Running With Achilles Tendonitis – Is It Safe?

While an Achilles tendonitis can affect everyone, the truth is that runners are among the people who tend to suffer more from it. The truth is that even though you may not know what an Achilles tendonitis is or how it feels like it, it all starts with a dull ache that evolves and starts to grow into a severe pain that won’t allow you to run.

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So, is it safe running with Achilles tendonitis?

When you first hear about Achilles tendonitis, you may assume that the inflammation and swelling come from a swelling of the tendon itself. However, what occurs is that, instead, what swells is a little sac that you have between the heel and the Achilles. This little sac only swells when your Achilles tendon is dysfunctional and weak.

So, before you start running with Achilles tendonitis, you need to make sure that you strengthen and correct the function of the tendon first.

There are two main stages that occur when you are treating the Achilles tendon:

#1: The Acute Stage

This is the first step of the treatment and you should start it as soon as the injury begins. This treatment usually lasts between 1 and 3 days and the main goals are to manage the swelling as well as to reduce the pain.

The most effective treatment during this stage is the standard RICE (Rest, Ice, Compression, Elevation). Simply put, according to this treatment, you should:

• rest or stop running
• ice the painful area
• use compression socks
• elevate your leg for about 15 minutes once or twice a day

Another thing that can help you during this stage is to wear shoes that have a slightly higher heel-toe drop to decrease the pressure and the stress on the tendon.

While this first stage of the treatment should help with the pain, you really need to complete the entire treatment to give your Achilles tendon the strength it needs.

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#2: The Rehabilitation Stage

If you did everything right in the first stage of the treatment, you should be able to walk without any sharp pain. So, it is now time to strengthen the tendon. However, in order to do this, you need to understand what caused the tendonitis the first time.

The truth is that there are two main causes for the Achilles tendonitis to occur:

• Your Achilles tendon is short and tight:

This is usually the result that you get when you put on a lot of strain on the tendon. In case this is what is causing your Achilles tendonitis, you should massage it and do some light stretches.

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• You keep twisting your Achilles tendon:

This is usually the result of a lack of foot stability. If this is your case, you need to make sure that you strengthen your feet as well as your lower legs, and you should also work on improving your stabilization capabilities. As you probably already know, in what concerns to stability, the shoes that you wear are a huge factor. So, make sure that you avoid shoes that have an extra cushioning.

So, in case you hurt your Achilles tendon or are feeling any pain at all, it is always better to stop running until you are completely recovered. So, to answer the question posed at the beginning of this post, it isn’t safe to run with Achilles tendonitis.