achilles' tendon injury - causes?

[Charles]

So I am currently suffering my first running related injury. At least I think it is running related and I am curious to hear what people experienced with achilles' injuries have to say. I started to notice it while doing a short 3 miles on the treadmill a day after I ran about 12 miles, six of which were on firm sand. It has gotten worse and I have have not run for three days now. The pain is most noticeable when my left foot is in the fully flexed position, that is pointed toes and the achilles' is thus contracted. Lengthening the tendon does not seem to make it any worse. The pain occurs at the base of the tendon. I will also note that the bottom of my heel has started to ache a little as well. Have people found that running on sand can cause this type of injury?

Full disclosure: I was hit by a truck on 11.23.10 while walking across the street and thrown some distance. All x-rays were negative and I am under going PT for back and neck stiffness. I have slowly been increasing both the duration and frequency of my runs as my recovery from the accident has progressed. I am not sure if I am compensating in some way and thus the injury is a consequence or not. I will go see the doctor about this during the coming week when I can get in to see her and will also discuss it at PT on Thursday.

[Jon Allen]

Running on sand most definitely stresses the Achilles a lot more than normal runs.  A lot.  Especially if you did any of it barefoot.  I would definitely give it a little rest- Achilles can quickly become very problematic, based on my experience and what I have red.

[Eric Day]

Charles, I suffered from achilles pain for quite a while. One simple way to diagnose (not professionally mind you) is to "pinch" the tendon just above the ball of your foot. If it hurts, then you have an achilles tendon problem; if it hurts a lot, then its serious.
According to what you say, I don't think its serious. But this is what you should do:
* A few days rest.
* Lots of stretching, before and after, without over pulling the tendon (until it feels tight)
* Ice, lots of Ice after runs, and maybe first a week at night (do you run in the morning?).
* No speed work, no tempors, fartlek, etc.
* No tennis playing, no basketball or any sport that will produce stress on the heel or achilles tendon.
* No long runs either.
* Maybe you should lower your mileage a bit, and do only easy runs.

The achilles tendon heals very slowly, so you must be patient, very patient. But it will heal.
Best of luck.

[Charles]

Thanks for your advice. I have run very little in the last two weeks and only on the treadmill (it is the only really flat place around here to run) but I am going a bit batty not running. I have been icing it everyday, multiple times and it is still somewhat sore. I did buy a brace for plantar fasciitis though because it keeps me in a neutral position when I sleep and I am less sore when I wake up. I stopped taking the advil because I don't think it is a good idea to take that stuff for weeks, even though it does not seem to cause me stomach pain like some. I am going to try more light treadmill runs and lots of ice and see how it responds.

[Gary Culver]

Thoughts on use of KT Tape for injury described?
- I've had good results after calf strain and lower shin strain...
www.kttape.com