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achilles pain problems
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I ran hills on Wednesday and by the time I finished, my achilles was in a world of hurt. It's been sore since then. It just came on, without any prior warning. Should I be concerned? Will it go away? Is there anything I can do to help the pain go away faster?

Thanks,

Adam
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Do not ignore it! [ In reply to ]
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I still fight an achilles pain every day. It started last July, 4 months before IMFL. I tried running "thru"it but it got worse. Went thru some pt and learned about stretching and now I sleep with a giant night splint. It hasn't gone away totally but it's pretty much pain free. Also..are your shoes different? I was running in a new shoe (Nike Shokz or what ever the hell they are) and it turned out that they were primarily responsible. Too much cushion overstretched my achilles. Now running in something much more appropriate but less sexy. Heat, massage and stretching are the keys. Good luck (plus take some time off for it to heal....a couple of weeks sure beats what I'm doing every day!)

Doug in Michigan

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Re: achilles pain problems [adampom] [ In reply to ]
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Adam,

I ran into the same problem. I did five miles of hills last week and during my 18 mile long run my Achilles began hurting. Since I'm training for the Boston Marathon and I still have eight weeks to go, I stayed off the road for six days. Instead, I spent the entire week on the bike (something I can do now that I live in San Diego). I did my standard eight mile loop this morning at a moderate pace with no problems.

My suggestion, for what it's worth, is to not run for several days and cross-train instead. I self-massaged the ankle after each workout to help loosen everything up. I wouldn't try running through the pain, though, just to be safe.

Good Luck - Martin
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Re: achilles pain problems [adampom] [ In reply to ]
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Rest it, ice it and stretch it. And hope for the best. If this doesn't work you'll have to do a more thorough investigation. Might need new shoes, orthotics, ultrasound treatments on the tendon, etc.
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Re: achilles pain problems [adampom] [ In reply to ]
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It can become chronic. I had it for 18 months and was coming to the conclusion I would never compete in an Ironman distance race. None of the doctors advice or standard treatments were helping (rest, Ice, compression, anti-inflamitories, orthotics, shoes, etc). There's only so much rest you can afford before your fitness drops off! When surgery was threatened, I got serious about finding something else.

Julie Donnelly's ("The Pain-Free Triathlete") self-treatment techniques worked for me. You can read up on Achilles Tendonitis at her forum at www.julstro.com/18.html

The lady is THE expert on repetitive strain injuries. She also answers all the posts herself. Look into it and good luck. You don't want this to hang around and get worse. BTW.. thanks to her, I have managed to compete an complete two ironman distance races so far (OK, so IM Utah doesn't really count).
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Re: achilles pain problems [Train Wreck] [ In reply to ]
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Thanks for the advice and pointing me to the other forum. I'll try Julie's stretches and hope for the best.

I'm doing IM USA in Lake Placid in July, so I want to be 100% soon so I can start running. I'm just coming off of some ITB problems in my other leg, so the achilles pain is somewhat frustrating. I guess it's just one more thing to focus on while stretching.

Thanks,
Adam
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Re: achilles pain problems [adampom] [ In reply to ]
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Just make sure to find and work out the muscle spasms in your calf muscles. They showed up probalby as the result of running the hills. If I don't work out the spasms first, I have found that stretching alone would actually agrivate the problem.

I'm not the expert but we have what are called "trigger points" that when are in spasm feel like small knots in the muscle tissue. Once you release those, the muscle works correctly and you don't get the stress on your tendon. Mine kept comming back for months, but I could work them out in a few minutes, and the tendonitis would subside completely. Even in the middle of a run.

Good luck with your training and the race.
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Re: achilles pain problems [adampom] [ In reply to ]
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The first thing to do is not make it worse by running. Be careful even stretching or riding for a few days, and when you do either, be gentle and back off if there's any sign of pain. Two things that are worth remembering if it gets chronic: cortisone shots have little effect there, in my experience, but a large short dose or oral cortisone (predlisolone for example) over four days can get rid of any inflammation. Second, if it simply refuses to go away after the usual months of useless advice from doctors (who all seem to sound like Runners World advice columns from 1985), surgery isn't a bad alternative, if you have lesions on the tendon itself and irritation between the tendon and sheath. I had to have this, at a time when I thought I'd never run again, and I was back jogging two weeks later, and have since done a bunch of ironman races and been pain free for 20 years. But first, try and rest it completely for three days and see what happens. It may well just pass.

Peter Stephens
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Re: achilles pain problems [adampom] [ In reply to ]
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Since it's not yet chronic, stop running for a few days and cross train. Swim, cycle, elliptical trainer. The latter can be quite useful, since it uses many of the same muscle groups. Just don't get up on your toes much. When you go back to it start on the treadmill and gradually extend your road time. If it's not improving you might want to see a sports medicine doc, or physical therapist.

_________________
Dick

Take everything I say with a grain of salt. I know nothing.
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Re: achilles pain problems [adampom] [ In reply to ]
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The problem is manifested in your achilles, but you most likely strained your soleus and/or poplidius (sp?) muscles up the back side of your calf and behind your knee. The spasm in either one/both of those muscles is pulling against your achilles and causing the inflamation.

This is exactly the kind of injury that ART can treat & help cure quickly. You can go see an ART specialist near you (check out http://www.activerelease.com/providerSearch.asp) and get back into your training quickly, or you can waste your time following the other courses of action that have been posted.

I've had hundreds of ART treatment sessions since 1994, the first set to address the exact problem that you describe.

Take care-
-Mike Llerandi
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