I’ve mentioned a pain in my left Achilles. I went to my podiatrist, who referred me to an imaging place, where I got an ultrasound. When I went back to my podiatrist, he assumed that I had a tear but was pleased that it was only a pull.
From the Mayo Clinic: “Achilles tendinitis is an injury of the Achilles (uh-KILL-eez) tendon. It can be caused by using it too much or too hard without enough rest, called overuse. Or it can develop without a clear cause.” This is the situation I’m in. I didn’t do anything that would have obviously aggravated it.
“The Achilles tendon is the band of tissue that joins calf muscles at the back of the lower leg to the heel bone.” It hurts when I walk.
My podiatrist suggested rest, and then after a couple of weeks, physical therapy. The Cleveland Clinic notes:
Nonsurgical Achilles tendinitis treatments include the RICE method:
- Rest: Stop doing activities that stress your tendon. Switch to low-impact activities, such as swimming, that put less stress on your Achilles tendon.
- Ice: Put ice on your tendon for up to 20 minutes, as needed throughout the day.
- Compression: Compress, or put pressure on, your tendon using an athletic wrap or surgical tape.
- Elevation: To reduce swelling, lie down and raise your foot on pillows so it’s above your heart.
Goody, goody. Lately, I’ve often used my cane, not just on uneven surfaces. It’s instrumental in getting off buses and down the stairs; down is harder than up. I’ll probably use an Uber more often in the near term.
When I have an “injury” I get so annoyed with my body. I had to go to physical therapy from November through January due to back pain. The PT did help. I hope you get relief soon!
has this happened to you before?
Yeah, as the owner of a permanently-slightly-wrecked knee (torn meniscus which I – and my regular doctor – do not think is bad enough to require surgery), uneven ground is not great, stepping down from tall heights is not great. But in my case: I absolutely must keep working the knee; going more than a day without exercise means I’ll have worse pain.
But I definitely did the RICE thing when it was first injured, that was what they recommended. (At first the ER thought it was a bad sprain; it turned out to be a bone bruise, plus the cartilage damage). Bone bruises are intensely painful; the main thing that helped was staying off it and icing it. And they take forever to heal; I’ve read it can be 2 years for full healing.
So sorry you are going thru that. No fun. Praying for your healing. Love you!
Dave- No. I mean, I’ve turned my ankle once or twice, but this is a different beast. The cane helps somewhat.
Unsolicited advice:
When I was healing from a broken leg 7 years ago, a PT advised that when using stairs to remember “Down with the bad; up with the good.” I still use that advice, especially when going down stairs. Bad leg goes first.