Achilles tendinitis

Achilles tendinitis is a condition that can affect anyone, whether you are athletic or live a sedentary lifestyle. The condition is a result of having not enough blood being supplied and circulated to the tendon, and is also sometimes caused by an unhealthy diet. The condition could become more severe and have some serious problems if the person is obese or has an extremely high blood cholesterol level.

Signs Of Achilles Tendinitis
The most common sign of this condition would be the strong burning pain that is easily noticed between your heel and calf. Your tendon is used as a connection between your heel and calf so if the blood supply and circulation is poor then it would obviously make sense to have extreme pain in that area. Since the area is also rather small in space there is already poor blood supply naturally so if it gets any worse then you could have serious problems and could have Achilles tendinitis.

Any injury to the tendon will cause a new blood vessel to produce and this will require nerves to as well. As a result of having nerves in this area there will definitely be a lot of pain as the two are directly related.

If the condition does not heal naturally or the same area gets damaged repeatedly then the condition can worsen dramatically. The tendon will thicken and there will be some noticeable bumps which are actually made up of either blood vessels, nerve fibers, and less commonly cholesterol. These lumps will be rather painful and will lead to complications when trying to treat the condition medically.

How To Treat Achilles Tendinitis

The first thing to know about treating Achilles tendinitis is that the quicker you do it the better. If you wait to treat it until after the bumps start to form then it could be much more difficulty to successfully treat.

The main treatment method is to rest obviously as when you rest and sleep your body does the most healing necessary. However, this is not always easy for athletes but without a resting period the injury will not get any better. Even if you are a heavily active athlete you will have to sit out from your regular routine for a while as this could be a condition that stays permanently if not healed correctly.

While resting you will also want to use ice and compression therapy in order to help treat the injury. The ice works to minimize the inflammation. This can also be done with anti-inflammatory medication if you wish. Compression therapy is basically where pressure is used on the affected area.

There is one other treatment method for Achilles tendinitis as well. This is simply to exercise. For an athlete this would not be an issue as you already get regular exercise. However, for those who are overweight or obese, or live a sedentary lifestyle, you may want to speak with your doctor about what you can do safely. Stretching exercises are a great way to help treat your tendon and you could purchase a stretching aid to help make the process easier. Look for stretching aids that are designed for your feet or legs in particular.

The worst possible common outcome of Achilles tendinitis is that the tendon ruptures. If this happens then you will experience a lot of agonizing pain and the healing process for a ruptured tendon is very long and complicated. To minimize the possibility of this happen you will want to avoid various treatment methods for the tendon that could possibly influence the tendon to rupture, such as injecting steroid to treat the inflammation.

Usually you can treat the condition without needing to inject anything into your body. However, if the condition is severe enough and injections are required then you should speak with a doctor experienced in sports medicine to decide exactly what you require to treat it. You should speak with a doctor no matter what if you have Achilles tendinitis though as treating it properly is absolutely essential to guarantee the condition does not worsen.

Last updated on Feb 6th, 2010 and filed under Musculoskeletal Disorders. Both comments and pings are currently closed.

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