With the weather beginning to warm up many of us are starting to lace up the running shoes.
However, with this return to running can also come injuries. A common running injury is Achilles tendinopathy, or as it is more traditionally known, Achilles tendonitis.
The term tendinopathy essentially means ‘disorder of the tendon’ and although this sounds quite severe it is a common response of tendons when they are overloaded. In the case of the Achilles tendon this could be due to reasons such as: 
- Increased running distance, intensity, or frequency.
- Change in footwear
- Change in running surface
- Biomechanical factors
Each of these factors will load the tendon in a new way, and if not given time to rest/respond the tendon will not heal appropriately. This is where we can run into issues, quite literally!
Achilles tendinopathy pain is often felt on the back of our heel or higher up towards the calf.
The condition will often feel quite sore in the morning, but better as you start walking around. Additionally, people will also notice that their pain decreases once they start running, but returns once they cool down. These patterns are all characteristic of tendons.
Tendons are the continuation of muscles and provide the connection from muscle to bone. This connection facilitates the transmission of forces between muscle and bone, therefore creating movement.
Occasionally when tendons are overloaded it can result in damage to portion of the tendon.
Although this may sound severe, we can think of our tendons like a blanket. A blanket with a hole in it will still keep us warm, providing we take care of the rest of the blanket and prevent this hole from increasing. This is where rehabilitation comes into the picture.
Tendons by nature are designed to take load and this is therefore how we rehabilitate them. This is also the reason as to why tendons typically do not get better with rest. You might have experienced this yourself if you’ve had achilles tendinopathy. You may have rested from running for a few weeks and naturally began to feel better. However, the minute you returned to running the pain returned. This is because the healthy, surrounding tendon is not yet strong enough to manage this activity.
The aim of rehabilitation is to strengthen the health tendon and to off-load the damaged tendon, as well as to identify any further contributing factors to help prevent the condition from returning. This is something that we as SRP physiotherapists are able to provide in order to keep you on track!
Author: James Brown
Image Via: Podiatry HQ
