# Achilles Tendon Pain



## pendulous (Jun 26, 2012)

My girlfriend weighs 350 lbs and is getting enormous pain in one of her achilles tendons.

It's OK when she rests it, but after a bit of walking on it, it causes her a lot of pain, her ankle swells right up and is very tender.

I've looked online and all the information seems to amount to: stop running for a while. Stop running? She's in agony just walking.

I have no idea whether it's bad footwear, a lack of exercise or something else entirely, but I'm looking ideas of treatments. The internet advice is all about prevention, but obviously it's too late for that.

Any suggestions?


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## Tad (Jun 26, 2012)

In the short term, she can deal with the inflamation that no doubt is part of the issue (and the whole issue could be inflamation, or could be something more serious). The prescription there is periodic cold packs, elevation when she can (such as stretching out on the couch and putting a pillow or two under her leg) and regular doses of anti-inflammatory (meaning max dosage of ibuprofen throughout the day--note: not tylenol (it only helps pain, not inflamation) and probably not ASA as it can cause stomach issues when you take it steadily). She could potentially also look at compression (a tenser bandage or the like).

I'm no expert on achilles tendons, but I wonder if her calf muscles are too tight? Big folk tend to have very muscular calves, but if she only walks and stands (not a big range of motion) and doesn't stretch, it can get very tight, and then when something happens it doesn't have the stretch to deal with it, so puts a lot of force on the tendon. Once it is doing better she probably needs to learn to stretch out her calves, but if there is damage to the tendon she'll have to be careful....a session with a physiotherapist would be ideal, as they'll know how to deal with that situation.

Between those two things, she really should see a doctor. I realized that the danger is she'll get one of those idiots who say something like "It's because of your weight, lose 200 pounds and you'll get better. Next!" I don't know if she has a regular doctor and how she or he is about providing treatment to your girlfriend....but a medical professional of some sort should see it....I believe you can actually rupture the achilles tendon, which doesn't sound like something you should ignore.

Best of luck to her--I do hope that it is nothing serious!


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## Sweet Tooth (Jun 30, 2012)

I had an Achilles tendon injury at about 230 lbs that was ignored because of my weight that has caused residual problems with my foot and knee. [See my recent rants on here.] Unfortunately I was young, insecure, and just a newborn to size acceptance at that time so I didn't have the internal security or external resources to guide me. And I was told to lose weight and it would go away. :blink:

I would call foot/ankle specialists ASAP, but interview them on the phone first to see their philosophy or approach to people of size. A lot of people skip this step. [And if you can't talk to the doctor directly, don't be afraid to ask an office manager. If they don't want a fat patient, you'll know.]

The doctor needs to treat the issue in front of him or her, not just recommend weight loss. For some, weight loss may help alleviate pain in the future, but it doesn't deal with the injury at that moment. If you get to the doctor and the recommendation is weight loss, the question must be asked again as to what can be done to treat the pain and swelling at that moment.

One recommendation as part of a more comprehensive pain management protocol may be orthodic devices to ensure she's walking properly and to support her foot and ankle properly as she heals. Thankfully these are far cheaper than when I got custom ones made years ago... but worth every penny! I can't imagine how bad my joints would be without them. I went from ongoing pain for about 18 months to pain free in a month, except for occasional flare ups.

Good luck to you guys!


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## Miss Vickie (Jun 30, 2012)

If she's having pain and swelling when using it at all she needs to have it evaluated. She could have torn the tendon, or she may have another injury that needs to be evaluated. She may get a weight lecture (I hope not) but regardless, I think it's beyond what you can treat at home. NSAIDs, rest, ice all help but if something is torn or broken, that's something you need to know.

I hope she feels better soon!


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## pendulous (Jul 3, 2012)

Thank you all.

I'm trying to convince her to go to the doctor, but she is dragging her heels (no pun intended).


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## HighAltitudeFA (Jul 9, 2012)

Hopefully my experience will help...

My experience was just over two years ago when I had surgery to correct ongoing pain I had experienced on and off for several years in my right ankle. My primary care physician kept recommending ibuprofen to help with the pain and inflammation. When he did take an x-ray to look at it, he only took it from the front of the ankle, which did not show any problem. 

When the pain became severe and I could not walk without limping, I finally convinced my PCP to refer me to a podiatrist. The first thing the podiatrist did was take x-rays from the front, left and right sides of the ankle. The side shots showed a big heel spur that was growing up into the achilles. What surprised me was his statement that it is rather common, and he performs the corrective surgeries a couple of times a week. He was also surprised that the PCP has not caught it earlier, but said it was not uncommon for PCPs to only look from one angle.

So, open it up, detach the achilles, chisel the excess bone away, surgically extend the calf muscle (so there is slack), and re-attach the achilles. Could not put weight on it for 6 weeks, and then 6 weeks of PT. Now I can support all 325 pounds of me on the ball of that foot with no pain.

The point of all of this is: Get your girlfriend to the doctor, and get x-rays from multiple angles to see what's going on (one angle isn't going to show everything). Then they can make an informed recommendation as to how to correct the issue. I also asked if weight had anything to do with it, and the podiatrist was very clear that weight was not the issue. If anything, he said I could have done more stretching of my ankle to delay the growth of the spur. 

Hope this helps... Good luck! I hope it's not anything as serious as mine was.


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## moore2me (Jul 10, 2012)

Dear Pendulous,

I too have had trouble with severe pain in my heels from bone spurs. I would hurt so bad I hated to get out of bed in the morning. My feet hit the floor and the pain would start. So here I go to another Doctor - this time a foot doctor. He started me on injections of steriods into my heel and amazingly I could walk out of his office without pain - unfortunately the shots wore off after about 6 weeks. He said I could have two more shots and then we would talk about surgery. In the meantime he gave me some foot exercises to do. He also xrayed my foot and the bone spurs in my ankle were obvious.

My mom recommended that I wear some heel cups (cheap plastic supports for your heels). I religiously did the foot exercises. After a week or so, the heel pain started to go away and then it stopped. I haven't had any more heel pain for about ten years. *What's amazing is that the bone spurs are still there, but they do not bother me any more*. I also do not need the heel cups either. However, I quit wearing high heels because trying to walk in tennis shoes and flats keeps your tendons at one length. When you switch over to high heels, the tendon has to shorten to keep your balance. This is often what aggravates the area of the bone spurs.

I am enclosing links to five easy foot exercises almost anyone can do with little trouble. I am also enclosing a link to a picture of heel cups (you can also buy them at Wal-mart or Walgreens type stores.)

Five simple exercises & massage techniques to relieve heel pain
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ADtvC0ayDMs
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rxu433AIb7Y&feature=fvwrel&NR=1
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F9QJqN9HYdw&NR=1&feature=endscreen
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UnKuEygjzXQ&feature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jWiMm0F94v4&feature=related

Heel cups http://www.amazon.com/dp/B000MSZT7O/?tag=skimlinks_replacement-20



Here's another alternative to consider: 
I recently have to take a week's dosage of antibiotics called Ciprofloxacn. *This drug had severe warnings on the bottle and on the paperwork about causing problems in tendons.* It said it could cause tendons to snap or tear or ache. I don't know if your friend has taken any medication that affects tendons but it wouldn't hurt to check. This one antibiotic is not the only drug that causes such problems.


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## pendulous (Jul 21, 2012)

Thank you so much for these. I'll let you know how it goes.


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