Achilles Tendonitis

[Dishka8643]

Hey, for the last year and a half, I have been dealing with a persistent case of tendonitis in both of my achilles tendons. I've seen doctors, had an MRI done, and they said that there was no permanent damage, but even after months of rest and stretching, I still have daily pain.

Does anyone here have any experience with an injury like this? Is it one of those injuries that will always ache, even after it has healed? Does any one know of any alternative/ homeopathic treatments for tendonitis?

I really want to do some traveling this summer, but I'm wary as long as my feet continue to hurt. I'd appreciate any advice or suggestions you might have, thanks.

 

[finn]

I actually had a partial tear of my achilles tendon, and it took a while to heal- basically I used exercise to speed up my blood flow, while being careful not to stress that particular tendon that much (meaning NO RUNNING), along with light massage of the area. Also, nutrition is another factor- eat well! I realize that there is a difference between a tear and tendinitis/tendinosis but I can't think of how I'd really change the way I'd treat it. It took me half a year to get it back to normal, but I heal pretty quickly.

 

[Dishka8643]

alright, I'll keep that in mind. I've been slowly stretching it and exercising it for a while, so it seems that I am at least headed in the right direction. I suppose it just takes time... My diet could use some improvement though; I'll have to start blending up some veggies or something. Thanks for the help man!

 

[coldsteelrail]

Ok well, here are some quick suggestions for things to research, if you haven't already:
What are you taking for anti-inflammatory?
Do some research on White willow, Turmeric, Bromelain, Arnica, ginger. Especially consider the arnica. You can apply it directly to the skin. Use a cold compress of Camphor, or just ice in cloth to keep swelling down. Consider taking Glucosamine with Condroiton(sp?), and take extra Vitamin C, and possibly a small dose of vitamin e. Avoid sugar, which depletes vitamin C. You can also eat stuff like live kombucha, and saurekraut, which are full of enzymes.
You can also get some homeopathic mineral salts. You can probably find them in health product stores, as the 12 mineral salts (or something).
Look into accupressure points for that area of your body.
Use massage, but do some research on the right stroke and pressure to use for that type of tendonitis.
It could be your shoes, or your walking style. If possible, get a professional to check out your gait. You could be walking in an aggravating way. Research how a proper gait at various speeds should look and feel, and check yourself.
What about slightly elevating the ankle padding inside your shoe? Might that help?
I have had tendonitis in various areas of my body, and found that i had to completely change my exercise styles, movement patterns, and body usage in order to remedy the symptoms, and they flair up or twinge a little occasionally when i am not exercising with regularity, paying attention to my movement, or not drinking enough water. Keep your body hydrated!
i had a friend who was an 'elite athlete', and she said acupuncture worked well for tendonitis. Accupressure (which is different, there are no needles) you can do at home by yourself with your fingers. Look up the corresponding pressure points.

 

[Dishka8643]

awesome suggestions. I'll definitely look into all of those. I'm taking vitamin supplements as well as eating foods like kiwi, kale, and pine needle tea, for the vitamin C. I had no idea that sugar depletes your vitamin reserves though, I'll have to keep an eye on that. Currently, the only thing I am doing for inflammation is soaking my feet in a contrast bath, so I could definitely be doing more in that respect.

That's a good point about walking gait, the tendonitis originally came about from barefoot distance running, so it's quite possible that improper form is what is causing the injury to linger.

I'll look into acupressure as well. Thanks so much for the insight, really appreciate it.

 

[finn]

Haha, barefoot style running is what caused the damage to my tendon! I can run 4.5 miles on it now just fine, maybe more but at that point I'm winded after a half hour of running! Anyway, I learned the hard way that you have to increase the distance ever so slowly in order to strengthen your tendons! They develop and heal much much slower than muscle.

 

[Dishka8643]

aha, cool. glad to hear that you can still run well. barefoot running is a lot of fun, but you are absolutely right in that you need to make the transition from shod to barefoot slowly. Part of the reason that I got hurt was that I started out wearing huarache sandals, like these:



which gave me the confidence to run much farther than I should have been.

Had waited for my feet to toughen up, it probably would have been fine. I didn't realize until after the injury that a muscle will usually heal in 3 days, whereas a tendon will take 10 times that long.

btw, I've started performing acupressure massage on my tendons morning and night, for about 10 minutes. so far, it's been quite effective in giving me temporary relief from the pain. thanks again for the help.