| Subject: | RE: Tendonitis in the Achilles tendon |
| Date: | 08/31/2004 04:20 AM |
| From: | Martel, Matthew S |
|
Seth - Sorry to hear about your foot. Unfortunately I have had problems with Achilles tendonitis in both legs. It comes and goes but I have gotten better at managing it. The advice you got from Erik is excellent. This is exactly what my doctor prescribed as well. This will get it to stop hurting. I also got some great advice from Andy Pruitt, the director for the Boulder Center for Sports Medicine. I came across this guy when attending a Carpenter/Phinney bike Camp in Colorado in 1999. He is well known in the cycling medicine world. Apparently he worked on Lance's back some years ago. He told me to do all the things Erik's doctor mentioned. He also told me to slide my cleats back on my shoes. The decreases the length of the fulcrum thus decreasing the stress on the Achilles tendon. You may have to lower your seat a bit in combination, but not much. This really helped me. Also, when it starts feeling better, get in the habit of stretching it before and after rides. Think of your Achilles as a rubber band made of many tiny fibers. When cycling we extend this rubber band thousands of times in a very limited range. In some people it can cause an overuse injury, basically tendonitis. Stretching it helps to make it more flexible throughout the whole range of motion. Hope this helps. Matt Martel -----Original Message----- From: Seth May [mailto:se-@maykids.org] Sent: Tuesday, August 31, 2004 7:14 AM To: 'obra' Subject: [OBRA Chat] Tendonitis in the Achilles tendon I thought I'd send this question out to the obra-pedia. Background: When I rode the RSVP (Ride from Seattle to Vancouver and Party) at the beginning of August, it was rainy and cold the entire 7 hours of riding the first day. I'm not sure if that caused the tendonitis or was just a factor. The second day, my Achilles tendons were quite sore in both legs. After the ride, they really stiffened up and were very sore making it hard to walk, ride, and climb or descend stairs. I started icing on and off, and took about a week off the bike. In a week, my right leg was back to normal, but the tendonitis persisted in my left leg. I've taken substantial time off the bike in the last month hoping that this problem would go away. Currently, even my short, easy, 10 minute commutes to work and back have started aggravating it (it is sore (I can't fully extend my ankle joint), and swells up, sometimes to the point that the tendon feels like its grinding). The pain has started to change from just sore to having sharp pain when I fully extend my ankle. My questions: Have any of you had problems like this before? If so, how did you tackle it? Is it time to call in a doctor? Is it something my GP can take care of, or should I be talking to a specialist of sorts? Recommendations of specialists in the Eugene area? Thanks -- Seth May Technical Consultant Educational and Community Supports University of Oregon (541) 346-2470, (541) 346-5517 (fax) set-@uoregon.edu To respond to the whole group send to ob-@topica.com. To respond to the list manager send to cmur-@obra.org To unsubscribe send to obra-uns-@topica.com |
