pain and tightness on heel

henderson_mk

hi folks,

hoping some of you knowledgeable doctor types will be able to help me out here....

having a bit of pain on the back of my heel about an inch up from where the heel touches the floor. its only when i stretch calf muscles (dorsiflex?) and its quite a sharp pain. lots of that sort of stretch does seem to minimize it though. it has got a bit worse over the past week or so though I think, although there's no pain when cycling unless I stretch out the calf.

is this similar to anything anyone else has experienced?
have a doc's appointment booked for next week anyways... but just wondering if its something to worry about or if there's anything I can do about it myself?

ut_och_cykla

Might be achilles tendon inflammation. A physio might give you a special set of (concentric?) stretches to help it but until you get a diagnosis do everything you can to reduce the irritation. Don't stretch it violently don't do anything you know makes it worse etc. Check heel of shoes doesn't press/rub etc. If you can get to a physio direct do that instead or as well as seeing your GP. Its probably not serious but could take a while to heal. (no pun intended!!)

cakewalk

I had something very similar. Physio identified tight calf muscles which were causing tension on the Achilles.

Try pushing (hard) into your calf muscle - if you feel some decent pain then that might be the issue.

I (well the physio!) resolved this with :-

- Calf massage
- Calf stretching exercies
- reduce pressure on tendon when cycling :-
+ move cleats towards rear of shoe
+ raise saddle to avoid 'heel down' cycling - this puts extra pressure on Achilles

Worked for me - if I keep up with those exercises.

henderson_mk

yeah, pushing hard into the calf muscle seems to cause the sharp pain... basically anytime i'm trying to drop the heel and bring toes up in a stretch.

i don't heel down generally when cycling anyways... so hopefully thats not affecting it.

looks like its just going to be stretch the hell out of it over the next day or three till I get saturdays race over then to the doc's on monday to begin the long slow process of getting a referral to get a physio to look at it...

milese

I had a similar problem which I still get mildly after certain sports, basically anything that involves running.

When you wake up in the morning is it stiff and sore to walk normally?

I was identified as having tight calves. I now stretch them routinely, eg everyday I now brush my teeth whilst dropping my heels off a stair.

Google achillies tendonitis.

henderson_mk

its actually not sore at all first thing in the morning funnily enough.... i only really notice it when i'm stretching... but its too much of a sharp pain is thing thing.

cakewalk

Milese wrote:

I had a similar problem which I still get mildly after certain sports, basically anything that involves running.

When you wake up in the morning is it stiff and sore to walk normally?

I was identified as having tight calves. I now stretch them routinely, eg everyday I now brush my teeth whilst dropping my heels off a stair.

Google achillies tendonitis.

I got/get that as well

ut_och_cykla

Do you need a referal for a physio (in Sweden we don't - which is why I ask?)

henderson_mk

technically no.... but if I want to put it through the company health insurance I do... otherwise its about 35 quid per session.

ut_och_cykla

Worth 35 quid for a quick diagnosis and programme to help? Then give the bill to your job and say it was necessary otherwise you'd have been in plaster from hip to toe for 6 weeks??