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Signs Your Ankle and Heel Pain Are Tied to Your Achilles Tendon
That cord that you can feel at the back of your ankles is your Achilles tendon, which is the largest and strongest tendon in the human body. Since this tendon connects your heel to your calf muscle, damage to this connective tissue can lead to pain in your heel, ankle, and/or calf.
Damage to the Achilles tendon is grouped under the term Achilles tendinopathy. In this blog, musculoskeletal expert Dr. William Schell explores this type of injury and some of its key signs.
Types of Achilles tendon damage
As we mentioned, we’re grouping several different types of Achilles tendon damage under the tendinopathy umbrella. To give you an idea, here’s what’s included:
Achilles tendonitis
This issue describes inflammation in your Achilles tendon that’s largely due to overstressing the connective tissue.
Achilles tendinitis can be either noninsertional, which means the damage is located in the middle of the tendon, or insertional, which means the damage is in the area where the tendon attaches to your heel.
Achilles tendinosis
This issue describes a non-inflammatory breakdown in your Achilles tendon, often due to overuse and overstress.
Achilles tendon tears and ruptures
As the name suggests, Achilles tendon tears or ruptures are partial or complete tears in the tendon. This type of issue usually stems from an acute injury.
In this blog, we’re going to confine our discussion to Achilles tendonitis and tendinosis since a tear is an acute injury that’s hard to ignore.
As for how common these issues are, nearly one-quarter of athletes will develop an Achilles injury, alongside many more nonathletes who develop overuse injuries in this tissue.
The hallmarks of Achilles tendinitis and tendinosis
To help you narrow the field of possibilities if you’re dealing with calf, ankle, or heel pain, we want to describe some key signs of an Achilles tendinopathy, which include:
Pain and stiffness
With any Achilles tendon damage, you will likely feel pain and stiffness along the tendon. These symptoms tend to be more pronounced in the morning since your Achilles tendon can tighten overnight.
You might also find that the tendon is tender to the touch in certain areas, such as where the tendon meets your heel.
Pain after exercise
As you might imagine, your discomfort can flare after exercising, and this can happen later in the day or carry over into the next day.
Thickening in your tendon
With Achilles tendinopathies, you might experience some thickening in your Achilles tendon.
Bone spurs
If you have insertional Achilles tendinitis, you can develop bone spurs around your heels, which can exacerbate the discomfort. These bony growths are your body’s way of trying to make up for the compromised tendon.
Getting to the bottom of your lower leg pain
If you’re dealing with nagging pain in your lower leg or around your heel, and there’s no defining injury, it’s a good idea to see our team. Dr. Schell has a keen understanding of Achilles tendinopathies and can quickly diagnose the problem so that you can get relief.
From conservative therapies to surgery, Dr. Schell has you covered when it comes to treatments, making him a one-stop doctor for your Achilles tendon needs.
For expert diagnosis and treatment of Achilles tendinopathy, we invite you to contact us at our New York City office — located on Columbus Circle on the Upper West Side — by calling 646-381-2646. You can also send us a message by clicking here.
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