Run Run Away

Question:

I have been reading this group for a while and I was hoping I could get some information about an injury. In September of ‘94 I injured my left achilles tendon during a training run.  The injury seemed small at first(not much pain), so I kept running making sure I streched and iced the area throughly.  The stretching and icing didn’t seem to help much and the problem steadily got worse.  I went to see a doctor and he indicated that I tore some of the fibers in the achilles (more than the classic case of tendonitis).  I have basically stopped running for the last 2+ months hoping the injury would quickly heal so I could get back to running. The injury still hasn’t healed and any running still irritates the problem.  I also experience an aching around my achilles tendon especially when its cold. Questions: 1) About will this injury take to heal?  Do tendons take a lot longer    to heal than muscles, etc…? 2) What can I do to speed up the healing process? Help….this "not" running is killing me!

Response:

– Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – I have been reading this group for a while and I was hoping I could get some information about an injury. In September of ‘94 I injured my left achilles tendon during a training run.  The injury seemed small at first(not much pain), so I kept running making sure I streched and iced the area throughly.  The stretching and icing didn’t seem to help much and the problem steadily got worse.  I went to see a doctor and he indicated that I tore some of the fibers in the achilles (more than the classic case of tendonitis).  I have basically stopped running for the last 2+ months hoping the injury would quickly heal so I could get back to running. The injury still hasn’t healed and any running still irritates the problem.  I also experience an aching around my achilles tendon especially when its cold. Questions: 1) About will this injury take to heal?  Do tendons take a lot longer   to heal than muscles, etc…? 2) What can I do to speed up the healing process?

I had a similiar occurrence about one year ago. I am now completely recoverd and better than ever, so don’t despair! After a previous history of achilles tendonitis I partially tore my right achilles tendon during a 10K race last February. This time I decided to follow a very conservative therapy procedure. I got good advice from a running podiatrist which I followed very closely. (Dr. Bordiak, West Long Branch, NJ.) Because of the swelling, it was at first not possible to diagnose the extent of the injury. He put a soft cast on the achilles for a week. After this time the swelling had good down, and the diagnosis was a partial tear which should heal in about 6 weeks. It could have been worse. I stopped running completely for 6 weeks. During the first week I used some ibuprofen, but not much, since I try  to avoid all drugs. I used ice two to three times a day as long as there was any  pain. after six weeks the plan was to begin running BUT walk 1/2 mile before and after the run. This was to warm up and loosen the achilles before running. I also added 3/8 inch felt heel lift to the inside of all of my running shoes. The running program was very conservative progressing as follows. 6 weeks no running then each day: week   walk      run       walk  7    .5 mile   .5  mile  .5 mile  8    .5 mile   1   mile  .5 mile  9    .5 mile   1.5 mile  .5 mile 10    .5 mile   2   mile  .5 mile 11    .5 mile   2.5 mile  .5 mile 12    .5 mile   3   mile  .5 mile 13    .5 mile   4   mile  .5 mile 14    .5 mile   5   mile  .5 mile The plan was to back off if there was any pain. I also started running on a high school outdoor track since this was a flat and even surface. Week 7 was fine, but in week 8 I had a setback because I ran the mile too fast, and got bad achilles pains again. I decided that I could not control my urge to run faster on the track and had been doing under 7 minute miles,  which were too  hard on the achilles. Thus I took 4 more weeks off, no running, and started over ( on the week seven plan). I also moved from the track to the roads and jogged easily during the running portion. This time everything worked fine. I built up to five miles running with absolutely no achilles pain. I stopped the walking after this, held at the 5 mile level. for a few monthes, and started doing easy effort 5k races. After 3 more monthes, I ran my first 10K race since the injury 7 monthes earlier, and ran almost a minute faster, with no achilles pain. Thus, I declared myself compeletly recovered. My achilles are better than they were before the injury. I used to have achilles pain when I got out of bed in the morning, but this rarely happens anymore. If it does, I use ice and run easily until all achilles pain goes away. I still use the heel lifts. Good Luck! John Schwebel.

Response: