Treating Chronic Achilles problems

In article <[email hidden]>,

Gleshna said:

This works:

ncbi.nlm.nih.govquery.fcgiOpen ↗
&db=pubmed&dopt= Abstract&list_uids=9617396

Thanks for the reference. I was able to get a copy of the
full article; it's quite interesting, and I'll discuss it
with my doctor and PT.

Jesse Sheidlower

Quoted message said:

I was able to get a copy of the full article

How? At $20.00 per article, or $75.00 for 24 hour access,
it's pretty pricey. The article interests me for two
reasons: AT and calf-strengthening.

Quoted message said:

Thanks for the reference. I was able to get a copy of the
full article; it's quite interesting, and I'll discuss it
with my doctor and PT.

Jesse Sheidlower

Just so you know. I never discussed with with my surgeon,
doctor, or PT. I just did it. It worked great.

I used the earlier Swedish article as a starting point. I
went to the local University Medical Library and got the
entire article for a couple of bucks.

The results reported and my own results make traditional
treatment look insane.

Gleshna - Multi-Thousandaire

DA LAKES: Da Lake Tube:
greatlakesurfing.compoint.jpgOpen ↗ Da
new Lake Movie: unsalted.tvunsalted.tvOpen ↗ Da Bears ???????

In article <[email hidden]>,

TopCounsel said:

Quoted message said:

I was able to get a copy of the full article

How? At $20.00 per article, or $75.00 for 24 hour access,
it's pretty pricey. The article interests me for two
reasons: AT and calf-strengthening.

I have a library card from the New York Public Library,
which gives me access to a very large number of journals in
electronic form, offsite. To my delight, the American
Journal of Sports Medicine was one of them.

And elsewhere said:

Just so you know. I never discussed with with my surgeon,
doctor, or PT. I just did it. It worked great.

That's good to know. Still, I'm already seeing people, so I
might as well talk to them about it.

Jesse Sheidlower

"TopCounsel" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
"]news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

I was able to get a copy of the full article

How? At $20.00 per article, or $75.00 for 24 hour access,
it's pretty

pricey.

Quoted message said:

The article interests me for two reasons: AT and calf-
strengthening.

Here is another article on the subject: articles.fin-articles.fin-Open ↗
darticles.com/p/articles/mi_m0918/is_2_30/ai_85169140

Bet you know at least one of the authors.

Matthew

TopCounsel said:

Quoted message said:

I was able to get a copy of the full article

How? At $20.00 per article, or $75.00 for 24 hour access,
it's pretty pricey. The article interests me for two
reasons: AT and calf-strengthening.

Until you get a copy, these links from previous discussions
of the technique last summer give an idea of the protocols:
sportsinjurybulletin.com023 05 achillesOpen ↗
_tendinosis.html carletonsportsmed.comchronic aOpen ↗
chilles_tendinitis.htm

You might also pull up the thread: "anyone doing heavy load
eccentric training for chronic achilles tendon pain?" from
last summer, where there was a discussion with other
people's observations, results, and links.

There's also a followup paper to what Gleshna posted and has
pictures: Mafi, N., R. Lorentzon, H. Alfredson. 2001.
Superior short-term results with eccentric calf muscle
training compared to concentric training in a randomized
prospective multicenter study on patients with chronic
Achilles tendinosis. Knee Surgery, Sports Traumatology,
ARthroscopy
9(1):42-47.

While I have a link for it (in the thread above), it's only
the abstract again, but the full paper has some pictures.
One thing I noticed is that the comparison concentric
treatments did *not* include the ones my PT gave me, which
included a lot of lateral stability type exercises.

One criticism of this technique alone is that it doesn't
deal with lateral issues and why additional exercises may be
necessary for running, esp. on trails.

There's a recent SIB article comparing a couple different
eccentric exercise protocols and the one emphasizing weight,
not speed, seemed to do better, iirc. The technique can be
very good if protocols are followed, but it may not be
entire solution.

Dot

--
"Success is different things to different people" -Bernd
Heinrich in Racing the Antelope

Jesse Sheidlower said:

And elsewhere said:

Just so you know. I never discussed with with my surgeon,
doctor, or PT. I just did it. It worked great.

That's good to know. Still, I'm already seeing people, so
I might as well talk to them about it.

It's good to check with your own health providers since you
may have other issues, like I did, that are causing the
achilles problem - or not. The achilles was just the tip of
the iceberg for me. Your AT could be overuse and simple
strengthening may work or it may be the symptom of some
underlying biomechanics issue. You haven't indicated much
about what your PT found and/or prescribed. In my case, the
foot/ankle mechanics were whiplashing the achilles, so I had
to address that issue besides strengthening the achilles.
Otherwise it would've been like an iron patch on a tissue-
paper ship (bad analogy, but hopefully that gives you an
idea of what I mean). This is the benefit of seeing a
knowledgeable doctor or PT. It may or may not be needed.

One limitation of the heavy eccentric load technique is, I
believe, that you focus only on the forward direction and
they balance against a wall, so there's no lateral
strengthening. With some cases of achilles, like mine, poor
foot/ankle functioning is also an issue. Using drills that
strengthen the lateral movement are also really helpful (see
links in my response to TopCounsel).

The eccentric drill here and calf raises on a ramp allowed
me to run hills again, the lateral strengthening allowed me
to run reasonable trails (can't handle really lumpy ones
yet, but things get stronger with use). Your issues may
differ and you can ignore what I'm saying.

You might also pull up the thread: "anyone doing heavy load
eccentric training for chronic achilles tendon pain?" from
last summer, where there was a discussion with other
people's observations, results, and more links. It gets
kinda drawn out since there's initial discussion and then
later followups.

Dot

--
"Success is different things to different people" -Bernd
Heinrich in Racing the Antelope