Achilles tendinopathy is commonly caused by muscle strength imbalances, poor foot biomechanics and too fast an increase in the amount of load on your Achilles. For example, increasing your walking or running distance, or walking or running on hills rather than on the level. You ,may find that with rest your symptoms settle, but when you return to running or walking, the pain returns. This is usually because you have not increased the load on your tendon slowly enough and it does not have enough time to adapt to the new levels of load. When this happens for a long enough time or repeated times, the tendon changes and has some degenerative features as well as inflammation. It is best to stop the activity that you think is aggravaing your Achilles tendon and be assessed by a physiotherpist, otherwise, it gets harder and takes longer to recover from Achilles tendinopathy.
Physiotherapy treatment of your Achilles tendinopathy may include off the shelf or podiatry insoles to help correct your foot mechanics. Insoles are not always required as strengthening and proprioeceptive exercises can be enough to resolve poor biomechanics. The calf muscle and proprioception (balance ability) are likely to be poor on the side with achilles tendinopathy and graded exercises will improve this. Other treatments include: stretches for the calf muscles, strengthening exercises, deep tissue massage, myofascial release, and extracorporeal shock wave therapy (ESWT). ESWT is very effective in resolving all types of tendinopathy. If you have achilles problems, book an appointment with e-physiotherapy Edinburgh.
