My achilles heel is killing me , what can I do to ease the pain?!
Question: My achilles heel is killing me , what can I do to ease the pain!?
My pain is making it hard to walk , I just hobble around!. But yesterday it was fine ! It feels a little better when I stretch it out , but not much!. What should I do about it !?
-Thank you!.Www@Answer-Health@Com
-Thank you!.Www@Answer-Health@Com
Answers:
It sound like you have some tendonitis (inflammation of the tendon)!. This is usually the symptom of overuse, but it could come on from an injury caused by a slightly unnatural movement or if it's tweaked in just the right way!. Here's a great site for info on achilles injuries!. http://www!.achillestendon!.com/
Let me tell you, that you don't want to let an achilles injury get out of control!. If you continue to use it heavily, the tendonitis can get worse and worse and eventually turn into tendinosis (chronic stage)!. This would be really bad news, and I would know!. Once it gets this bad, healing can't take place nearly as easily as it can when the injury is young!. Tendinosis is basically the degeneration of the tendon caused by failed healing, too much scar tissue and disrupted blood flow!. Here's a site on tendinosis, although hopefully it won't get that far but one thing that I would advise you to do, is to understand everything about what is happening as well as what can happen to your achilles, and to take it seriously!. http://www!.tendinosis!.org/
Some of the best treatments for tendonitis (what you have I believe, and which is the acute stage) are ice, ibuprofen (800mg 3x daily) and heel lifts!. All of these 3 were prescribed to me by doctors when I went in for my achilles injuries!. For the best heel lifts, look no further than these: http://gwheellift!.com/plastic-heel-lifts!.!.!.
I'd recommend the 9mm size or lower!. A good strategy to use might be to start at the 9's and work your way down!. They're cheap and I think it would be a good investment to get all sizes 9mm and down!. The 12mm ones are shaped differently and are huge!. Heel lifts really do help take alot of the stress off of the tendon when you are walking by shortening the distance that the achilles is stretched when you stand!. This relief of stress can really give the achilles a chance to heal if you're having to walk around alot and trust me, they make a big difference and are not just a gimmick!. The heel lifts in this link are made out of hard polyurethane and they need to be hard in order to work properly, or else they don't provide any support and will crawl up the sides of your shoe and always have to be adjusted!. These heel lifts stay in place like magic and have sharp edges on the the bottom that make a slight impression on the sole of your shoe that keep them right in place!. On top of these you will need these however to give some cushion!. http://www!.drscholls!.com/drscholls/produ!.!.!.
Massage can really help too and from what I was told can help to increase bloodflow!. Take some lotion, and pinch the achilles with the thumb and index finger and stroke it up and down, rotating as you go along to get the entire circumference of the tendon!. You can point you toes down on the down stroke and pull your foot back upwards on the upstroke too if you want!. This technique was shown to me by a physical therapist and works really well!. It's also designed to move the sheath of the tendon, up and down the tendon, which helps if the tendon is swollen at all!.
Another important thing I believe is to be wearing shoes that don't have uneven wear on one side of the bottom tread!. This will put an unnatural and uneven stress on an injured achilles and you definatley want to avoid this if possible!.
If it's really bad or maybe even if it's just fairly bad you might want to consider crutches for a little bit to give it a good jump start at healing!. One thing you should do for sure is talk to a doctor and go with his recommendations!.
