Sports massage for achilles tendon and calf pain

Ouch! I’ve just got back from having a sports massage to try and help me get rid of this lingering achilles tendon and calf pain.

Unsurprisingly it hurt quite a bit at times, but the therapist seemed to be very good indeed…

She started by having me lay on my front and bend my right leg at the knee. She then rubbed deeply into my calf muscle and up and down the soleus region (between the heel and the calf muscle). She also worked gently around the achilles itself.

The surprising thing was how evident it became how all of my problems are so linked to a tight calf muscle. After about 5 minutes of working the calf my right foot started to cramp right across and down the plantar fascia. It was agony! Each bout of cramps took about 1 minute to pass. In a way it was kind of fun to try and ride the pain of the cramp as she continued to work the muscle. The kind of mind of matter you get at the end of a 10k race!

After working manually into each leg, she then got to work on me with a vibrating instrument (didn’t get a chance to have a good look at it) that I think was link a wand. She pressed it deep in to my achilles tendon and moved it up the length of the calf several times, but very slowly. It was agony, yet the deeply tingling was also very nice.

After the wand abuse came the real fun and pain. I turned on to my back and the fun part began. With my leg bent at a 45 degree angle she worked the calf muscle - this was the fun bit, as it wasn’t too painful. But then the real pain part started. She stood on the bed with my leg straight so that the foot was against her shoulder. She then pushed very very hard into my toes so that the foot flexed towards the bed. The whole time I had to keep my leg totally locked straight. This not only hurt the hamstrings but then the calf and achilles tendon. The achilles tendon felt like it was going to snap. She held the position for about 5 seconds, I’d then relax and then she’s repeat the process about 3 times.

After the torture she went through several exercises with me that I should carry out every morning and evening. I’ll try and add these to the injury prevention exercises sections of this site over the next few days.

I thought that I’d feel really loose after the session… but it turn out that way. I could barely walk for a few minutes. It wasn’t pain, but just a stiffness.

Now the really bad part. She said I shouldn’t run for at least a week! Aaaaarrrggghhh! Just as I’ve started to build up the mileage and plan out my serious training sessions I have to take a week off. Great! Oh well… I think if I’ve learned anything since starting to run, it’s that you need to listen to, and more importantly, respect what your body is telling you. I was even told to lay off of all lower body work including swimming - as this could undo any of the good flexibility inducing work we’d done so far.

So, it’s plenty of stretching for a week, another sports massage nest week, and then hopefully I can get back to serious training (with plenty of ongoing stretching!).