About this topic
The Achilles tendon connects the calf muscle to the heel bone. It helps your foot push forward when you walk and lets you rise up on your toes. Achilles tendinopathy happens over a period of time. It includes swelling or tiny tears in the tissue around the tendon. Swelling happens with overuse, injury, infection, physical activity, wearing high heels, or bone growth. The swelling and irritation causes pain when walking or running. ‚
What care is needed at home?
- Ask your doctor what you need to do when you go home. Make sure you ask questions if you do not understand what the doctor says. This way you will know what you need to do.
- Rest. Allow your injury to heal before you do slow movements.
- Place an ice pack or a bag of frozen peas wrapped in a towel over the painful part. Never put ice right on the skin. Do not leave the ice on more than 10 to 15 minutes at a time. Ice after activity may help decrease pain and swelling. Never ice before stretching.
- Prop your foot on pillows to help with swelling.
- An ACE wrap can be wrapped lightly around the injured area for support and to ease swelling.
- Splint to keep your ankle in position
- Use inserts for your shoes. These are foot orthotics.
- If you had surgery, your doctor will tell you when you can shower.
What follow-up care is needed?
- Your doctor may ask you to make visits to the office to check on your progress. Be sure to keep these visits.
- If you have stitches or staples after surgery, you will need to have them taken out. Your doctor will often want to do this in 1 to 2 weeks.
- Your doctor may suggest exercises to make your muscles stronger. Your doctor may send you to physical therapy for treatments and exercises to help you heal faster.
What drugs may be needed?
The doctor may order drugs to: ‚
- Help with pain and swelling
- Prevent or fight an infection
Will physical activity be limited?
You will need to rest your ankle for a while. You should not do physical activity that makes your health problem worse. If you run, work out, or play sports, you may not be able to do those things until your health problem gets better. ‚
What problems could happen?
- Tendon rupture
- Infection if you had surgery
What can be done to prevent this health problem?
- Warm up slowly and stretch your muscles before you work out. Use good ways to train, such as slowly adding to how far you run. Do not work out if you are overly tired. Take extra care if working out in cold weather.
- Stay active and work out to keep your muscles strong and flexible.
- Take breaks often when doing things that use repeat movements.
- Avoid running on hard surfaces.
- Wear shoes with good support. Do not go barefoot.
- Avoid wearing high heels if you have recurrent Achilles tendinopathy.
- Keep a healthy weight so there is not extra stress on your joints. Eat a healthy diet to keep your muscles healthy.
When do I need to call the doctor?
- Signs of infection. These include a fever of 100.4 ‚ °F (38 ‚ °C) or higher, chills, wound that will not heal.
- Signs of wound infection. These include swelling, redness, warmth around the wound; too much pain when touched; yellowish, greenish, or bloody discharge; foul smell coming from the cut site; cut site opens up.
- Pain and swelling gets worse
- Health problem is not better or you are feeling worse
Teach Back: Helping You Understand
The Teach Back Method helps you understand the information we are giving you. The idea is simple. After talking with the staff, tell them in your own words what you were just told. This helps to make sure the staff has covered each thing clearly. It also helps to explain things that may have been a bit confusing. Before going home, make sure you are able to do these: ‚
- I can tell you about my condition.
- I can tell you what may help ease my pain.
- I can tell you what I will do if I have more pain or swelling.
Where can I learn more?
American Academy of Orthopedic Surgeons ‚
http://orthoinfo.aaos.org/topic.cfm?topic=A00147 ‚
American Orthopaedic Foot and Ankle Society ‚
http://www.aofas.org/footcaremd/conditions/ailments-of-the-ankle/Pages/Achilles-Tendinitis.aspx ‚
Journal of the American Medical Association ‚
http://jama.ama-assn.org/content/303/2/188.full.pdf ‚
KidsHealth ‚
http://kidshealth.org/teen/sports_center/injuries/achilles.html# ‚
Consumer Information Use and Disclaimer
This information is not specific medical advice and does not replace information you receive from your health care provider. This is only a brief summary of general information. It does NOT include all information about conditions, illnesses, injuries, tests, procedures, treatments, therapies, discharge instructions or life-style choices that may apply to you. You must talk with your health care provider for complete information about your health and treatment options. This information should not be used to decide whether or not to accept your health care providers advice, instructions or recommendations. Only your health care provider has the knowledge and training to provide advice that is right for you. ‚
Copyright
Copyright ‚ © 2015 Clinical Drug Information, LLC and Lexi-Comp, Inc. ‚