Do you have significant pain in your calf or near your heel with each step when walking? You may be dealing with an Achilles tendon injury.
Let’s get into the anatomy and symptoms to better understand what is happening at your Achilles tendon and what you can do about it.
What is an Achilles tendon injury?
An Achilles tendon injury is any type of tissue damage that occurs to the Achilles tendon. The Achilles is the strong tendon that attaches your calf muscles to your heel bone.
An Achilles tendon injury could be a tendinitis indicating an inflammatory response at the tendon itself. Or you could completely tear the Achilles tendon resulting immense pain and an inability to push off the foot when walking.
What are the symptoms of an Achilles tendon injury?
The symptoms with an Achilles tendon injury will vary depending on the extent of damage to the tendon.
In the case of Achilles tendinitis, you will most likely experience a burning sensation in the area of the tendon and potentially up into the calf muscles. This sensation will be worsened with walking as your Achilles tendon and calf muscles are some of the primary structures involved with walking.
If you tore your Achilles tendon, you will often hear a loud pop when the injury occurs and experience severe pain and swelling in the area above your heel bone. Often you will be unable to walk and push off the injured leg if you completely tore the Achilles tendon.
What causes an Achilles tendon injury?
Achilles tendon injuries are most commonly caused by overuse.
If your calf muscle is weak or if you exhibit mobility deficits at your ankle, this can result in excessive shearing at the Achilles with walking and result in a tendinitis with repetitive activities.
An Achilles tendon tear is most often caused by a quick stop and pivot motion followed by pushing off of the foot while playing a sport.
Potential diagnoses
If you have injured your Achilles tendon, you will most likely receive on the following diagnoses:
- Achilles tendinitis (acute injury)
- Achilles tendinopathy (chronic tendon issue)
- Partial Achilles tendon tear
- Complete Achilles tendon tear
Did you know?
Did you know that the majority of individuals who completely rupture their Achilles tendon are middle aged men?
A full Achilles tendon tear is often called the “weekend warrior” injury because it primarily happens in men who are middle aged who play a sport on a weekend every so often.
Because these men are not training for the sport and don’t play it frequently, when they ask their bodies to perform at a higher level they often injure the Achilles tendon that is involved in helping you quickly pivot and then push off to chase a ball or react.
