Achilles Tendon Rupture: An Athlete’s Achilles’ Heel
Your Achilles tendon serves to connect your heel bone to your calf muscle and plays an important role in many of your daily motions: walking, jumping, running all depend on a healthy and functioning Achilles tendon. The tendon is vulnerable to injury, most commonly a rupturing or tearing of the tendon.
What Can Cause An Achilles Tendon To Rupture?
Certain things can put you at risk for experiencing an Achilles tendon rupture. Recreational athletes are particularly more susceptible to the injury, with men being five times more likely than women to experience it. Although the tear can result from a forceful trauma to the back of the heel, it is most often caused by a sudden flexing of the ankle, as can happen during sports play. This same motion can occur as a result of a trip, fall or jump. Below are some ways you can lessen your risk of experiencing a ruptured Achilles tendon.
- Stretching and strengthening calf muscles helps relieve the strain on the Achilles tendon and increase its range of motion. A strong Achilles tendon is nothing without strong calf muscles to back it!
- As always, be careful of where and what surfaces you are running on. Smooth running surfaces are the key to safety.
- Beware of the “weekend warrior effect” which is commonly seen as a cause of Achilles tendon injuries – i.e. when usually sedentary individuals suddenly place undue stress on the tendon during “pick up” sports or other rare recreational activity.
Treatment of Achilles Tendon Rupture
An Achilles tendon rupture will present itself as a sudden, stabbing pain in the back of the ankle with difficulty walking after the injury. There may be swelling, and a gap that can be felt just above the heel. Your doctor may have you lie down and try to engage your calf muscle; if your foot doesn’t flex automatically it’s assumed your tendon has ruptured. Treatments for a ruptured tendon include:
- Surgery that stitches the tendon back together.
- Wearing a cast and allowing your tendon to heal back together on its own over time.
The specific treatment selected depends on many factors, such as age, usual activity level, and associated medical conditions. If you suspect an Achilles tendon injury, call Matthew Boes M.D. early so that appropriate evaluation and treatment may be instituted.
Hello there. I found your blog via Google while searching for a related subject, your web site got here up. It appears good. I have bookmarked it in my google bookmarks to come back then.
Everything is very open with a precise description of the challenges. It was definitely informative. Your site is useful. Thanks for sharing!
Awesome post. I’m a regular visitor of your site and appreciate you taking the time to maintain the excellent site. I will be a regular visitor for a really long time.
Hello there. I found your website via Google whilst searching for a related topic, your web site got here up. It appears great. I have bookmarked it in my google bookmarks to come back then.
Awesome post. I’m a normal visitor of your web site and appreciate you taking the time to maintain the excellent site. I will be a regular visitor for a really long time.
Awesome post. I am a regular visitor of your blog and appreciate you taking the time to maintain the nice site. I will be a regular visitor for a long time.
Greetings! Very useful advice in this particular article! It is the little changes that produce the biggest changes. Thanks for sharing!
Awesome post. I am a regular visitor of your site and appreciate you taking the time to maintain the nice site. I will be a frequent visitor for a long time.
Hiya, I’m really glad I’ve found this information. Today bloggers publish just about gossip and web stuff and this is really annoying. A good site with interesting content, that’s what I need. Thanks for making this web site, and I’ll be visiting again. Do you do newsletters by email?
Awesome post. I am a regular visitor of your site and appreciate you taking the time to maintain the excellent site. I will be a frequent visitor for a really long time.
Hiya, I’m really glad I’ve found this info. Nowadays bloggers publish only about gossip and net stuff and this is really irritating. A good blog with exciting content, this is what I need. Thanks for making this web site, and I will be visiting again. Do you do newsletters by email?
Hiya, I’m really glad I have found this information. Today bloggers publish just about gossip and web stuff and this is really annoying. A good website with interesting content, this is what I need. Thanks for making this site, and I’ll be visiting again. Do you do newsletters by email?
Awesome post. I’m a regular visitor of your blog and appreciate you taking the time to maintain the excellent site. I’ll be a frequent visitor for a long time.
Get Vertical Run game and help your Ninja climb up to the temple wall on the top. This free Ninja game is a climbing game so make your Ninja run on the walls and stay safe from various obstacles like squirrels, bees, etc. You need to protect your Ninja from the attacks of the opponent Ninjas. The Ninja run game provides you various gifts like a protective shield, a tool to take a flight and a lot more. With the top temple and run game enjoy this addictive climbing game and reveal the skills of your runner ninja.
Hey there. I discovered your web site by way of Google whilst looking for a similar matter, your site came up. It seems to be great. I have bookmarked it in my google bookmarks to visit then.
Hi there. I discovered your web site by way of Google while searching for a similar matter, your website came up. It seems to be good. I have bookmarked it in my google bookmarks to come back then.
Hiya, I’m really glad I have found this info. Today bloggers publish just about gossip and web stuff and this is really annoying. A good web site with interesting content, that is what I need. Thanks for making this site, and I’ll be visiting again. Do you do newsletters by email?
Hello there. I found your site by the use of Google even as looking for a comparable subject, your site got here up. It seems to be good. I’ve bookmarked it in my google bookmarks to visit then.