Achilles Tendon

Is it possible to pull or strain the achilles tendon? I don't think it's tendonitis.

I woke up Thursday afternoon and had trouble walking. The are where my achilles tendon is sore and achy and hurts a little when I point my foot down. I don't remember doing anything to cause this as I was sleeping all day. I have a doctor appointment later today for something unrelated to this so I'll ask when I'm there.

You can strain it but it takes a lot of force. And it takes a long time to heal.

Tendons are strong, but not very flexible so they can only so far before they get inflammed and tear or rupture. The exact cause of ruptures for achilles tendons is hard to say. It can happen suddenly, without warning, or following a tendonitis. It seems that weak calf muscles may contribute to problems. If the muscles are weak and become fatigued, they may tighten and shorten. Overuse can also be a problem by leading to muscle fatigue.

Thanks.

This thing really hurts, to the point where I can't sleep now. I just popped a Vicoden. My doctor will probably send me to the hospital to get it looked at. The awful thing is that I was going to get a note for work because I missed some days with a colitis flare up...now this. I really hope I didn't tear it. I have a friend who woke up one morning in a similar situation and it turned out to be a partial tear of his achilles. He had no idea how it happened.

Another thing to point out is that the tendon can even snap. It's like a rubber band connecting to your calf muscle. Once it snaps, it shoots back up, rolling into itself until in some cases, it's behind you knee! Then the surgeon has to make a small incision, insert a grappling tool and slowly unroll the muscle and tendon until it's stretched back to the heel where it securely fastened. Sounds gross doesn't it? My step-sisters are avid dancers and dance teachers and have both witnessed a sudden snap one someone's tendon. It's SO painful and you can't move your leg at all! I think it's more common among dancers who ballet on point.

Ouch! That would really hurt. The weird thing is that I have very little, if any, swelling- at least as far as I can tell. The Vicoden took a bit of the edge off but it's still painful. I can hobble a little better. I'm going to get ready for the doctor and will update when I get back. Hopefully, it's nothing serious.

any updates ?

Are you currently taking (or recently finished a course of) any antibiotics of the fluoroquinolone family, such as Levaquin, Floxin, Avelox or Trovan? One of the rare, but serious, side effects can be spontaneous tendon rupture, often of the achilles tendon. Here is a link which discusses flouroquinolones and the adverse effects which can be caused by them. Usually this effect is exacerbated by combining with corticosteroid use. I don't know if you're taking any of these for your colitis, but if you are, it wouldn't be a bad idea to get checked out by your physician.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quinolone

I just got home and feel horrible so this is going to be short and sweet. Pookie-poo, I'm taking colazal for the colitis, I don't know if it's related to one of the meds that you listed above or not. There is no break, fracture, sprain or anything like that. What I do have which is oh so painful is gout. Lovely, I had this once before after a surgery last year. The doctor said that it could have been a side effect of the colitis but I think it's more of result of my bad eating habits, which I'm going to have to change. I have Vicoden here for the pain and he gave me a prescription for prednisone and told me not to take the Indocen because it cause it can irritate the bowels. They gave me my first dose at the hopsital and already it seems to be helping.

I appreciate all of the replies, the folks here are the best. I'm going to lay down before I do a faceplant into the keyboard.

I hope the meds work are you start feeling better soon. At least you know you didn't sprain or rip the tendon. Many healing vibes going out to you!

OUCH.. take a long long epsom salt bath

I had both achilles operated on when I was young...

Thanks everyone.

It's feeling a lot better. Still slightly sore but a huge improvement over last night. I'm heading back to work Sunday night. I went out and ran a couple of errands and it was still a little difficult to walk. The concrete floor at work is unforgiving and the plant is pretty big so I figured one more day will do it. My off days are Monday and Tuesday so it's no big deal. I drive a forklift but I'd be a safety hazard tonight. I need to get the Vicodin out of my system but should be ready to roll by the time I go in.