What is Achilles Tendonitis
The Achilles tendon is the large tendon connecting the calf muscles into the heel. At City Physio, a large proportion of Achilles related pain falls into the Achilles Tendonitis category.
In most cases the Achilles has become irritated due to a mechanical overload such as running or jumping, a drastic change or increase in activity, or even a change in footwear! In some cases the pain can creep up without a specific cause.
Our physiotherapists will do a full subjective and objective assessment of your ankle considering a wide range of factors including; referred pain from the low back, the mechanics of the whole lower limb and foot, strength and balance of the muscles surrounding the ankle, sporting technique, motor control, footwear, and biomechanics.
Treatment of Achilles Tendonitis is multi-faceted. It may include modification of activities, wedges in the shoes to unload the Achilles, or specific shoe recommendations, manual therapy to unload the calf and tendon, and a specific strengthening program to gradually reload and restrengthen. In some cases, treatment will begin with a whole-body assessment to make sure that the components ‘up the chain’ are working as they should (glutes, knees and core), to distribute force. This is especially important in the cases where a specific trigger cannot be identified, or where inflammation is persistent or recurrent.
City Physio & Sports Injury Centre has been providing musculoskeletal physiotherapy in the MLC Centre for over 30 years. Our team are expertly trained in providing detailed full-body assessments and delivering personalised treatment for musculoskeletal conditions, sports injuries, headaches, neck and back pain.