Whether you are an avid runner, marathoner, or an Average Joe just trying to maintain a healthy lifestyle, running/jogging can be a great and addictive exercise. But what happens when you develop sudden pain in the heel, plantar fascia, or calf? This can become a vicious cycle that the sport and exercise you enjoy the most - jogging/running - can be the source of your new found injury - Achilles Tendonitis.
More and more athletes, active adults, and weekend warriors are falling in love with running. This popularity of running is evidenced by what seems to be an infinite amount of social running clubs for joggers of all skill sets.
So what do you do when your exercise is what limits you from, your exercise?
This conundrum presents itself almost everyday and, as always, the best course of action is always…it depends.
However, first thing is first, you must determine if your pain is actually Achilles tendonitis. Many mimicking diagnoses must be ruled in or out and can include plantar fasciitis, calf strain, tarsal tunnel syndrome, heel fat pad injury, S1 Nerve dysfunction, and many, many more.
Then once you ensure you are indeed struggling with Achilles tendonitis, you further need to decipher if you are struggling with Insertional Achilles tendonitis versus mid-portion Achilles tendonitis, and you need to determine the severity/grading of the injury.
The above many nuances of Achilles Tendinopathy are treated differently, and must also depend on the level of involvement of either the gastrocnemius and/or soleus musculature in the calf.
So without further ado, the best way to treat and run with an Achilles tendon injury - is to simply avoid an Achilles tendon injury in the first place.
And the best and easiest ways to avoid an Achilles tendon injury due to running/jogging can include:
Adequate Warm up prior to your run. Followed by an adequate cool down following your run.
Avoid the temptation to overtrain or run through pain/discomfort.
Proper shoe fit.
Cross training to avoid unnecessary overuse.
Consistent strength training and flexibility/mobility exercises.
Vary your run distances and pace.
Rest!
And if you already have Achilles Tendonitis, what do you do next?
The absolute first thing to do if you are struggling with Achilles tendonitis is to utilize Direct Access Physical Therapy services and get evaluated by your local Orthopedic Physical Therapist.
Achilles tendonitis can eventually cause knee pain and even hip pain, and early intervention at the onset of your symptoms has been proven to limit secondary and even tertiary injuries.
Additionally, your Physical Therapist will be able to differentially diagnose the injury to either rule in or rule our neighboring structure/diagnoses, as well as grade the severity of your injury. From this information, your Physical Therapist can design and implement a personalized treatment program to get you back to running in no time.
Within that custom treatment plan may include expert manual therapy techniques such as ankle (amongst other joints) mobilizations, massage/cupping, strengthening, stretching/flexibility, gait analysis, orthotics/shoe wear recommendations, and dry needling. Depending on the root cause of your symptoms, this treatment may also target the knee, hip, pelvis, and/or lower back.
The primary reason you won’t find a list in this blog definitively telling you to perform calf stretching, isometric strengthening and/or eccentric strengthening, or training program modifications is because these interventions can be useless, harmful or even worsen your condition.
Finding a Fellowship-level Osteopractic Physical Therapist is the first step in returning to pain free running and crushing your next PR.
And if you are in the North Houston region of Texas, then you are in luck, because Flow Physical Therapy and Wellness has an Osteopractor ready to assess your Achilles tendon injury and design your personalized treatment program.
And all that is standing between you and your next pain free run is to just click the button below.
Dr. Patrick Thompson, PT, DPT, OCS, Dip. Osteopractic, FAAOMPT
Owner of Flow Physical Therapy and Wellness
832.299.5447
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