Achilles Tendinitis is a painful condition of the posterior of the lower leg. Typically the person is an athlete or avid runner who suffers from Achilles Tendinitis. The pain is generally activity induced, and most commonly strenuous activity induced. It can also manifest itself as pain walking up or down hills. There are many different treatments for Achilles Tendinitis. This article will focus on the best treatments available. As always the best treatment is to consult a Podiatrist to have your pain thoroughly investigated.
For clarification sake, if you think you have Achilles Tendinitis, but have a bump at your heel where the Achilles inserts, that is actually a Haglunds Deformity, or Retrocalcaneal bursitis. This is an entirely different condition, which can be cured quite easily with a simple heel lift.
Now onto the Achillies Tendinitis One of the obvious treatments as above is to purchase a heel lift for your shoes or sneakers. This will help take some strain off the Achillies tendon by reducing the stress. Heel lifts are an inexpensive first try treatment.
Orthotics are also an option for treatment. You can actually raise the heel of your orthotics by gluing the heel lift onto the bottom of the orthotic. Generally this heel lift would have to be made of cork to be placed onto the bottom of an orthotic. There are two types of orthotics: custom made orthotics done by a Podiatrist can cost upwards of 400 dollars but are occasionally covered by insurance. They are superior to over the counter devices that can be purchased. However in recent years the quality of Over the Counter Orthotics has increased.
A clarification, the biggest treatment mistake you can have during this treatment is to have a cortisone shot into the Achilles to reduce the swelling. A cortisone shot can lead to a rupture of the Achilles and aggravate the problem going forward. The only thing that should be used for pain is anti inflammatory such as:
Another treatment option, is to change the shoe gear or sneakers you wear from a flat bottom sneaker to a Rocker Bottom
A treatment that many patients deem very effective is a brace for Achilles Tendonitis.
A fourth treatment option is to immobilize the Achilles for a period of time allowing it to heal itself. This is perhaps the most effective treatment. It does require the person to wear a long legged CAM Walker
If the walking boot is to cumbersome but you would like to try a brace of that genere consider wearing a Posterior Night Splint
A very effective treatment for Achilles Tendinitis is stretching or physical therapy. Often Achilles Tendinitis is caused by having a tight achilles. The Achilles just needs to be stretched out and most of your symptoms will dissipate. Generally physical therapy can be prescribed by a Podiatrist, but it can be performed by yourself as well. Here is a link to the best stretches: https://podiatryadvice.com/top-5-videos-of-achilles-tendonitis-stretches/
One can also purchase equipment used by Physical therapists to help with Achilles Tendonitis. Here is a rocker bottom exercise equipment which is one of the most effective equipments for stretching out the Achilles
For pain relief Physical Therapists like to use Ultrasound to break up the scar tissue in the tendon. These too, can be purchased over the Internet and you can use them yourself:
If all else fails and MRI is recommended to truly determine the cause of the tendonits and determine if more invasive methods are need.