Achilles Tendon

hi michael

without seeing your walk, cant really comment on what might be going on, but in general
I have a couple of things I use when I have that sort of inflammation,
first, getting lots of vitamin C, such as emergen-c, is a good thing. the body cannot properly fix connective tissue without lots of vitamin c, and it's just about impossible to get enough of the stuff. Read up on Linus Pauling's work if you want good info.
another big part of the inflammation picture is getting optimal EFA's in your diet. for that, you can check out Udo's oil, or if your interested in whats up, you can check out the book, fats that heal, fats that kill. It's THE book on fat metabolism EFA's are now being used by ultramarathoners as the next big thing to improve their performance, because their sport is all about recovery. EFA's are critical to managing the inflammation and healing process.

third thing, and this is a weird one, but I spend some time walking backwards in a circle if my knees or ankles feel pressured from a lot of BGZ training. the "Bruce" walk is very demanding on the forward flexion, and it's a very strong, Yang type of movement. great for MA, but it puts a lot of stress on a body if your alignments are not VERY good.. Walking backwards (which is NOT a traditional bgz method) naturally stretches out the foot and ankle in the direction that it gets compressed in the forward walk, it's a great way to keep your knees and ankles open and relaxed.
I use a variety of arm postures, or none, and I turn my head towards the center of the circle, so I can see where i am going as well as if I was walking forward. Very relaxing, yin practice, great for managing overtraining.
This is just something I started messing around with, and it's become a very useful part of my training. (I have scoliosis type issues, so I have to be very careful not to mess up my knee or other alignments). It also has a gentle and kinda fun feeling to it, at least to me...

Fourth thing, any injury or tension is an opportunity to train the dissolving method. Some of my extremely painful issues have become great opportunities for really improving my dissolving. something about dragon's teeth, the pain can really motivate you to persevere.

Last thing, if your a sedentary adult, docs will tell you RICE. rest, ice, compression, and elevation.
but for athletic trainers, its MICE. Motion, ice compression and elevation.
the more you can gently move the ankle (with NO PAIN!) the more the fluids in the body start moving.
I do a lot of toe circles, heel circles, just lots of gentle circle's with the joint, very easily.
anyone learning BGZ is working towards a very capable and athletic body, and it is a good idea to start thinking like an athlete that intends to compete(or particpate at a very high level) throughout their entire lifetime. It's not just the training, it's also a mindset and a lifestyle.

This is just my personal experience, best of luck with your ongoing training.

rock on
richard

Hi Michael,

I just noticed your post. I recently had achilles tendonitis from over-eager bare foot running. It was painful to the point that I couldn't put any weight on it. I tried a bunch of things including the usual, ice, powerful anti inflammatories, but nothing was working. Then I looked it up on you tube and found two gems:

1) Sit on the floor with your legs outstretched in front of you. Put a rolling pin (yep, the cooking one) under your effected calf. Now support your body - lift your arse off the floor - with your hands/arms, and roll backwards and forth with the weight of your lower leg and achilles on the rolling pin (which is placed sideways). The physio instructed that it should hurt, and mine certainly did. To my complete surprise it fixed it within a few days. I reoccured a few times in the following weeks and I just rolling pinned it and it fixed it. I've had no problems since and I'm running barefoot again. Others have had similar results. It works by stretching the fascia of the calf, and esp. the soleus muscle, in a way that you can't do otherwise.

2) Apparently calve raises, focussing on the eccentric (negative) part of the exercise, are also very good for strengthening the are for prevention.

Good luck with these if it's not already fixed.

Dave

Michael,
i am a begineer in the Internal Arts, but i have lived with a torn achilles tendon from cycling, has been pretty quiet, but about a year ago it flared up, and i had some treatment from my Chiropractor, to no avail. I read in a forum someone recommended resting the achilles tendon on a foam roller, the type used to massage muscles. It depends on taking care and be patient. It is a lot better now, i find after exercising, line walking, circlew walking, i rest it on the foam roller, try it.