It is more common clinically and is one of the most frequent and serious conditions for athletes involved in running, jumping and ball sports. Incomplete treatment of Achilles tendonitis often leads to a rupture of the Achilles leg, ending an athlete’s athletic career.
Achilles tendonitis is an inflammation of the Achilles tendon. It is generally due to an inflammatory response to a chronic injury caused by too much stress on the calf gastrocnemius and Achilles tendon during exercise, such as when playing basketball. Also, a sudden increase in the intensity of exercise often causes Achilles tendonitis.
What are the symptoms of Achilles tendonitis?
1. Pain over the back of the heel, which increases with activity and restricts movement.
2.The pain usually comes on in the early morning or during rest after strenuous exercise.
3.There can be severe pain and pressure when the ends of the tendon are squeezed. In severe cases, the tendon is enlarged and nodules can be palpated in the area of the lesion.
What can cause Achilles tendonitis?
1. The body is not active or not yet adjusted.
Achilles tendonitis can easily occur if the body is not in good condition (such as lack of flexibility and strength of the volar muscles), not active or not yet adjusted to start sports, especially sports such as basketball, tennis, etc., which require frequent stops, starts and jumps.
2, exercise too much, too often.
If you just start a new exercise program, be sure to stretch before and after the workout; start the activity slowly and gradually increase the amount of exercise, rather than pursuing progress too much. If running exercise, too much uphill running is more likely to lead to heel keyitis.
3, flat feet.
Flat arches can increase the risk of heel key inflammation, because when walking, flat feet can lead to additional pressure on the heel key. If you have flat feet, it is best to wear shoes with support at the arch to avoid further deterioration of the heel key.
4. Trauma or infection.
In some cases, inflammation of the heel button occurs because of trauma or infection near the heel button.
How to treat Achilles tendonitis?
Non-surgical treatment.
1. Rest.
Regardless of whether exercise triggered the injury or was just a trigger for the injury, reasonable rest can improve symptoms and speed up healing.
2.Non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs.
3, glucocorticoids.
4, massage.
It is believed that massage can improve the local blood supply, can make local nociceptive lack, play an analgesic role, but also can loosen adhesions.
5.Rehabilitation.
Its main means is to pull the whole muscle a muscle leg unit. Qu Mian domain that slow full-footed running, the heel leg play a lighter pulling effect, and can improve local blood and lymphatic circulation. Running also lengthens or loosens the adhesion of the paralytic scar, which has a role in eliminating pain.
6, the use of wedge shoes.
Wedge shoes are useful for reducing the load on the heel and leg, reducing the local force and correcting the mechanical posture. The shock-absorbing filling in the shoe can reduce the pain and the occurrence of stress fractures.
7. Other treatment methods.
Electrical stimulation under laboratory conditions was found to promote collagen synthesis, which is effective for leg disease treatment.
Surgical treatment.
1.Surgical indications.
(i) Those who failed conservative treatment (no progress for more than 6 – 9 months of treatment).
②No local pain, but the patient cannot continue to exercise.
③ persistent swelling around or at the end of the heel leg.
2.Surgical modality.
Including the removal of lesion tissue visible to the naked eye, repair of defect visible to the naked eye, leg decompression, etc.
3.Post-operative rehabilitation.
For pure tendon periarthritis, the ankle joint will be moved immediately after surgery and partially weight-bearing with the help of brace until the patient walks without trekking; for patients with Achilles tendonitis or partial rupture, the lower limb tread joint is fixed in light hesitant flexion position for 2 weeks, and light exercise training can be carried out 4 to 6 weeks after surgery when there is no pain when walking and the ankle joint movement is not restricted.
How to prevent Achilles tendonitis?
1.Warm up before exercise.
Before exercise, do a good warm-up stretching exercise. Tendon activity open, calf muscles tense too tight or too fatigue, then the impact generated by the movement to the Achilles tendon, it is possible to cause Achilles tendonitis.
2, strengthen the strength.
Heavy load calf movement can make the Achilles tendon withstand greater force.
3, body strengthening.
Strengthening type training can improve the movement level of the muscles, tendons and ligaments at the calf and ankle joints.
4, stretching exercises.
Calf stretching exercises can improve the flexibility of the tendon.
5.Balance.
Perform some exercises to improve your body’s balance and exercise your body’s ability to feel.
6.Pick the right shoes for exercise.
If the shoes are too big, people tend to bend their toes to gouge the soles, this action will overuse the metatarsal tendon membrane and related tissues, leading to local tendon strain and triggering Achilles tendonitis.
7. Progressive.
Running distance increases too quickly and training too much can bring greater impact to the Achilles tendon. When doing physical exercise, you must be gradual and add volume slowly.