Achilles Tendinopathy

The Achilles tendon connects your calf muscle to your foot. It is the strongest tendon in the body and is designed to absorb shock and significant forces to the leg.

This disorder fits under the classification of a group of disorders known as ‘Tendinopathies’ which is another way of saying ‘tendon disorder’. The majority of tendinopathies are degenerative tendinopathies, meaning the tendon has undergone degenerative changes. Changes to tendons are more common as we age and are often present without pain, but can become painful by excessive activity.

Sometimes tendon pain can occur for no obvious reason. Soreness and stiffness comes on gradually and continues to worsen until treated

Achilles Tendinopathy can occur in all age groups, but is most common in sports people or older people who overdo activities which use the tendon (e.g. running, walking, tennis)

Is Achilles Tendinopathy treatable?

• Treating Achilles pain has variable outcomes depending upon:
• How the injury occurred
• A person’s ability to rest from aggravating activities
• How long the condition has been around
• The health of the patient’s tendons
• A patient’s commitment to supervised exercises
• Patient’s age and general health