Oh yeah, this is my thing. My 35-40 year old basketball friends and I have been dropping like flies from wonky achilles tendons. I had a lump on mine and it hurt badly so I went to a chiropractor who does Shockwave therapy thinking that I would shockwave it. Turns out Shockwave isn't the thing for chronic achilles tendon issues. I forget why but she didn't use it for me.
So here's what worked really really well for me, all recommended by the chiropractor. You have to roll your calf muscle for sure.. Get a foam roller and start wallowing around on the ground like all those other weirdos you used to make fun of at the gym. You're one of them now. And it works.
You also have to stretch your entire lower leg. Stretching your calf is fine and good but you have to religiously stretch your lower calf, the soleus muscle; basically the bottom of your noticeable calf muscle to your heel. I do it by putting the ball of my foot on the third railing at the gym and pressing my heel to the ground with my upper body weight. Super important to do this.
You should probably get a massage of some sort just to learn how to get to all the hidden spots of your legs and find out what need more attention. One really important massage is accomplished by taking your thumb and index finger and squeezing from your ankle bone to you achilles. Just google achilles massage and it'll show up on youtube.
Also, your plantar tendon is likely a problem too. Roll the arch of your foot on a frozen water bottle. And look in to getting corrective orthotic inserts if you need them. They will likely cure your issue all on their own.
The most current thought I've heard is that your hips and hip flexors can cause problem in your feet. So basically, stretching and rolling your entire lower body, hamstrings and glutes especially.
In the past I've taken horse size doses of glucosamine and hyaluronic acid and not noticed any difference. But I just started using a topical magnesium gel and it is really amazing. It's supposed to increase blood flow to cells to allow for healing. It actually is noticeably soothing and effective.
You can strengthen your legs any number of ways but pushing the prowler sled is a highly recommended rehab exercise. I love it. My achilles responds well to it and it's actually pretty safe for injury rehab.
And in the future don't go from zero to 60 at any pace. Warm up, stretch, roll, start slowly, go full speed when you're 100% warm. I'm playing basketball again and it's not an issue if I warm up properly.
|