[andypepp]

Hi
Could someone please help me,i have an Achilles injury that has just started ,i have seen a sports physio who has said i have tight calf muscles which could be causing the sore Achilles, so i have been given some calf stretches and some Achilles stretches the thing is since doing the Achilles stretches it has made it worse should you stretch a sore Achilles or not as i have seen conflicting answers on the internet about stretching the Achilles or not stretching it.
I am really worried on what to do now as i know how serious an Achilles is.
Any help would be very much appreciated

 

[premierphysio]

hi andy

the problem with injuries sustained to the achilles tendon is the ability to heal. The tendon doesnt have the greatest blood supply and in people over 35 this reduces further. It essentially means that healing takes longer. The majority of achilles problems can be put down to a few factors such as:

Musculoskeletal - tight calf muscles
poor biomechanics - the way we walk and run
the wrong running shoes
Lower back problem - which throws off nerve impingement and causes lower limb muscular issues.
training error - over doing the running sessions without adequate rest periods, also running surfaces - i.e the road!!

The biggest problem you have is finding out which ones of the above you fit into. The most important factor in achilles injuries is REST. The tendon needs time to repair. I would have to say the for the usual chronic or actue Achilles problems that stertching the muscle in 95% of cases is needed. There are circumstances when stretching shouldnt be done right away like a partial or complete tear.

In essence once a person has sustained an injury and allowed adequate healing time you also often find the the healing process will actually cause some loss of strength and a tightness to occur to the muscle - so people end up stretching and strengthening anyway.

I would have a chat with your physio - see if you can adapt the exercises and tell him your worries- they cant help if you dont feed-back to them! If your not getting anywhere it maybe useful to look at the list i suggested and see if you havent covered any of those areas- further more if your still not happy ask your GP for a diagnostic ultrasound- this can assess the state of your tendon and see if any tears etc are present.

good look

good look

 

[andypepp]

Thanks very much for your response it was very helpful