Kickas.org Forums Ankylosing Spondylitis General Discussion #1 AS Web Support Group self help for achilles tendonitis?

After a week or so of far too much walking, both my achilles tendons are flaring up big time, with swelling and pain at the insertion point, and both tendons being really stiff up the back of my legs. Any suggestions on some self help to relieve or reduce this? At the moment I have my heels on an ice pack, and I'm trying to get up and walk around a bit frequently to stop them from seizing up completely. I've also been putting voltarol gel (diclofenac) liberally around the area. What kind of exercises should I be doing, and is there any danger of tearing the tendons if they are badly inflamed?

CEMC

Both of mine are not good either. The Volteren is good for pain. I go to the pool and do the same exercises that I do at the arthritis class whit h is e few gentle runner stretches in the water. That seems to loosen them up a bit...also walking in the water helps too. Hope you find something that works for you.

CEMC

Both of mine are not good either. The Volteren is good for pain. I go to the pool and do the same exercises that I do at the arthritis class whit h is e few gentle runner stretches in the water. That seems to loosen them up a bit...also walking in the water helps too. Hope you find something that works for you.

Google some stretches, but be gentle with them when you find them. Never use a 'bouncing' stretch (like hanging heel off step) because of the lack of control. I stretch with forefoot on a block and heel on floor (wearing shoes) and holding knee straight. Lean gently forward if you can. Otherwise, just stand still so the calf is stretched gently. Do it 3-4 times a day, then ice for a bit.

I usually sleep on my back, with legs straight. To keep a bit of a stretch on the calf, I put a pillow under covers where it will hold covers up to where I could keep my ankle at 90-degrees. Does that make sense? Keeps the weight of the covers off my toes....a little more comfy.

I have had that problem so much off and on through the years. The thing that feels so good to me is keeping bottle of water in the freezer and several times a day sit and roll the bottles back and forth for a while. When I realize that certain shoes make it worse, I just don't wear them until things calm down. My podiatrist made insert for me that help also.

Hope you get some relief. I have never known anyone to have the tearing

Ditto!Mine are playing up big time too,no matter what I use I don't feel I benefit. The best is rolling your feet over a bottle of cool,ice cold water

Thanks all. I'd forgotten about that ice cold water bottle trick Sonia, so thanks for reminding me, though at the moment its more the achilles tendon than the plantar one.

I've torn tendons and ligaments that have been inflamed, one simply by stretching it gently, so I advise to be careful and not worry about stretching or strength building until they are past the acute stage.

I've found rotating ice and heat to be even better than just ice. Ice pack followed by heating pad or hot pack or if a deep enough container, ice cold water followed by hot as you can stand water. Back and forth as much as you need to.

The ice will deal with the inflammation, the heat will help circulate the blood and help prevent scar tissue to form. I had the scar tissue forming when just icing the hamstring tendon enthesis behind the knee, but then switched to ice/heat and gentle stretching and the sciatica like pain from the knee down to the foot from scar tissue formation went away.

Also, I can't say enough good stuff about my home ultrasound unit. It was only a few hundred dollars which saved me more than that in not having to go and pay for PT to treat things that were reoccurring and I'd already been shown how to treat.

And I think you know that the LDN, even if it didn't solve all my problems, did help a huge amount with the enthesitis.

For my heels, rubber flip flops in the shower all the time, even when my heels don't hurt.

I had a nagging (fairly mild due to the LDN) torn rotator cuff. Went up and down for 6? 12? months. a month and a half on Humira and its almost gone now. Another reason to use the biologics if one can.