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Achilles Tendonitis
The Missing Piece To
Being Pain Free

You’re a prime candidate for acquiring Achilles Tendonitis if you’re a runner or some other kind of athlete requiring heavy use of your calves and their attached tendons,

Perhaps you have Achilles Tendon pain from cycling.

The physical dynamic called Tendonitis can show up anywhere. On the Achilles Tendon is as good a place as any.

The Achilles Tendon attaches to the two major muscles of the lower leg, the Gastrocnemius and the Soleus. These are incredibly powerful muscles that produce huge mechanical force.

The Achilles Tendon is the cable that connects those muscles to the bone of your heel bone, the Calcaneus.

The job of the Achilles Tendon is to transfer the mechanical force the muscles produce to the heel bone, to change the angle of your foot.

If you’re a runner or hill climbing cyclist , it’s doing this to a high degree over and over and over.

Most everywhere else in the body this would result in a Repetitive Strain Injury.

Achilles Tendonitis Surgery scar picture

But because of the location, placement, and design of the tendon, RSI is rarely the source of Achilles Tendon pain.

Even though there is repetitive movement involved, this tendonitis isn't from the friction, it's from the incredible force and tension the Achilles Tendon deals with constantly.

Ignore your Achilles Tendonitis long enough and you could end up with this!

The Symptoms of Achilles Tendonitis

The Symptoms of Achilles Tendinits are:

* Ache and/or pain in and in the area under the calf muscles, anywhere along the tendon that attaches to the heel bone.

Depending on whether it's Acute or Chronic, pain will either get worse with amount and duration of movement (Acute) or get better as you 'warm up' or stay the same (Chronic)

* Sharp and/or shooting pain in the same area as above.

Also primarily when using the lower leg.

* Rarely causes Numbness.

* Like all Tendonitits you probably felt some pain when this first started, and ignored it, and now it won't go away and it's limiting your activity.

* Redness on the skin and/or swelling from Inflammation.

*Stiffness in the effected area when getting out of bed in the morning.

What Causes Achilles Tendonitis?

Achilles Tendonitis is caused by:

A. Too much load and/or stretch on the tendon.

B. Weakening of the tendon due to Tendinosis.

C. Weakening of the tendon structure due to Tendonitis and the body’s natural healing process.

D. Inflammation

E. The Pain Causing Dynamic

Too much load/stretch on the tendon

When you overstretch your Achilles Tendon, put too much weight for it to hold, use it over and over and over under duress, you can get microtrauma to the tendon.

This means that you get tiny little rips and tears in the tendon tissue. Then you get Process of Inflammation and a Pain Causing Dynamic.

Running or sprinting without proper warm up, excessive hill running, the use of the wrong running shoe, are among the many potential causes that can all lead to tendon damage.

Tendinosis

The Achilles Tendon does not have a tendon sheath, per se. It does have a layer of less dense connective tissue surrounding it that helps serve the same purpose.

The Achilles Tendon itself is a big, thick tendon, with a poor blood supply. The surrounding layer of 'almost tendon' also has a poor, indirect blood supply.

Muscles have a direct blood supply. Tendons (and joints too) only get circulation from gravity, squeezing (like a sponge) by contracting/relaxing or massage, and movement.

Less blood flowing to the tendon means that it gets less necessary nutrition, oxygen, and the other benefits of circulation.

Tendonosis is a situation where the tendon is not getting enough blood/circulation, and a resulting degeneration of the tendon happens.

Tendinosis causes specific areas where the tendon degenerates.

In addition to the degeneration damage, off you go running hills and overstretching and overloading your tendon, and rip and tear damage happens more easily, leading to Tendonitis and at the worst end of the spectrum, a complete Achilles Tendon Rupture.

Achilles Tendonosis generally doesn't heal all by itself. It needs help.

Tendonitis Weakens Tendons

When you get microtrauma to a tendon, you not only get Inflammation and a Pain Causing Dynamic, but the body does it’s thing to heal itself.

The problem with Tendonitis and Achilles Tendonitis is that the way the body heals itself, it is not as structurally strong as it was before.

So it’s then easier to get more microtrauma even if the original Achilles Tendonitis pain went away.

When the pain goes away, we get the pleasure of thinking that we are healed. Yet when we get active again, pain inevitably returns.

The most common spots for Achilles Tendinitis pain is anywhere from where the tendon meets the heel to a couple inches up the tendon.

Depending on the variables, you can have acute or chronic injury.

While it is possible to have a one time event injury that causes you Achilles pain, it is almost certain that long before you felt any pain you were already developing a Pain Causing Dynamic.

Chronic Achilles Tendonitis

If you are a moderate exerciser, take care of yourself, and do all the right things, you can still get some damage.

If you are like most people that get Achilles Tendonitis, you experience a little pain in your Achilles, and rest and stretch a little, then exercise some more, feel pain again, and use anti-inflammatory medicine ‘as necessary’.

You have learned to ‘manage’ your pain.

Chronic Achilles Tendinitis can be managed. But who wants to live with pain? I assert that you just haven’t found the right solution yet.

The important thing to know about Chronic Achilles Tendinitis is that Rest can’t heal it, and it won’t go away on its own. It needs help.

Especially if you want to stay active or become even more active.

Acute Achilles Tendonitis

Maybe you had some pain before, or maybe you had never felt Achilles Tendonitis pain before.

Then one day you did your normal thing, or you went on an extra long run or other activity. (I went for a two mile hike once and got lost. About ten miles later I finally made it back to civilization an hour after the sun had gone down. My reward was shin splints.)

It is not uncommon to have a sudden onset of Achilles Tendon pain. Overload the tendon repetitively leads to damage leads to inflammation and pain.

Acute means that it is new and ‘fresh’ and extra painful, with the inflammation process in full swing.

With sudden onset pain, you also need to be aware of the possibility of a Torn Achilles Tendon. Unless it’s a big, significant tear, utilize the Treatment page from the link at the bottom of the page. Major tears may require surgery.

It Would Have Been Smart To Prevent Achilles Tendonitis

Ahhh, but we’re only human. We rarely pay attention to our health until pain alerts us to a problem.

Before we move on, heed the following warnings.

Here are some guidelines to prepare your body to happily withstand that which you demand of it:

1. Always warm up before putting strain on your Achilles.

You want your tendons to be like bungee cords, not cold, frayed steel wire cables.

Walk around, rise up on your toes, and rub them with your hands. Get blood and nutrition into the area.

2. Slowly increase your training times on hills and stairs, don’t just jump right into training for your personal best.

Allow your structure to strengthen up gradually so it can do the work without damage.

3. DON’T stretch your Achilles until you feel pain.

Avoid the sensation of pain at all costs when stretching. This is a general and all-encompassing rule of stretching, in my professional opinion.

This kind of pain is bad. Don’t go there.

4. Stay VERY hydrated

Dehydration is B.A.D. for connective tissue. You want to be a wet squishy sponge, not a dry crunchy sponge.

The Treatment is the same

Whether your tendon pain is from Tendinosis or Tendonitis (or both), the treatment is the same.

Whether your pain is new or old, chronic or acute, the treatment is the same.

If you want to deal with all the negative factors at play, if you want your pain to go away and are willing to put in a little effort for big results, find out about Reversing Achilles Tendonitis.

Reversing Achilles Tendonitis ebook cover graphic