Achilles Tendon Pain

The Achilles tendon is unfortunately very vulnerable when it comes to sports and physical activity, in fact, it's one of the most frequently injured tendons in the body.

You can pick up various different types of Achilles injuries as they can be affected by overuse, repetitive strain and acute injuries.

It is therefore quite difficult to diagnose an Achilles injury because of the different injury incidents that could occur.

You might think this is the origin of the phrase "Achilles' heel" but the real story behind that is part of the Greek Mythology of Achilles.

The original story was that Achilles was held by his ankles and dipped into the River Styx which made the rest of his body invulnerable except for his heels.

That's not the topic of this buyer's guide so I won't get into it too much, hopefully, it helped you learn something new though or at least made you feel better about your Achilles Tendon injury.

Causes of Achilles tendon pain

As mentioned above, Achilles tendon pain can be caused by tendon damage or a complete rupture. Repetitive Stress is the main direct cause of Achilles tendon injuries but that is quite a broad term so we'll go through the ways your Achilles tendon can become damaged or irritated. The risk factors that increase the likelihood of an injury happening are:

• Wearing the wrong shoes or doing activities on a bumpy surface 
• Higher intensity when playing sports 
• Starting a new physical activity or sport 
• Not warming up properly, especially calves
• Bone spurs on the heel

Signs and symptoms of an Achilles Injury 

As mentioned earlier, you will still be able to walk with an Achilles tendon rupture so although it is easy to identify an Achilles tendon injury, it's hard to figure out how bad the injury is. You can usually tell if it's a rupture if you're able to hear a popping sound but if you're an athlete or in an environment where you can't accurately associate the sound with a rupture then a Doctor will be able to properly identify the type of injury.

You should always consult a doctor or sports medicine professional if you suspect that you have an Achilles tendon injury but here's a list of signs and symptoms that you may have if you have Achilles tendinitis, Achilles tendinosis or a ruptured Achilles:

• Pain that intensifies with activity, usually along the back of the leg or close to the heel
• Pain specifically in the Achilles tendon after exercise and the tendon may feel thicker
• Swelling that intensifies with activity 
• Flexing the foot becomes more difficult
• Bone spurs on the heel bone 

There are a few other ways you can gauge how injured your Achilles tendon is, testing the range of motion of your ankle can help. This means rolling your ankle around and seeing how much you can manage without causing yourself too much pain. Feeling around can help you find any swelling or bone spurs but the proper medical experience is required to do this accurately so only ever use this as a way of assessing yourself 

Treating Achilles Tendon Pain 

As with any injury, the treatment of Achilles tendon damage depends on how severe the injury is because you can't really treat a rupture the same way you would if you were treating tendonitis.

Treatment should also be approached the same way as a diagnosis - it should always be left up to the professionals.

If you are in an unfortunate position and don't have access to someone that can help then the POLICE principle is a good guideline for injury management.

The acronym will soon be replaced by PEACE & LOVE but the principle we mentioned is a lot simpler and easier to follow.

One of the key changes is to avoid anti-inflammatories though which is important to remember because swelling, although sometimes painful, actually helps you to recover faster.

You can still take anti-inflammatories for pain relief after the initial injury incidence but the point is that you shouldn't take them unless it is really necessary. 

Strengthening the calves is a really effective way of treating Achilles tendon injuries. This is because stronger calf muscles will help to take some weight off the tendon. Low impact exercises are great for slowly rehabbing the tendon and getting used to exercising again. 

Try to avoid doing Heel raises until you've recovered a little bit and then you could probably use them primarily for strengthening to avoid re-injury or future Achilles tendon injuries, discuss this with your physiotherapist for proper guidance as each person is different.

Although heel raises aren't a good idea for recovery, gel heel cups and cushioning insoles can help give support and take a lot of impact off walking and everyday activities. Please read our Heel pain guide to learn about the use of heel lifts and heel pads.

In a lot of cases, especially with complete tears but also with quite a few more minor cases; surgery will probably be required. This can mean surgery to

• repair the tendon
• remove bone spurs
• lengthen the calf muscles
• remove damaged tissue
• a procedure that involves moving another tendon which provides more support

It is however important to note that surgery isn't always a complete solution and can sometimes cause more complications such as pain and a longer recovery time. Surgery also doesn't massively reduce your chance of re-injury.

Products for treating Achilles Tendon Pain