Achilles Tendonitis

[mattm1234]

I found out I have achillies tendonitis from running. Took a few months off and just walked/biked. No pain. Tried to run, pain. MRI went to Dr. He said I have tendonitis but its not that bad at all.

Put me in a boot for a month. I didn't do PT because I thought if the boot's supposed to immobilize me, why should I go to therapy and have it moved/stretched. (Thanks to my dr's office for not returning 5 phone calls about when I should do PT) However I did take it off every 6 or 7 hours as it gave me a rash from rubbing on my skin. So I did some light walking with out it... tendon got some motion.

4 weeks later, he told me I can stop wearing the boot, go back to daily life, walk, bike.... try to run.

I biked the 1st day. No problems. I biked the 2nd day. Halfway through my workout I got sore and then stopped. I ASSUME it's because the tendon hasn't really been used aside from showering and walking across the room, and things like that, but I'm paranoid as to if i reinjured it from going to hard on it too soon (even though moderate effort on the bike).

Has anyone else's dr instructed them on how to go about getting back into the swing of things?
Was anyone else's tendon sore after taking the boot off?

Any stories/tips/advice is appreciated.

-Matt

[cjoyinit]

Matt,

I'm sorry that no one responded to your post. I've been considering buying a boot, but I was unsure if it was a product that really worked. Some months later, do you think it was of any benefit to you?

[mattm1234]

Yeah the boot worked. I pretty much wore it all day at work, and took it off when I came home, unless I was walking around the house a lot. Hobbiling on 1 leg was okay for trips across the room.

The worst part about it for me was I had to wrap my leg in an ace bandage and take it off and scratch my skin every few hours. The irritation was a nightmare. So be aware of that.

I wore the boot for a month and when I got the okay to remove it, I immediately jumped on an exercise bike. No problems but maybe in a week or 10 days, I had worse pain than before the boot. Went to a diff doctor. He said yeah that happens. You haven't used that tendon so it's going to be really sore, even if you slow pedal. I did a bunch of the stretches....wall stretch, put your toes on a step and let your heel drop, etc etc. About a month later I was able to run.

This is like 4 months later and I havent had any problems. I don't run every day anymore because I'm just a little paranoid... keep it to 3-4 x a week... every other day or so. Stop and do the step stretch on a curb every mile.

But yeah, no more pain or anything. Thank God.

So buy the boot. Use it. When you stop using it, be prepaired for some discomfort, as you'd expect. Give your leg a while to get back into the swing of things, and regularly stretch your tendon after using it.

OH. and ask your doctor if you should do stretches and phys. therapy while using the boot. My a-hole 1st doctor didnt tell me to and my 2nd guy said I should have because it would have not gave me as much discomfort after I stopped using it. My thought was I'm supposed to keep my ankle immobilized, why should I stretch? Apparently stretching is not the same as walking etc. So just check with your doc if you should do phys therapy while using the boot. And my PT was going once, paying 30 bucks, and having them show me 3 exercises I could have found on youtube, then doing it myself at home.

Hope it helps.
Best of luck.

[cjoyinit]

Matt
Thanks for giving me the information about how things turned out for you....I'm glad for your recovery. The information you gave me was very encouraging. I am certainly going to consider the boot. But even before I go to a podiatrist I wanted to do my own research....and find out what kind of results others have had with different treatments because I don't have a lot a money to waste on trial and error. Thank you again for you indepth information

[mattm1234]

i also went to a sports medicine doctor about the boot, not a reg podoitrist (spelling) just because i had the same problem (not nearly as bad about 6 years prior) as well as stress fractures in my shins (again from running). i went back to the same guy. if you go the sports medicine route, make sure u tell the nurse or whoever that it's achilles problems before u gmake the appointment. she might say no he doesnt do that stuff.

its good you're doing research but at the same time, everything i read was "just ice it" or "major surgery". remember that everyone's different and dont make light of it/scare yourself.

i dont know how bad your situation is, but i was at the point where the 1st time it healed on its on in 2-3 months. and the 2nd time it was way over 6 months. i thought i'd never run again. im very impatient. i dont like waiting for results and having a "lets see how it goes" way of treating things. but this is something u have to have a lot of patience with. because even if you feel better, it probably isn't healed enough and it'll be back to square 1. and i really struggled to not push it and jump back into training hardcore shortly after starting exercise

if you have any other questions let me know