achilles tendon pain

eyebee

Just had an recurring achilles tendon ache/pain checked out by my GP and was advised to rest it. Anyone with the problem advise how long? The problem isn't helped by my job , which aggravates it so I can never rest it totally.If I leave it a week then return to the bike I usually feel it again after around 10 miles.I have adjusted cleat position so they're now back as far as they go and moved my saddle forwards 10-15mm which seems to have helped somewhat.My seat height is also okay so there isn't any excessive stretching. Any advice appreciated.

ratsbeyfus

I tore mine slightly in December last year, and was told not to cycle until I had it seen by a specialist. After 3 months of waiting for an appointment I got frsutrated and got back on the bike, with no ill effects. I eventually got a course of physio (in August) that was designed to strengthen the muscles around the ankle. This worked well.

In my case though, the achilles has never caused me problems when riding, only when walking. If it hurts when you cycle its best to stay off the bike.

Toks

eyebee wrote:

Just had an recurring achilles tendon ache/pain checked out by my GP and was advised to rest it. Anyone with the problem advise how long? The problem isn't helped by my job , which aggravates it so I can never rest it totally.If I leave it a week then return to the bike I usually feel it again after around 10 miles.I have adjusted cleat position so they're now back as far as they go and moved my saddle forwards 10-15mm which seems to have helped somewhat.My seat height is also okay so there isn't any excessive stretching. Any advice appreciated.

Dude I 'd give it rest till Jan 2011. A mate of mine did Le Jog and his Achilles hasn't been the same ever since. He can ride gently but and thing moderately intensive and it hurts. I had a little niggle on my AT at he end of August and naively kept riding. I tried a 10 day break but it started hurting again after 40 mins last Sunday so I've decided to leave riding till January now and let it heal properly. Very frustrating but what can you do.. Grr!

phil s

I started getting Achilles tendinitis after my penultimate race of the season, despite not changing bike position at all or - as far as I'm aware - any cleat changes (although granted a cleat might change position if knocked hard enough/not done up enough). It felt very sore and luckily I got through my last race, then rested up a couple of weeks. When I got back on the bike I lowered the seatpost a tad and made doubly sure cleats were in straight line. Because I wasn't training hard or racing I seemed to fudge by, so I was lucky I guess.

d87heaven

If its achillies tendinits - A heel raise can help take tension of the achilles to help with resting it. Ice it. Strongest over the counter anti inflams. It needs rest though. A visit to a physio or sports therapist would likely help things along.
The longer it goes on the longer it will take to get better properly.

irezumi

If its just inflamation get some foam and put it in the back of all your shoes cutting a small hole over the area where your tendon is inflamed.

This will releive day to day pressure off it and help it to recover. When indoors try not to wear anything on your feet either. Had this from walking in ill-fitting boots in the snow last year. This solved the problem within a month.

vorsprung

I am not a physio, I haven't seen your ankle and I do not appreciate exactly what the problem might be...BUT

I had a recurring achillies problem and fixed it with "Eccentric loading exercises" as described on this web page

http://www.carletonsportsmed.com/chroni ... initis.htm

I did 10 minutes on a turbo to warm up and always used an ice pack afterwards. The problem cleared up in a couple of weeks and hasn't occurred since

holker

Hi, I've had several achilles tendonitis episodes following a bad injury to the tendon in x/c running race. What i have noted is that the only effective treatment is rest. Stretching can help. Stretching of the tendon if not too sore and also the calf muscles. Finally once everything feels fine, wait two weeks before commencing the activity that caused the injury in the first place. The achilles gets little blood supply and therefore takes ages to heal. It's also very easy for injury to reoccur, so very important that it's 100% better before resuming training, therefore please wait the 2 weeks. Its very frustrating not to train but if not fully repaired you will almost certainly get niggles and further injury by resuming training to early. Got to say I'm surprised this injury caused by cycling. I started cycling due to injuries incurred due to to running, achilles tendonitis being one of them. I've always found that I've ben able to cycle without pain, even when injury would have prevented running.

eyebee

Thanks for all the replies.I guess its not a bad time of year to have a break, although still frustrating. From previous experience/mistake , think I'll give it a month rather than risk it any earlier.

d87heaven

Rest it for a bit but you also need to strengthen it by doing heel drops. You need to realign damaged fibres, it may hurt a bit but thats because the damaged fibres have nerve endings. The healing rate can also be improved by doing proprioreceptive rehabilitation on the ankle too ie standing on one foot whilst brushing your teeth. When you get good at that try doing it with eyes shut.

Im not a physio but have been injured alot. A trip to a physio or sports therapist would be the correct way to go to get a diagnosis. Good luck

ut_och_cykla

I've also heard (but nevr tried) that those balance boards (like a small plank on half a football) are good for standing on whilst on tehphone, brushing teeth etc for strengthening leg muscles generally & ankle set specifically....but I'd see a physio and get the the heel drops sorted with pro help.....