David said:When I resumed running every thing was wonderful, until it
struck....horrible heel pain. The best I can tell I'm a victim of Achilles
tendonitis. I haven't run for about two months, and my doc has given me
some anti-inflammatory drugs, but it's still uncomfortable, and I'm not
running! Any ideas or suggestions?
Thanks for any help!
You didn't give too much background or description of your problem (in
particular is it achilles tendonitis or plantar fasciatus), but based on
my experience:
(1) Find out what caused your AT - either you figuring it out yourself
or going to a sports medicine practictioner familiar with running
biomechanics. For you this could be a GP, a podiatrist, a PT, a
chiropracter, etc. Even runners who are doctors may not understand the
biomechanics enough to do a decent diagnosis and treatment.
(2) Treat the cause - sometimes it too much too soon but could be weak
ankles/feet or a physical cause. This may involve physical therapy and
tons of exercises you can do at home - or maybe some simple stretching.
(3) Rebuild slowly.
Sometimes you need to back off for awhile until it heals. Sometimes you
need the right level of light exercise so damaged tendons heal in linear
fashion, rather than as bunched up knots (slightly exaggerated).
Sometimes you need to loosen everything in back of your leg, esp. calves
(see Ozzie's posts). You might be able to figure this out on your own or
you might benefit from a practitioners' help. I benefitted immensely
from PT help since he found a bunch of other things that were probably
going to happen down the line unless I resolved some muscle imbalances.
My experience: a number of years ago, I had AT/PF, went to GP who runs,
went through the NSAIDs, don't run, some PT route (but no diagnosis or
treatment of cause), and was ok a couple years. Fast forward for a
repeat performance about 2 yrs ago - except this time I had lined up a
PT for a gait analysis just about the time this AT re-occurred
(coincidence, not planned). He found at least part of what was causing
the problem, did some PT, and gave me a ton of exercises many of which I
still use. I'm not convinced I'm out of the woods completely, but at
least I'm able to run reasonable trails reasonably consistently.
Good luck.
Dot
--
"So many people get stuck in the routine of life that their dreams waste
away. This is about living the dream." - Cave Dog
