Achilles Pain in Runners
One of the strongest and biggest tendons in the human body, the Achilles’ tendon can become a nuisance for runners that may significantly hinder your training. Changing shoes, wearing orthotics, manipulating your running style could all be items to attempt to clear this up, but this blog post today will discuss what could be missing in your Achilles rehab or more specifically, what you should be doing for that Achilles’ tendon pain!
Tendons all respond similarly throughout the body. What I mean by this is they all act like springs, absorbing and dispersing force. The Achilles’ tendon is the spring of the calf, and so when you have achilles pain, this is a problem with the ‘spring.’ To improve how the spring works, we need to assess if the achilles pain is coming from a chronic overuse issue, a load intolerance issue, or peaks/valleys in training volume. Once this is figured out, a plan can be out in place for proper Achilles’ tendon rehab and pain relief.
As a global rule of thumb, tendons respond best to proper dosage of LOAD. This means resistance training. Yes, I know… usually the last thing runners want to do is resistance training. But in this case, it is extremely important and arguably absolutely necessary. There have been more tendon loading studies on the lower half of the body than the upper, so this assists in creating a game plan for loading the tendon appropriately.
Commonly discussed is the Alfredson tendinitis procotol. This is twice a day, performing three sets of 15 eccentric calf raises with both knee straight and knee bent. Though this could probably assist many, it isn’t specific to everyone. Something to pay attention to is the difficulty level of this rep range. If 15 seems like a breeze, we NEED to make this more challenging. This can be done by slowing the motion down even more or adding more load. You could wear a heavy backpack, hold a weight in your hand, you name it. But the range to feel like it was worked should hit somewhere between 10-15 reps.
Achilles’ tendon pain, and all tendon diagnoses, are often stingy in healing. This is why creating a game plan for each individual case is so important! Looking to create this individualized program with a provider who understands your running related Achilles’ tendon pain? Let’s chat! I would be happy to discuss further how Loon State Physical Therapy can be a teammate in helping you return to moving and feeling at your best! Feel free to call us or book with us online at www.loonstatephysicaltherapy.com for an in-person or virtual appointment.
Until next time!
Andrew Eccles
Owner and Physical Therapist at Loon State Physical Therapy
