The Achilles tendon is the largest in your body and the one most likely to develop tendinitis. Jason Cohen, DPM, and Sandeep Garcha, DPM, of Cohen & Garcha Podiatry, LLP, offer fast diagnosis and assessment of your tendinitis. This is followed by effective treatment to get you mobile as soon as possible. The practice has six offices in New York City’s Bronx borough, one in Jamaica, Queens, and another in Nanuet.
Tendinitis, also known as tendonitis, is the inflammation of one or more tendons. These strong, stretchy connective tissues attach your muscles to your bones and are present in all your joints.
Achilles tendonitis is the inflammation of the Achilles tendon, which joins your calf muscle to your heel bone. It’s a large tendon that you can feel and see at the back of your ankle. Your Achilles tendon allows you to lift your foot when you walk, run, or jump.
While the Achilles tendon is very tough and able to withstand significant force, it’s also the one that’s most likely to develop tendinitis.
Tendinitis in the lower leg causes mild aching or pain in the calf following physical activity.
The pain tends to get worse over time. Other symptoms of tendinitis include:
These symptoms are often worse when you get out of bed in the morning.
Acute tendinitis usually results from an injury, for example, running fast and pushing yourself a little too hard. This stretches the tendon beyond its ability to spring back and can tear the fibers. Chronic tendinitis might develop if you do repetitive activities that put the tendon under stress, resulting in microtears and inflammation.
You can get tendinitis if you train too hard or go too far beyond your current fitness level. Not warming up or properly stretching before you exercise can also lead to tendinitis. This is why it’s essential to gradually build up your fitness and warm up correctly to increase your tendon strength and flexibility.
Untreated tendinitis can lead to a chronic condition called tendinosis, where the tendon starts to break down.
Your provider at Cohen & Garcha Podiatry, LLP, is likely to begin your treatment for tendinitis with conservative measures.
These can include:
These treatments work to reduce stress on the injured tendon. As well as treating the injury, you need to stop doing all activities that make the problem worse, like high-impact exercise.
If these treatments aren’t relieving your tendinitis symptoms, you might benefit from cortisone injections into the tendon. Cortisone is a powerful anti-inflammatory that usually has long-lasting effects but isn’t suitable for frequent use. Radial shockwave therapy is another treatment for severe tendinitis.
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