Achilles tendonitis usually occurs from over use or an injury. Learn about the causes, symptoms and treatments for Achilles tendonitis in this health video.
Consult a doctor
Avoid over use of the Achilles tendon
Apply ice
Take anti-inflammatory medications
Thomas Clanton, M.D. is an orthopedic surgeon at the Roger Clemens Institute at Memorial Hermann Hospital in Houston, Texas. He is also on faculty with UT-Houston Medical School.
DR. THOMAS CLANTON: Achilles tendonitis is our topic now. It occurs in two varieties. It occurs as an insertional problem where the tendon attaches to the bone, and it also occurs as a non-insertional variety. So we are talking about a rather acute condition that occurs usually from overuse, sometimes from an injury, and it occurs in the area where the calf muscle becomes the Achilles tendon and then attaches to the heel bone. Insertional tendonitis occurs directly on the back part of the heel, the posterior heel, where the tendon actually attaches to the bone as opposed to the non-insertional variety that occurs farther up behind the ankle before the tendon gets down to the bone. Many times in athletes who have this condition, when you feel the Achilles tendon, you will feel what we call crepitus or little popping sensation around the tendon as the ankle moves up and down, and that is one of the ways of diagnosing it. You usually have tenderness, sometimes swelling and occasionally warmth in the area as well. There is usually pain when you use the Achilles tendon, for example, coming up on the toes or pushing against a resistive force with the foot and ankle. In these situations, it is usually caused by an overuse. So it can be caused by training errors, someone who is used to running on flat land doing a lot of hill work, sometimes increasing mileage beyond what would be the typical mileage for a runner or a cyclist, and that additional stress can cause an overload on the tendon and produce inflammation. It can be treated by reducing the stress and other anti-inflammatory measures such as ice, anti-inflammatory medications such as ibuprofen or naproxen that can be obtained over the counter. You can use physical therapy modalities. Those are often quite useful. And sometimes, adding a heel lift in a shoe can reduce the stress on the insertion of the Achilles tendon. So hopefully this will help your problem and get you better and back to your athletic activities.