I can tell you one thing for sure, is that you don't want to end up like me!. I have both of my achilles tendons in a state of tendinosis because I did all kinds of things wrong from the beginning!. My injuries were originally small tears i believe and I didn't treat them with respect and paid the price for it!. Make sure that you do what you gotta do in order to treat this or you'll be faced with having a rotten deal on your hands!. Email me if you want and good luck!.Www@Answer-Health@Com
Let me tell you, that you don't want to let an achilles injury get out of control!. If you continue to use it heavily, the tendonitis can get worse and worse and eventually turn into tendinosis (chronic stage)!. This would be really bad news, and I would know!. Once it gets this bad, healing can't take place nearly as easily as it can when the injury is young!. Tendinosis is basically the degeneration of the tendon caused by failed healing, too much scar tissue and disrupted blood flow!. Here's a site on tendinosis, although hopefully it won't get that far but one thing that I would advise you to do, is to understand everything about what is happening as well as what can happen to your achilles, and to take it seriously!. http://www!.tendinosis!.org/
Some of the best treatments for tendonitis (what you have I believe, and which is the acute stage) are ice, ibuprofen (800mg 3x daily) and heel lifts!. All of these 3 were prescribed to me by doctors when I went in for my achilles injuries!. For the best heel lifts, look no further than these: http://gwheellift!.com/plastic-heel-lifts!.!.!.
I'd recommend the 9mm size or lower!. A good strategy to use might be to start at the 9's and work your way down!. They're cheap and I think it would be a good investment to get all sizes 9mm and down!. The 12mm ones are shaped differently and are huge!. Heel lifts really do help take alot of the stress off of the tendon when you are walking by shortening the distance that the achilles is stretched when you stand!. This relief of stress can really give the achilles a chance to heal if you're having to walk around alot and trust me, they make a big difference and are not just a gimmick!. The heel lifts in this link are made out of hard polyurethane and they need to be hard in order to work properly, or else they don't provide any support and will crawl up the sides of your shoe and always have to be adjusted!. These heel lifts stay in place like magic and have sharp edges on the the bottom that make a slight impression on the sole of your shoe that keep them right in place!. On top of these you will need these however to give some cushion!. http://www!.drscholls!.com/drscholls/produ!.!.!.
Massage can really help too and from what I was told can help to increase bloodflow!. Take some lotion, and pinch the achilles with the thumb and index finger and stroke it up and down, rotating as you go along to get the entire circumference of the tendon!. You can point you toes down on the down stroke and pull your foot back upwards on the upstroke too if you want!. This technique was shown to me by a physical therapist and works really well!. It's also designed to move the sheath of the tendon, up and down the tendon, which helps if the tendon is swollen at all!.
Another important thing I believe is to be wearing shoes that don't have uneven wear on one side of the bottom tread!. This will put an unnatural and uneven stress on an injured achilles and you definatley want to avoid this if possible!.
If it's really bad or maybe even if it's just fairly bad you might want to consider crutches for a little bit to give it a good jump start at healing!. One thing you should do for sure is talk to a doctor and go with his recommendations!.
I can tell you one thing for sure, is that you don't want to end up like me!. I have both of my achilles tendons in a state of tendinosis because I did all kinds of things wrong from the beginning!. My injuries were originally small tears i believe and I didn't treat them with respect and paid the price for it!. Make sure that you do what you gotta do in order to treat this or you'll be faced with having a rotten deal on your hands!. Email me if you want and good luck!.Www@Answer-Health@Com
I noticed some of your responses!. What exactly do you mean when you say " my Achilles heel" is it your achilles tendon which is located on the back of you leg and foot or is the pain actually at the bottom of your heel!. Given your comments your problem could be a condition called plantar fasciitis!. Typically this condition is at the bottom of the foot, heel region!. It can also be closer to the Achilles and you can experience pain slightly higher on the back of the heel near the Achilles!. I have and continue to experience Achilles pain!. I ran this morning after laying off two days and the pain is back!. Normally a weeks rest is all I need but this time I only gave it 2 days!. If your condition is plantar, for example it is very painful when you first get up in the morning, then you will need to take a different approach to dealing with this condition!. If you think your condition is more plantar fasciitis versus Achilles I will be happy to give you comments on how to deal with it!.Www@Answer-Health@Com
See a doctor you may have heel spurs!. They are very painful but there is a surgery that corrects the problem!. You need to see a foot doctor!.Www@Answer-Health@Com