shoes. No amount of rest (and I was out for about 9 months) cured the problem, but ditching the motion controlled shoes and switching to neutral did. Haven't had even a hint of the problem since.

Hi Saffy Sweety pea,  interesting post about you ditching your motion shoes for neutral ones....i did something similar last year after wearing orthotics for 12months i decided they weren't agreeing with me anymore and after talking with my physio about it he too discussed with me the possibility of not wearing them....besides for 33 years i'd been ok without them per se....(i originally went to podiatrist who presribed me orthotics after suffering with achilles tendinitiis)  I instantly felt better not wearing orthotics and was able to increase my mileage.....however up until about 3 months ago i over did it and the achilles tendinitis crept back again......i was starting to wonder if it's a problem with the fact that i'm wearing neutral trainers even though i'm flat footed...but i really don't want to go down the route of motion control shoes again after getting nowhere fast by wearing them.  I went for a run yesterday (on the treadmill) and added 10 mins on to my usual and my calves are very stiff this morning....so i'm wondering if the achilles issue is still lingering or it is just normal DOMS from pushing myself a bit further yesterday...prior to this i ran 5 days before and was ok.  I've now become miss paranoid with regards to my achillees and gauge progress by how stiff my calves are first thing in the morning.....