I have chronic Achilles tendonitis, will the doctor make me stop dancing??

Question

I've had problems with my achilles tendon since about April last year. I've been giving it breaks where I'm not doing ANYTHING whatsoever, but when I go back to walking a whole lot or dancing (I do ballet, pointe, and tap) it starts bugging me a whole lot.
I went to my regular doctor in May when it first started hurting (I still don't know what caused it to flare up), and he said that I'd have to go to a sports medicine doctor who specialized in foot injuries since resting it hasn't helped.
I've cut back on my dancing (I still go twice a week like I always have, I'm just not doing all the stuff that causes it to hurt the most), and have wrapped my ankle in an ACE bandage when I'm dancing, and iced it down when I get home, but it still hurts just as much.
Is there a chance that I'll have to stop dancing for a long time (like more than a few weeks?) Or that I'll get put oncrutches or anthing? I realy don't want to give up dancing since it's the only exercise I get.

Thanks in advance!

(I'm going to a sports medicine doc in two days).

Answer 1

Tendon injuries take more than a few days to heal, up to a few weeks.

For a low calf injury not quite at the tendon, I wore a built up heel on a running shoe (3 inches), but did not straighten my leg, and walked level to the good leg. I had to walk with a very short stride on the injured leg. The heel lift allowed the tendon and muscle to stay relaxed while it healed.

I had a total of four similar injuries over a few years, two on each leg, one down at the ankle area of the tendon. Rest with the shoe worked great each time, then careful rehab strengthening and stretching.

Best thing is nothing that causes it pain, since that slows healing, or may make a new parallel injury.

Answer 2

Ok - not knowing where you are....

Find Yamuna Zake - of Yamuna body rolling. She has a whole myofascial and muscular approach to healing the body and works specifically with dancers, yogis, pilates folk.

Go see a podiatrist. I found that a type of foot pronation can lead to excessive stress on the tendon there.

Find a good physical therapist and massage therapist. The PT can give you foot baths which are really nice and use heat and ice. You may also need to re-evaluate your shoes and modify them in various ways. Change your shoes - change your life.

Eric Franklin has a lot of knowledge and does many workshops for dancers as well and I'm sure would have some additional information for you.

By the way, I did Yamuna's leg routine, and sometime really tight muscles and imbalances can put excessive stress on the lower leg. I had 1 BodyLogic session and they dealt with a lot of old chronic issues. Whatever you do, try Yamunas Foot Fitness program.
Another site to check out is www.centerimt.com.
They have some unusual approaches to rehabilitative medicine (aka PT) and have some fascinating results.

I'd be interested if you've tried super feet or other inserts and what type of shoes you are wearing, support, and if you've seen a podiatrist. Sometime they can tape your arch and your achilles feel great.

Another suggestion- support hose, like the type for lymphodema patients, or gravity legs patients, or cellulite. Go to a medical supply store and check out what they have. The gentle compression through out the day, made a huge difference regarding pain in my legs, ankle swelling, and achilles pain.

Best of luck!

Answer 3

What Richard is describing is "eccentric loading" ideas for the leadership of tendonitis. This is a good-documented intervention, however what sufferers and therapists must notice is that the application demands to be carried out regularly over a few months...seeing that the achilles tendon gets a confined blood deliver, the time it takes for the collegen within the tendon to show over a mature is noctoriously lengthy. Most humans must wait approximately 12 weeks to think the outcome and it is been documented that tissue recuperation happens over a interval longer than a yr in lots of circumstances...lengthy after the sufferer is anguish-unfastened, nevertheless it makes for go back of the anguish while bigger stage exercise is persued. There are many protocols for eccentric loading...program of the pastime would possibly fluctuate among two-three occasions an afternoon and six-7 occasions an afternoon. I'd frequently break out from the heel lifts...they're a transitority repair and handiest shorten the tendon extra. ...until you're in consistent anguish 24 hours an afternoon, relaxation is frequently the worst factor to do for it. This simply leads for extra tissue dengeneration. However, exercise amendment might be required.

Answer 4

Myself and many of my friends have found that masseuses and trainers at the gym are FAR better than the physical therapy specialists that doctors recommend.

Aside from getting an MRI to see what might be causing the strain, I'd avoid the medical solution. If its tendon/ligament/muscle, the trainers/instructors--yoga--or masseuses are in that line of work because they really understand how muscle and bone work.

Give your sports guys a shot, but then go to a reputable gym and talk to the folks who are trainers because they worked through an injury of their own.

Answer 5

This question depends on you.
If the doctor says to quit walking on it then you must do that.

If his work is to be successfull you must obey him.
don't fudge at all.

No matter what you hate about it. People who hire an expert then don't take his/her advice are not being intelligent.

Answer 6

I had a tear in mine..............no cast.naprosan and ultrasound I believe........it took a long time and a lot of exercise.............to repair..............it will not get better w/o the Doc and treatmebt