Achilles problems

[BillyNoMates]

Damn left achilles has flared up. In truth this has been creeping up on me for a while now, but it is not showing the same symptoms as 'Classic' tendonitis. This time it appears to be sore at the base of the tendon where it connects to the heel, the tendon is not at all sore to the touch (not like the last time where any pressure was really sore).

The interesting thing about this is that it seems to be particularly intolerant of my fell shoes - just wearing them make the left tendon/back of heel area sore. So much so that even a walk in the woods (in fell shoes) reduced me to a limping, hobbling wreck all of which improved significantly when the shoes were removed and replaced with 'standard' footwear.

It is all the more annoying as these shoes were extremely comfortable for the first few runs. However I do not appear to be alone in this - one of our fellrunning posse suffers a similar affliction (same shoes, same sore heel). We did some digging around on the web and reckon that the condition may have been caused by brusing around the tendon area (caused by shoes), rather than a strain on the tendon itself.

Anyone else suffered anything remotely similar? Would like to try to avoid this problem in the future if I change my shoes for a different make.

[supersaintee]

I've had a similar problem, on and off, for a few years. Like you, my achilles trouble seemed to be made worse by fell shoes, particularly those with slightly higher. stiffer backs (Walshes and RX Terrains seemed paricularly troublesome, which was annoying, as the RX Terrains were otherwise one of the best fitting shoes for me). I tried a lot of different shoes to resolve the problem, without success - I thought Inov-8s might help because they have such a low back, but they don't really fit my feet. When changing shoes didn't help, I tried other things and I've largely got rid of the problem now by through a combination of physio, a good rehab programme and orthotics in my road shoes (but not my fell shoes).

I now think, in my case, it wasn't the fell shoes that were causing the problem, but other biomechanical issues. However, I do think that, if you've got an achilles problem, fell shoes can really irritate it - much more so than road shoes. This is particularly the case if you use shoes with a slightly higher, stiffer back, which tend to rub the achilles, especially on descents when your foot naturally flexes forward and pulls the back of the shoe into the tendon. This is made worse because fell shoes tend to fit tightly anyway. Road shoes aren't as bad because they have a loser fit, so the heel tends to slide a bit, rather than bite into the tendon, and you rarely do steep unstable descents in them.

Having sorted the problem, I now find I can use RX Terrains largely without difficulty, although I prefer Gladiators, which have a similar fit, but a softer heel tab and work better on the rare occasions my tendon still flares up.

[FellMonster]

My Inov8 mudrocs cause me problems with my achilles. I ve taken to plastering and then taping my lower achilles, and then wearing two pairs of socks to limit damage.....also stops me from losing lumps fo skin!

[Huwski]

Anyone else suffered anything remotely similar? Would like to try to avoid this problem in the future if I change my shoes for a different make.

Hi BNM - I had EXACTLY the same symtoms -
Ran 17miles with new shoes, absolutley fine. Next day wore them for a walk and was hobbling badly at the end. I kept the shoes for a month, wearing them around the house to try and 'bed them in' - Result? EVERYTIME I wore the shoes the pain would return. I could however continue running in my other shoes during this time. Solution? Bin the shoes.

[Stan]

This is really familiar. I've had a similar pain for nearly 12 months on and off. The thing was I wasn't doing much running when it appeared - I've recently put it down to some Merrel walking shoes. There seemed to be a connection between wearing these and the onset of pain so I'm avoiding them for the present.
Anyway I did a bit of digging on the net and came across a condition called Retrocalcaneal Bursitis. The key thing was the fact that the pain for RB was lower, on the heel bone itself rather than the achilles tendon itself which has been pain free.
http://www.sportsinjuryclinic.net/cy...esbursitis.htm

It seems to have responded to rest, ice & ibuprofen.

[emmilou]

This has happened to me only in this last week

I did a fair bit of mileage and all seemed ok went for a run in my new mudclaw 330's on wednesday before last - got out of bed thursday morning and was hobbling round with a really sore heel - same place mentioned in initial post. Not sore to touch but also keep getting shooting pains up the back of the heel from time to time.

Spent most of last week cross training (swimming/spinning) really reduced the mileage and rested this weekend.

Just back from a short run in my mudrocs and whilst running I didn't even feel a niggle but now there is a very slight dull throbbing in the area

Will try the mudclaws again in a couple of days and just hope they need bedding in otherwise it's £60 down the swanny!!

[Stan]

Just back from a short run in my mudrocs and whilst running I didn't even feel a niggle but now there is a very slight dull throbbing in the area

This was one of the things I experienced. There may have been a slight pain when setting off on a run but the activity eased the pain which inevitably returned later, usually after a short period of immobility.

[Bisto]

Always had this problem with fell shoes - every Inov8 I've tried, the old felldancers, RX terrains and Walshes. Went to Nike Storm Pegasus for a while but the grip was inadequate, finally along came the Mizuno Wave Harrier and I've found a shoe suitable for fell running that doesnt cause me achilles problems. The toebox is a little baggy for my liking but according to Mizuno that is being rectified.

[dominion]

Always had this problem with fell shoes - every Inov8 I've tried, the old felldancers, RX terrains and Walshes. Went to Nike Storm Pegasus for a while but the grip was inadequate, finally along came the Mizuno Wave Harrier and I've found a shoe suitable for fell running that doesnt cause me achilles problems. The toebox is a little baggy for my liking but according to Mizuno that is being rectified.

Does that mean we'll be seeing more of you on the fells this year Bisto??

[Bisto]

You know I don't do fell racing but I will be doing more training on the fells for sure.