Achilles tendinitis is a painful inflammation of the Achilles’ tendon with pain occurring to the back of the Achilles’ Achilles tendinitis is a painful inflammation of the Achilles’ tendon with pain occurring to the back of the Achilles’ tendon behind the ankle joint. With Achilles tendonitis, the pain will usually occur within the tendon itself as opposed to bursitis which is a similar condition that effects the back of the heel bone. The pain can present with sharp stabbing pain to the tendon that will be worse in the morning and then improve as you walk around and the tendon “warms up”. Pain will then occur later in the day as the tendon begins to become tired from being on your feet all day. You may feel a “creaking” in the tendon when moving your foot up and down if the sheath overlying the tendon becomes swollen. As the condition becomes chronic one will begin to see thickening or enlargement of the tendon itself. This can take months to resolve and will be painful for a long time if left untreated.
Treatment for Achilles tendonitis begins with rest from aggravating activity, taking anti inflammatories, and beginning stretching exercises. If this fails, immobilizing the ankle in a cam walker to reduce the motion to the tendon and take the stress off of it is the next step. Patients will sometimes need to be immobilized for 6 weeks in a cam walker to all the tendon to heal. After resting the tendon and allowing the inflammatory phase to resolve, strengthening with physical therapy is the next step. One can try eccentric strengthening exercises at home, but going to a physical therapist and receiving hands on treatment will provide more predictable results.
When conservative treatment options fail, the next step is surgical intervention. Surgery can involve an minimally invasive technique where a needle like probe is inserted into the Achilles’ tendon and the chronic inflammatory tissue is broken up and removed. This is a great option for patients who present with thickening of the central portion of the Achilles’ tendon that is not responding to conservative therapy. Severe cases of tendonitis that develop tears within the tendon itself that are seen on MRI may eventually require open repair and augmentation with adjacent tendons.
It is important to treat Achilles tendonitis before the condition becomes so severe that the tendon ruptures. Ruptured Achilles’ tendons can take months or even years to recover from, and will often leave patients with life long symptoms. Ruptured Achilles’ tendons are now being repaired with a minimally invasive technique that Dr. Campitelli performs and allows for a faster recovery.
behind the ankle joint. With Achilles tendonitis, the pain will usually occur within the tendon itself as opposed to bursitis which is a similar condition that effects the back of the heel bone. The pain can present with sharp stabbing pain to the tendon that will be worse in the morning and then improve as you walk around and the tendon “warms up”. Pain will then occur later in the day as the tendon begins to become tired from being on your feet all day. You may feel a “creaking” in the tendon when moving your foot up and down if the sheath overlying the tendon becomes swollen. As the condition becomes chronic one will begin to see thickening or enlargement of the tendon itself. This can take months to resolve and will be painful for a long time if left untreated.
Treatment for Achilles tendonitis begins with rest from aggravating activity, taking anti inflammatories, and beginning stretching exercises. If this fails, immobilizing the ankle in a cam walker to reduce the motion to the tendon and take the stress off of it is the next step. Patients will sometimes need to be immobilized for 6 weeks in a cam walker to all the tendon to heal. After resting the tendon and allowing the inflammatory phase to resolve, strengthening with physical therapy is the next step. One can try eccentric strengthening exercises at home, but going to a physical therapist and receiving hands on treatment will provide more predictable results.
When conservative treatment options fail, the next step is surgical intervention. Surgery can involve an minimally invasive technique where a needle like probe is inserted into the Achilles’ tendon and the chronic inflammatory tissue is broken up and removed. This is a great option for patients who present with thickening of the central portion of the Achilles’ tendon that is not responding to conservative therapy. Severe cases of tendonitis that develop tears within the tendon itself that are seen on MRI may eventually require open repair and augmentation with adjacent tendons.
It is important to treat Achilles tendonitis before the condition becomes so severe that the tendon ruptures. Ruptured Achilles’ tendons can take months or even years to recover from, and will often leave patients with life long symptoms. Ruptured Achilles’ tendons are now being repaired with a minimally invasive technique that Dr. Campitelli performs and allows for a faster recovery.
