Treating Achilles tendinitis and preventing a rupture?

You should be doing at least 20 minutes of mobility every day anyway. You can do it sitting in front of the tv so there’s no excuse not to. Stretch, band work, foam rolling, etc

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Calf raises, heel raises, progressive overloads, leg hops, jump rope, eccentric heel drops.

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Will all help you tear your Achilles if it’s already in suspect shape

You are being silly. Your ankles are sore because your muscles supporting the area are weakening.

Mobility and strength training are the answers. I bet a deep tissue massage would also relieve a lot of tension on your ankle but it will hurt like a MOFO.

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You are being silly. Your ankles are sore because your muscles supporting the area are weakening.

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You have no idea if that’s true or not

You could be right, or you could be giving him advice that will put him on a path to a terrible surgery and year long rehab.

The OP needs to lay off anything that is going to put a lot of stress on his Achilles and do a ton of prehab/rehab work for at least a couple of weeks. If that doesn’t cause any improvement then he definitely needs to get it checked out. This is the one thing I’d never frick with of take lightly. And based on the responses in this thread, I’d never take any of your advice with any merit it’s so bad

How do you suggest he strengthen the tendon, you twat? A foam roller?

OP, if stiffness and soreness goes away with any movement, you should be progressing the movements in time.

Start here:

Double-Leg heel raise (work towards single-leg). Do three sets of the following:
-Toes pointing forward
-Toes pointing out
-Toes pointing in

Wall sit calf raises
Loaded Double-Leg heel raise
Weighted Squats
*Start low weight and build up

Eccentric Heel Drops - Slowly drop your heels, then hold the stretch for five seconds.

I started getting Achilles tendinitis about 12 years ago after playing basketball with no warm up time. I tried some of those slow calf drops and other exercises that are supposed to help.

The tendinitis lingered off and on for several years and would sometimes lead to calf strains in opposite leg.

I think the main thing that helped get rid of it for good was consistent use of that little blue foot rocker (calf stretch) device.

On top of everything everyone else has said, you need to purchase heel lift insert for your shoes. This will ease the strain on a tight Achilles tendon.

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Treating Achilles tendinitis and preventing a rupture

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If you feel a distinct "bump" on your achilles tendon, go see an ortho. Most of the time that indicates a rupture.

If it has just started and you are in the acute stages of tendinopathy, then rest. Myofascial release (foam roller, massage gun, graston) will help with loosening the tight muscles.

If you are in the chronic stages of tendinopathy (if these symptoms have been going on for awhile and they aren't getting better or worse) then start with light eccentrics moving to heavy slow resistance.

Someone said a heel lift. I would stay away from that unless you need a break. A heel lift, while giving you some pain relief, will just end up making those calf muscles tighter.

Mingo is right that you should work on your mobility. Fix the underlying issue, which is your calf muscles are overworked for what you are doing. After your eccentrics/heavy slow resistance have taken the dysfunction away, you should work on mobility and strength through the entire range of motion.

Hope that helps.

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Trust me I know more about this than you do.

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You don’t know a thing except what the latest pharmaceutical rep told you

Raising the heel is going to cause temporary relief but is going to do nothing to treat the underlying problem. That’s not debatable as the whole point of the lift is to give you the ROM you lack.

You being a GP that doesn’t do much other than giving people their flu shot doesn’t make you an expert on much of anything other than billing insurance.

I’m dealing with new Achilles soreness as well. Hurts the day after a run, which I’ve recently gotten back into routinely after mainly cycling for cardio. Walking, controlled calf raises (even heavy ones) don’t bother it. I think it’s the repeated sudden significant eccentric loading of running that is the cause so I’m going to stick to inclined walking for a bit.

Isometrics for tendon issues have helped me in the past, so I’m going to do that as well. Idea is to put a controlled, moderate load through the tendon to aid in healing