Achilles tendinitis a continuing nightmare

by B

My tendinitis started 4 months ago but when to orthopedic PA in May. He wanted me to where a cast for 6 weeks but I said no so we tried a boot. He wanted me to come back in 3 weeks but I didn't return because I knew he'd just put me in a cast.

So I tried 9 sessions of PT and it was improving some but it was getting very expensive since I had a $25 co-pay each visit.

I'm back to where I was initially, my tendon is very swollen(at base of ankle) and of course painful and am in search of some answer other than wearing a cast!

it's my right ankle and not sure I can drive with a cast?

I'm a PE teacher and volleyball coach with my season starting in 2 weeks. I need my mobility back and would love to return to exercise. I don't run very much anymore because of knee surgeries but I need to get back to my elliptical and walking. I'm going nuts without exercise...

I have iced some but only about once or twice a day.

can you help me with some other solution other than a cast?

Signed,
Frustrated and exasperated


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Joshua Answers:

Hello B.

We've talked since you posted this and you got the Reversing Achilles Tendonitis ebook.

It turned out that you got diagnosed with Haglund's. For public consumption to help others possibly in the same boat, here's some of that conversation:

Joshua says: Haglunds deformity is not a disease, it's a symptom. I don't know anything about your specific situation, so I'm speaking generally here.

The body shapes itself to the forces placed upon it. Muscle attaches to tendon/connective tissue. Tight muscle pulls on that tendon/connective tissue. That tendon/connective tissue is connected to bone (heel bone, specifically), and pulls on it 24/7, slowly pulling more and more over time as muscle slowly gets tighter and tighter over time. This causes bone growth/formation as the body tries to 'strengthen' itself to deal with the increasing load/force being applied.

My point is, it's quite likely that the Haglund's is a byproduct of the tendonitis dynamic (a progressive dynamic of tendonitis too tight muscles, too tight connective tissue, nutritional deficiency, all slowly progressing).

B says: Okay I think that I'll keep it and thanks for the info, that's more than I received from my PA yesterday. I'm going to use ultrasound at home along with lots of icing. Because I have been in a boot for a long time and it calms down a little but flares at the slightest thing when I take the boot off. But I can't walk pain free without the boot so I have to try something. initially my PA wanted me in a cast for 6 weeks but I refused. Now I wonder if I should have let him cast it. I'm getting sick of having pain and not seeing any real improvement.
Hopefully your book will help me. If you have any other suggestions I'd appreciate them.


Joshua says: Casts just make things worse, so you can stop worrying about that 'what if'.

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Basically, it all comes down to the basics of how the body works. All Tendonitis is a really a dynamic, an ecology of various factors all working together.

See: What Is Tendonitis

Sometimes that can look like Achilles pain, sometimes it can look like bone formation as in the case of Haglund's 'deformity'.

Process of Inflammation is still an issue.

The Pain Causing Dynamic is still in play.





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Joshua Tucker, B.A., C.M.T.
The Tendonitis Expert
www.TendonitisExpert.com