Achilles tendinitis - aibu or is it a curse?

[LostittoBostik]

Ugh it's been about six months and I've suddenly bothered to look into what's happening properly and it looks like I have this in both ankles.
I'm only in my 40s and I feel about 80 as I get stiff if I sit for more than 10 minutes.
I know what damaged them was a pair of flat sandals, plus always wearing converse so they were weak anyway.

I'm seeking a physio but can someone give me hope that it will eventually recover. I'm rushed off my feet with work, young children, house issues, older parents to support and I've just let it go on so long without any care and it's very bad now.
I'm worried I've damaged myself for life.

Dropping my step count feels so counterintuitive. I'm in my early 40s and have gained 7lb in the last year with zero change of diet...

But I can't go on hobbling like this.

Also on one side it's much worse and it's definitely badly swollen and hot. I certainly need professional support.
Ffs, just staying afloat is so much admin these days

Mine recovered relatively easily.
I carried on with normal activities and just stopped running and intentional exercise/ sport.

I wasn’t offered steroid injections, having saline injected under pressure was explored but dismissed. I can’t say I’m keen on surgery but needs must.

It took quite a few months. So painful - you have my commiserations. I couldn't wear shoes with backs for ages (Birkenstocks!) Exercises were important for recovery and I tried to do them regularly. When I switched physios and saw one who said there was a link between achillies tendonopathy and weak glutes/core, it was her exercises which seemed to help the most. The single leg bridge is good... I hope you feel better soon. Mine is completely fine now and I can walk for miles.

Fundamental issue is shortening / tightness of the calf tendon complex, walking won't stretch it be cause you dont use the full range of ankle movement, you just end up doing repetitive microtrauma - steps x force = amount of trauma.

Aim for fewer steps, more range of ankle movement and, less impact - that means doing controlled, slow deep stretches.

Counterintuitively strengthening without increasing range or stretching can make things worse as it increases the pkwer of the muscles and the forces through the injured tendon. Knee to wall or Assisted eccentric heel dips are way more useful than calf raises or strengthening in my experience.

Wearing soft soled shoes and those without laces to hold the foot is a bit of a killer.

In lockdown I bought a pair of cheap shoes with laces to wear around the house rather than slippers and that helped. I got heel insoles too and that really helped.

I bought Asics Gel Cumulus 24 trainers and they really helped - I have no pain now.

Yes I think this is how I caused it - with a pair of lovely but poorly fitting summer sandals

Unfortunately mine has been getting worse for six months or longer so I think it's well beyond this

Did anyone end up with hip pain from Achilles injuries? My ankle pain has resolved but I can’t shift the hip pain in opposite side - I assume it’s related.

I had a ruptured achilles tendon and tendontis from doing a lot of martial arts (i was training for an Orange belt). It basically took two years with a lot of physio and massage to recover.

I had it really bad for months and tried everything. Then I decided to give Acupuncture a go and it worked a treat. Took a few weeks of treatment but honestly I never looked back.

I have recently started having issues with my Achilles. I think mine is caused by the fact that a bunion which is getting progressively worse is causing me to favour the outside of my foot. I exercise 4/5 times a week and I’ve had to stop doing certain things. I’ve got the number for a specialist podiatrist but haven’t plucked up the courage (or saved enough money!) to do anything about it yet. I’m hoping better insoles and footwear might help

This is interesting. My core is very weak since I gave birth to my second child (4 years ago). I can't wear anything too tight around my waist because my muscles are so weak there. Exercise doesn't seem to make any difference in that area.

Took me a year to be pain free, but much longer for the unsightly lumps to go down.

I wear small heel lifts inside my shoes now, that made the biggest difference tbh. I forgot to put them in the flat shoes I wore last week for two days of walking round a city, and boy am I feeling it now... So I'm back on the ibuprofen and I'll be buying enough lifts that they are just in every pair instead of moving them about!

Do the physiotherapy. Ask them about heel lifts. I live in barefoot style shoes for the width of the toe box but still need the lift to protect the achilles.

Reformer pilates (physio led) has been a game changer for me, I get no issues from it and the lump has almost gone! The other big change was getting a job where I could wear supportive footwear/trainers in the office, rather than formal shoes. I haven’t gone back to any form of running or plyometrics yet but for the last 12 months I can ride a horse and do spin classes without pain or causing flare ups and my ankle is generally much stronger and more stable.

Acupuncture got rid of mine really quickly.

The weak glutes are at the base of so much - unsurprisingly, as they're great big muscles, designed to be engines propelling us forward. You have to learn to fire them up so they are recruited properly to assist everything else - like a releve/calf raise, which uses a lot of tiny muscles in the feet and ankles, but for which you also have to activate your glutes.

OP, do the glute exercises, and the ballet barre stuff. Follow the physio advice. And bear in mind, that you probably need to do three times as many daily reps, for four times the duration over months, to get the results. Exercise does work - I've ironed out so many aches and pains and imbalances - , but there's a conspiracy of silence from professionals, who don't want to demoralise patients at the outset, about how much effort you need to put in. Good luck!

I belatedly realised the Birkenstock sandals had fucked my achilleas too. I went from happily walking 100km in less than 24hours to mincing about with painful legs most of the time. I now have 1cm risers in my trainers and that helps. But I can’t walk barefoot at all, even at home .

apparently rest is key, but I can’t work out how to do that.

i went on to twisting my ankle last Easter, really badly spraining two ligaments and that ankle is still a bin fire. I had it in a boot for 3
months and a metal ankle support for 3 more

I also have developed tendinitis is in both wrists and Elbows. Which has meant I am
thinkinh this is a perimenopause issue.

but adhd and general trying to survive life is meaning im doing a stellar job of procrastinating rather than prioritising getting on the phone to gp at exactly 8am (whilst getting kids ready for school)
but I really do need to do thay

I had it for about six months. I listened to the physio, less uphill walking and supportive shoes and it's resolved itself.

However I have since sprained my ankle again, and the physio said it was these sprains that likely led to the tendonitis in the first place, so god knows what'll happen now

God yes, I’ve put on a good 12kg in the last 18months with tendonitis. Fatter and fatter the. More o rest it, just at the time when I keep being reminded that I need to be doing impact exercises etc for bone density and need to exercise more to combat perimenopause weight gain.

@LostittoBostik @MumonabikeE5 low impact exercise that doesn't involve your ankle - gentle (flat) walking, weights (seated and mainly upper body), swimming is a great one

Mine was triggered by all my 2021 races being lumped together into one season. Plus buying a pair of warm slip on boots that were too sloppy and flat.

I ended up stopping running for 6 weeks. Just standing and walking was sore, but I got to the point where I HAD to run, so started with one minute and very gradually building up 30s at a time. It was 2 months before I was ready for C25k. I very gradually built up the milage back to my normal level over 6 months. The following spring, I ran my deferred marathon.

Other things that helped were changing style of running shoe, doing my physio on the doorstep each time I got home, and continuing strength exercise. Lots of foot rolling on a tennis ball.

I can still feel it slightly stiff when it's cold, but it hasn't limited me since.

The trouble is when you walk at least 5km a day doing school run, and work in a job that is largely stood up. And the physio tells you to limit walking to 1km a day. Suppose I should hover board the rest of the time.