| T O P I C R E V I E W |
| weatherman |
Posted - 06/24/2004 : 21:38:56
Does anyone out there have experience with achilles tendon issues? I have some pretty good indications that mine is a TMS thing, and would like to hear from anyone who has successfully worked through it.
I'm a LONG way from any TMS doc, but would consider a trip just to put my mind at ease that the discomfort is basically harmless. I do religiously keep my achilles stretched - not so much for pain relief but to decrease the chances for tearing one.
Thanks for any info. |
| 6 L A T E S T R E P L I E S (Newest First) |
| Texasrunner |
Posted - 06/25/2004 : 12:27:18
As a long-time runner, I've had many achillies flare-ups. The biggest issue with the achillies is adequate blood flow. It can help to alternate ice with warm soaks if it is indeed an acute strain (real injury). However, over the last couple of years, I always treat them as TMS, and they go away. |
| Fox |
Posted - 06/25/2004 : 12:20:58
I had this type pain in my right Achilles tendon for 1 month. I could not walk up an incline at all without severe pain. It happened when I was recovering from my spinal fusion (which didn't help my sciatica and I certainly would not recommend this procedure to anyone) about 4 years ago, and I went hiking perhaps too soon during the long recovery period up some very steep hills for several hours. I don't know if the problem was TMS or overuse after many weeks of bed rest resulting in muscle atrophy ......What I did to address this problem was many sets of calf raises (twenty at a time) each day even though there was moderate pain doing them. I'd first go up on my the balls of my feet and then would shift back on my heels. I had read on the internet that this would help. I don't know if this really helped or if I would have recovered within a month's time anyway, but I did get over the pain. This was really not a prolonged stretch sort of thing because I certainly wouldn't try to treat anything by stretching because that has always backfired for me.....Normally, I wouldn't try such exercises to treat an "injured" or "weak" area, but it seemed to work in this case. |
| austingary |
Posted - 06/25/2004 : 09:13:21
I do religiously keep my achilles stretched
That sends up a red flag for me. If your Achilles tendon is sore right now, for whatever reason, and you are stretching it "religiously", the stretching is likely to be doing more harm than good.
It is my understanding that Achilles tendons should be stretched gently, never dramatically. Let a little go a long way over a long period of time. And it has been my personal experience that sore tissues do not want to be stretched, period. Even if the cause is 100% TMS, they don't like to be stretched until the soreness has passed, and then very gently. As someone here once said, stretching them "just pisses them off".
It has been proven in recent years by more than one study (you can Google for them) that stretching does not prevent injuries. Its value is for long-term flexibility.
If your Achilles tendon is sore, I suggest you completely lay off the stretching at least until the soreness is gone. Then do it very gently, sparingly, with the long term in mind. |
| tennis tom |
Posted - 06/25/2004 : 09:08:52
Weatherman, I'm surprised that Dave hasn't jumped all over this but he's probably occupied these days tweaking the new site format.
You said the secret word, "stretching", but you don't win
$40. "Religiously stretching" your achiles may be working against a TMS recovery for that area. If it's TMS, which, it probably is, stretching would be focusing on the physical, This is what the TMS gremlin wants. Your time would be better spent thinking about the emotional issues the achiles pain is trying to disract you from.
I've got nothing against stretching, having done yoga for ten years, but Dave is starting to win me over on this one. Don't baby the TMS site. That's what it wants--to be babied--stopping us from doing our life's purpose. Instead, every time you would have stretched it, try thinking TMS'ly about what is bugging you emotionaly and see if the achiles pain starts disappearing into the background. If you can do that, then you can take control of your life more fully. |
| Susie |
Posted - 06/25/2004 : 07:41:27
My symptoms were exactly like Carol's. The tendon pain was the last to sign on and the first to go. It lasted about a week and never returned. Keep working at it and good luck. |
| Carol |
Posted - 06/25/2004 : 06:52:20
I have worked through achilles tendonitis with 100% success. When it started I already had back pain, hip pain, leg pain, and groin pain. I had started Sarno's work, and absolutely knew that this was another manifestation. It was my left achilles tendon. I kept walking and doing whatever else I was doing. Whenever it would start I would just dismiss it and start to try to identify what I was subconsciously stewing about. It was intermittent for several months, but it finally went away completely. I never consulted a doctor about it, because I absolutely knew that would be the kiss of death by validating it as a "physical" problem, when I absolutely knew it wasn't. There had been no injury or overuse that I could possible blame it on - just darn TMS!
PS: The other pain sites are much improved, but not gone completely. The achilles tendon pain, however, is gone completely.
Good luck to you. I know you can beat it.
Carol |
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