Les Croupiers Running Club Forum

For the last 6 months I have been plagued by Achilles tendon pain and running has become miserable. I have tried resting, stretching and NSAIDS. I am limited to about 10k on the flat and hills hurt.

I'm not ready to retire quite yet, so am at the point where I will give anything a go. Any recommendations for physio, sports medicine, witch doctors and purveyors of snake oil.

I would love to be fit for the cross country season.

Sorry to hear about your problems Richard.
I have been an Achilles tendon sufferer in the past.
In my case it was simply wear and tear after many years of pounding roads.
Achilles tendon shorten with age, and my solution was orthotics.
Would stretching help? Many would say yes, and I have become more convinced of the need for stretching later in life, but only because of my compromised running action caused, in no small part, by the lack of it.

The bane of my life. I could go on about them more than John Plain.

I've tried just about everything except nitroglycerin patches.

A few comments I would make are:
Don't mix NASAIDS with training. An absolute no-no. It disguises the problem & makes it worse over time. If your not running, then a different matter they can help in the short term.
I personally found orthotics from ACE Feet in Motion a lifesaver. Didn't cure the problem but alleviated it sufficiently to allow me the interval train & race. I know of at least 5 people from the club who have had lower leg problems that have been helped by these orthotics.

This injury is a complex issue and deserves more detail than can be provided in this post. Perhaps I can do another post later or we can chat at the club.

I am with Sean on this. I thought that I had chronic Achilles problems when I was in my 20s and iced it religiously, etc. Rest never made any difference either. Finally, a few years later, after a visit to a very good sports physio it was eventually diagnosed as a back problem relayed to my Achilles and calf sometimes. Core strengthening exercises and a visit to a physio or chiropractor could help - it is worth a go.

Hi Richard,

sorry to hear you've got achey achilles.

Seems like problematic achilles is the injury of choice recently!

I've struggled since Barry 40 2012 with initially a sore left achilles but now both. I managed to suck up the pain for several months but then it got worse so I went back to basics and reviewed my shoes as I'd been wearing the same brand/model for over a decade but in that time I reckon my achilles had possibly shortened (who knows for sure though!)?

A change of shoes helped a little. So then I reviewed my orthotics and went to ACE. They agreed that due to shortened achilles my orthotics needed raising up so a mere 3mm increase in the heel and things got a little better again.

For London I was doing more running than ever before often x2 a day and despite this pain didn't worsen, in fact if anything it got less??? Andrew at ACE suggested that this may due to micro tears initially in the achilles resulting in new capillaries forming into the tendon in order to try to provide blood flow and hence healing. However the additional capillaries running horizontally to the achilles only results in causing friction and poor tendon slide hence more pain. His advice based on the most recent research was if you can get through the pain then keep moving (I took that for, keep running in my head) as the moving/running motion helps to break up the unwanted capillaries and allows a smoother tendon slide (maybe thats why I found there was less discomfort when I run more frequently)??

I also use alot of omega 3 daily as an anti-inflamm rather than NSAID meds. I've read a few small RCT's suggesting that NSAID's used during/around training/racing may result in muscle deterioration so I'm always squeamish about popping them these days.

I'd love to say the above has cured me but alas it hasn't. I can say it's manageable and usually after the first 1-2 miles of a run the discomfort settles down and is much less of an issue (sometimes goes away completely), there was a 3 week stretch after London when I was pain free and that was just heaven, alas it didn't last.

I make sure I stretch every day and Martin Haley is working on the principal that the problem is stemming from somewhere else higher up in the body so as well as the work he does on me I do all the exercises he's advised on a daily basis.

Best of luck Richard.

Davey Proud

Thanks for all the advice. So far I'm cross training ( cycling ), going for adventures on my kayak, physio ( booked) and orthotics ( booked). I'm learning to enjoy life in the slow lane

Thanks for resurrecting this thread Amanda. I am now back running. I am not sure which of the following worked

1 Stopping running totally for four months. Keeping fit with gym, bike and swim.

2 Shock wave therapy. Eye wateringly expensive and painful.

3 Accepting a certain amount of pain.

4 Accepting that this is a result of an aging beaten up body. You can't drag race a vintage car, so enjoy the shorter races, low mileage training, cross training and enjoy just taking part. Be content with the achievable.

5. Avoid tarmac as much as possible.

Thanks for all the support over the last few months. I'm back, slower and wiser.

Yes, good to see you back.

Looks like I've been thro' 1 to 4 of your list in the past. Still going OK tho'...

I have suffered with 2 achilles problems both in the left ankle in the past. Each time it took me out of running for around 3 months, so I really sympathise with you there Richard as there is nothing more frustrating than seeing runners on the streets and you know that you can't get out there and run as it will probably knock your recovery back further. The second time I injured my achilles was due to picking the wrong trainer when I bought two pairs in America which I would pay a lot more back home, but not having done my homework, I picked a neutral trainer and not a over pronation trainer which I do when I run. Nowadays I am running more mileage than I ever have and rarely suffer from any nagging pains now. There a few changes that I have made which I feel has probably made this difference which are:

1. A vast amount of my training has been done on a treadmill, now I know this may not sound favourable to some, but it has brought me on really well over the past year as I have been able to increase my mileage and really push myself in some sessions in confidence that I don't get sore after it. I know this may not work for everybody, but it has paid me dividends.

2. I have dropped 18 pounds in weight which I did between February to August last year and now maintaining my weight around 151 - 153 pounds, I won't go any lighter than this now for my height.

3. Buying the correct training shoes by getting an assistant who knows my running gait and picking the shoes which they recommend.

4. If I do feel a little sore, than what is the harm of resting for an extra day or so to get over it. Missing one or two training sessions ain't going to knock your performance down, but it might if you force yourself out and train hard again on it and then get an injury.