Achilles Tendon

[Anonymous]

Dear friends,

Does anybody knows how to treat inflammation of the Achilles tendon on the upper side of the heel (not the sole of the feet)? First, I am looking for an efficient anti inflamation treatment, took a plaster with diclofenac – anything better out there? Second, who knows which mistake in circle walking may cause the inflammation? I walk rather slow and in my opinion just stretch the tendon pretty gently.

Best regards,

Michael

[Anonymous]

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

[Anonymous]

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

[Anonymous]

Dear Dave,

Do you happen to have the link on tube to check visually? Will try it out…

Actually my tendonitis is minor, but ‘Dr Google’ shows it may last for long, and that is what I wanna avoid. Diclofenac plasters may ease but do not heal apparently.

Thanks a lot for your posting.

All the best,

Michael

[Anonymous]

Dear Richard,

Thanks for your detailed posting. The tendonitis lasts on so far but is not strong. I can sense it after sitting or sleeping for 50 meters and then it disappears and I walk and run normally.

One more question: If I move on for a while trying heel toe stepping does this causes lower stress on the tendon? My feeling is that most of the stress is going on while doing the sliding motion till footbrake in rear foot heel on the back, a bit on the inner side. Pressure sensitive is the middle of the heel.

Thanks for all the help.

Best regards,

Michael

[Anonymous]

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.

[Anonymous]

Hello, Interesting that Richard has/is walking backwards also.I do all techniques backwards like circle walking from time to time. This works the mind and all muscles =tendons=and ligaments a different way which makes for more flexibility and it’s backwards_____heel first tendency rather than arch ball first.For the mind {no sight} your senses must play a different way…….Practice is going well slowly but surely . Have read Mr. Frantzis’s new book and 3/4 through “The Power of Internal Martial Arts.” Many Thanx…………….There are many hints and things to use for a lone practicioner like myself. Al Ray.

[Anonymous]

Use some type of elastic band. Put your foot into the elastic band. The band I’m talking about simply looks like a big rubber band. Sit on the floor put your foot on the band so your foot is in the center of the band, so your pulling the band with both hands like putting a rock into the center of a sling shot. You’ve got your foot elevated with the foot in the center of the band. Now what you want to do is move your foot back in forth to the resistance of the band. I’m a former runner, I’ve had something similiar to this and track coach told me to do this, it helped, do that and don’t run or do anything to inflame it. Also take some advil if you have any type of inflammation. Best advise I can give you about this, nothing much you can do with this except what I’ve mentioned to you above, do this and it should get better in about 3 weeks or a month.

[Anonymous]

I have been wearing normal sandals for over 5 years now. Orthofeet shoes work great for my feet issues. I have tried other sandals, but I always come back to the orthotic shoes. They might not be the best looking ones, but for sure the most comfortable.

[Anonymous]

Hi Michael,
I am no expert on tendonitis.
However, chronic tendonitis can have serious and permanant consequences—calcium deposits, bone spurs, fractures
Tendons take a long time to fully heal—
don’t resume heavy training until the problem is clearly resolved.
Get professional help.

Actually, the calcaneus (heel bone) in vivo is about as fragile as an egg shell—its fracture is very hard to heal.
The Achilles tendon works through the calcaneus.
I’m trying to scare you into taking it easy.

There is a saying,
where you think the problem is, it ain’t.
Study your alignment—sometimes remote tension and misalignments like scoliosis of the spine could effect the heel, as well as could the more local fallen arch.

Study your myofascia:
see Meyers, “Anatomy Trains”

Check out the concept of biotensegrity to understand how joints and bones float in myofascia and soft tissue and tendons.

see also, Tom Bisio, “A Tooth from the Tiger’s Mouth;
How to Treat your injuries with Powerful Healing Secrets of the Great Chinese Warriors”
He talks about resolving injury to the Achilles Tendon.
Although he doesn’t outright reject the RICE treatment for initial inflammation, he recounts his personal experience with a Master who specialized in bone setting, Hsu Hong-chi ( Taiwan 1984) who said,
“Ice is for dead people.”
Tendons need blood and fluids to flow to heal;
cold causes contraction.

Best of luck

Bob

[Anonymous]

I am on my feet all day and by evening they are hurting and suffering from achilles tendon pain.Thanks to Orthofeet shoes, I am still breaking them in but pain is decreasing. My feet feel snug and supported. The arch support is very noticeable and feels good. Will be trying sandals also. orthofeet sneakers felt great as soon as i put them on. I am walking several miles a day and even started running some.

[Anonymous]

I am on my feet all day and by evening they are hurting also I am suffering from Achilles Tendon Pain. I am still breaking them in but foot pain is decreasing. My feet feel snug and supported. The arch support is very noticeable and feels good. Will be trying sandals also. orthofeet sneakers felt great as soon as i put them on. I am walking several miles a day and even started running some.

[Author]

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