I’m an overweight (5ft 7in 200lbs) newbie who is trying to train my way back to “fitness.” About 3 weeks ago I felt a small bump on my achilles while stretching and massaging my legs after running. During my three mile run today my achilles was tender and I felt a bump about half the size of glass marble on it. Does anyone know what this is and what I should do about it? Thank you for your help.
is it painful to touch
Do you have high cholesterol
Is it hard?
is it movable independant of the tendon?
do you have a history of neurofibromatosis?
Is it red, warm, or inflamed at the site of the mass?
does it feel like it is filled with fluid
Do you have a doctor?
It could be a bursa sac that is located in that region. Get to a doctor for a definitive answer. No good can come of procrastinating with an achilles problem.
Taku
The bump on my achilles feels tender but not painful. It feels hard, is not moveable independant of the tendon, it is not red, warm or inflamed and it is not filled with fluid. I do not have problems with my cholesterol and have never heard of neurofibromatosis. I have a doctor (general practitioner and orthopedic surgeon) but assumed this was not a serious problem. Thank you for responding.
Ken, Sounds like it could be a small tear or rupture of the tendon. If your grab it between your fingers (the lump) and flex your foot up and down, you should feel the lump move up and down through your fingers. This would indicate the inflammation of the tendon as the bump on the tendon moves through the sheath. Physio would diagnose it quickly. I definitely would get it professionally looked at. The achilles is slow to heal as it has minimal blood flow, so usally a regime of oral or topical anti-inflammatories (NSAID’s) along with stretching, iceing and strengthing will be part of the solution. Don’t ignore this, as it will only get worse and may hamper your running for a VERY long time if you don’t lay off it and get it healed.