Help reduce achilles tendon pain with this eccentric exercise
This is another exercise that was given to me by my physiotherapist when I first saw her complaining of achilles tendon pain.
First of all, what does eccentric mean?
An eccentric exercise is an exercise that stretches the muscle whilst the muscle is under strain. So, in the case of this exercise, the calf is lengthening, but at the same time it’s working against gravity to control the ankle.
How to do the achilles tendon eccentric exercise
1. Stand on a step on the tiptoes of one foot. The other foot should be in the air, and you should only support yourself lightly with your hands. This is obviously easiest if performed on a step/stair with a bannister!
2. Lower your heel of your supporting foot until it is below the level of the step.
3. Return to the starting position, but do this by placing your weight on the other foot. You should not perform a standard calf raise to get back to the starting position.
4. Repeat this 15 times on each leg. Start with one set and build up to 3 sets. Once comfortable carrying out the exercise with straight legs, perform with the leg taking the load slightly bent.
NOTE: Take care with this exercise to start with. After the first couple of days I had a feeling of too much stretching right in the base of my heel right at the bottom of the achilles tendon. Progress can be very slow with a repairing achilles tendon!
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(This entry was posted on March 9th, 2008.)
Posted by: Kathy Stephen
on September 13th, 2008 at 7:11 pm
I will definitely try this, thank your for making this info available.
My left achilles tendon ruptured fully in 2004, after having it in plaster for 9 weeks I did physio, but never regained total muscle mass in the calf, or the ability to fully stand on the toe of the left foot.
OK, but now it’s my right achilles tendon that’s getting troublesome, due to the leg working differently for 4 years now, and due to three bashes it took. I especially have trouble wearing shoes, anything that touches the tendon at the back gets very painful.
As I said I will definitely do these exercises, and massages, because a ruptured tendon IS NO JOKE!