Achilles/Calf problem

Peter Noyes

I am experiencing some pain in my Achilles area in my right ankle when running. The weird think is that I have tried pinching the tendon up and down and there is no spot that is painful. If I foam roll my lower leg there is something higher up my leg just below the big part of my calf and off to the side of the Achilles that is really painful (Soleus muscle?). It definitely feels like something muscular during foam rolling, but when running I swear it feels like it is the Achilles. I am doing RICE and I took a week off of running but it still hurts. Walking is fine. The moment I stop running it is instantly pain free. Any ideas?

GMAN 19030

Have you tried running in Hokas? They cured my calf/achilles issues. Not saying it'll work the same magic on you but might be worth a try after you rest/recover.

Anu Rao

I use The Stick or the rumble roller, to try and ease up any tight spots on the calf. If you have a sports massage person you rust I would have them look at it I had a similar issue, that jacked up my achilles/outside of ankle area, but the knot was actually higher up in the gastroc.

Scott Alexander

I developed tendonitis in my left Achilles after switching shoes to a zero-drop. I then went and did PT to strengthen the whole chain of leg muscles, all the way from heel up to my butt. No issues since then.

I'm now a big advocate of PT and their analysis for identifying what's weak and what needs to be worked on. Never hurts to be stronger in the whole chain!

morpheus

Peter-

there are so many things that it could be. best to have someone get their hands on it rather than have us diagnose it based on our experiences. I've had achilles and calf probs, too. If it's sore when you run, but still able to run without any change in gait, I'd suggest to shut the run down for a couple days. Biking? do even more. Swim? no worries. But, I've evolved to the point that if my achilles or calf is sore, I know that a reinjury is lurking around the corner. Once it goes from sore to stabbing pain, I gotta shut it down for 4-6 weeks and then another 2 weeks of easing into anything.

Point is, if you are a year after year after year guy like most of us are, a couple of days rest every now and then will reward you in the big picture of this stuff. Do we need to strengthen our core, all of our running chain, correct any gait abnormalities (to the best of our abilities)? Def, yes! But, the soreness could care less about your 'intentions'. It's just warning you that something bigger might be coming soon. (just my experience)

Good luck.