achilles tendonitis

RoseZella

Hi Everyone,

I have recently attempted to begin my training for the Summer criterium races in Australia when after my first week I have been hit by severe achilles tendonitis.

I was wondering if anybody has had simillar experiences to this and what the best advice is to overcome the injury.

Any wisdom shared would be greatly apprecieted.

Regards,

RoseZella

mikeq

As inflamation of the tendon is generally caused by overuse only real treatment is to try and rest it as much as possible and avoid the activity that is causing it.

Iceing the area should also help, should also do this after the activity.

As you get back into the activity cut down the duration and build up gradually. Try and do some strength work (weights) on your legs as long as it doesn't aggravate the tendonitis.

If it was me I would probably also take an anti-inflammatory

bikerZA

I used to get this frequently in the my left tendon when I was racing alot and training at a higher intensity. I used to find running it under a cold shower or bath a couple of times a day, with 2-3 days of complete rest usually sorted it out.

Tenkfeet

Had it on my mountain bike and recently on my first road bike . On both occasions its been down to the saddle being too high . Mountain bike was dropped 5mm and the road bike a touch less . No problems since making the adjustment .

bnmcmhn

Hi,

Mostly it's an overuse injury. It unusual in bike training, so maybe think about your position.The key thing is to wait a few weeks for it to calm down, if you don't let the inflammation calm down, it can turn into something more long term. The tendon doesn't get a great deal of blood flow, which means it takes longer to heal than some injuries. Tentatively build up your training when you feel better, because I know from experience that it's easy for this to re-occur.

If it lingers, get it checked out. I suffered from achilles tendonitis for years. It turned that I have high arches and my foot was landing heavily rather than pronating and taking the shock. I now have orthotics that correct this problem. If you run alot you can get your gait analysed on a tredmill.

-Ben

DW01

i've just done the edinburgh to london cycle for charity and had this problem about three days in and if you must keep going on it like we did then the organisers who were absolute power houses told us to point our toes down as we cycle for a short amount of time, that enabled me to then start using a stroking motion with the feet of almost "heel down to mid foot down to toe down" motions as we pedaled.

fighttheburn

I had the same issue when playin competetive rugby a few years back...

like all the posts above the only real solution is R.I.C.E - rest, ice, compression and elevation....

So get an ice bag and wrap it around the ankle for 15 - 20 mins at a time and keep a good pressure on the area....

If it gets worse u may need physiotherapy, i had to have electronic shock treatment to help mine disappear biut it worked, no problems for over 3 years now