garryg

I have done a number of tours and had two tours cut short by achilles tendinitus. I,m not sure if it was due to poor conditioning or pushing too hard for the first few days.
Any tips or tricks to deal with achilles problem? Thanks It is always just my right foot.

imi

I’ve had that at the beginning of a tour.
An elastic foot/ankle bandage to restrict movement and ibuprofen can work wonders.

staehpj1

Not specific to achilles tendon issues, but on long tours it is always a good idea to take it a little easy the first ten days to two weeks in my opinion. On shorter tours that may not be an option, but still a good idea to not push yourself too hard if you are not well conditioned for the kind of effort you are putting out. When you feel like there is a hint of overuse issues a shorter mileage day or two may be in order. I think those are usually better than full rest days.

DangerousDanR

I am dealing with an Achilles Tendon issue right at this moment. Diagnosis started with an Ultrasound which indicated a tear. The MRI showed no tear, rather a severe inflammation and bone spurs in my heel which are the most likely cause of the inflammation.

I have an individualized treatment plan put together by a Physical Therapist based on what I can do and it changes week to week.

My recommendation is to find an MD and a PT who can work with you to find the root cause and fix it.

indyfabz

Exactly. Hard to address the problem without knowing the cause of the problem other than by taking shots in the dark.

One such shot would be to get a bike fit in case the OP's saddle is too high or low. I did a week-long supported tour that required me to pack my bike for a flight. Didn't mark the seat post height and ended up with Achilles pain after a few days that othered me the rest of the tour..

andrewclaus

As mentioned above, try lowering the saddle, a couple of mm at a time. In my younger years I was plagued by frequent groin and Achilles pulls until I read that tip in a magazine. Nothing in the 35 years since then.

boomhauer

I tried to modify my peddling action on the advise of another rider. He suggest I try more of a rolling action in my ankle area.
This resulted in severe Achilles pain after a few days. Hopefully, no one gave you this same advise.

GamblerGORD53

Get platform pedals.
My left ankle was sore for a few days at the start of my last tour, from planting my foot on stops and supporting my 120 lb bike. LOL.

phughes

I will second that advice. I had Achilles tendon issues in my first tour, and perineum discomfort. Lowering the saddle helped both. Now I have no issues with either.

With the saddle too high, you are forced to pedal toes down, and often, you foot is forced too far back on the pedals. Lowering your saddle enables you to move your foot farther forward on the pedal, and makes it no longer necessary to pedal toes down, taking strain of the Achilles tendon. It's sort of the difference between walking in your tip toes, VS walking normally on your entire foot.

staehpj1

One thing for sure... don't let it get too far out of hand. Heel spurs can be the result and can get bad. Achilles tendon surgery can be miserable. Nip it in the bud early by what ever means necessary if you can whether that means adjustments in position, footwear, or just some rest time..

Stadjer

I can only tell you what worked for me and I was just guessing and the doctor did the educated guesses, but it's not hard science and he had to guess too. It turned out the solution for me was in the relaxation between exercise. Appearently I never let them recover because my weak and underdevelopped calves were pulling on them all day. So I started stretching the tendons but also the calves on the stairs every morning, and exercising the calves a bit, also upped my magnesium intake because my calves were also close to cramping up all the time and therefore pulling. I also started wearing boots or dress shoes more in the summer (my season of achilles pain) to change the angle of the foot and relax the tendons. So walking meant movement in the tendons, which is good for circulation and recovery, but without stressing them.

You might also want to check for proning. If your foot is tilted laterally the tendon will scratch the tube it's in and inflame. If you do you have to correct your feet by will, or your shoes. Dehydration might also be a cause, not only because it will make the calf pull on the tendon, but also because it can cause friction between the tendon and the tube it is in. At least that is what I learned in several years of looking for and to the returning issue.

Tourist in MSN

I have never had an Achilles problem, but from your comment, I wonder if cleats are used, would moving cleats further back help too?

I have found over the years that I prefer to have my cleats roughly a half inch further back than most people. Moving cleats further back is something that is easy to try and if it has no benefit, then put them back where they were before. In that case the only cost is the few minutes to move them twice.

phughes

Generally speaking, yes, and a lot of fitters recommend that. You found out on your own. Of course like all things fit related, it varies a bit based on the individual.

Machka 

Your saddle is a bit too high.

staehpj1

Just one comment. I have seen some terrible fittiing by riders and also by supposed pro fitters. Personally I would not assume a fitter was correct in what they did. I've seem some terrible jobs. Sometimes it is because they give the rider what they want and sometimes (probably less often) it is because they just did a bad job. The fitter is in a difficult position because they do need to fit the rider in a way that they can live with. That means they take in their preferences and try to accomodate them. Sometimes the rider's preferences and the effort to accommodate them can be problematic.

I think a good fit may require some tweaking over time to arrive at so even a good fitter may not arrive at the best solution at the first go. I think that a rider who has a decent idea of what they need can often do a much better job by longer term trial and error that a one shot fitting. A fitting may provide a good starting point with tweaking by the rider as needed. A fitting with followups with a fitter as needed may be a good answer in some cases. One fitting and done may be it for some. The tweaks may be subtle but even so may be important. On the other hand the tweaks may be necessary to ease a rider into a position that is foreign to them over time.

civic04

I was having achilles pain and went to ortho dr. , have bone spurs on heels and lots of pain, went to pt then and helped a lot, said my calf muscles where on the tight side so after pt was done he said to buy one of these and use it 2-3 times a day for 30 seconds

Powerstep UltraFlexx Foot Rocker, pain more or less is gone

Pratt

Stay out of Greece.
Sorry, I couldn't resist any longer.

MAK

I had Achilles problems (soreness) and went to an orthopedic doctor. He opined that it was tendonitis and scheduled x-rays. The next morning I was walking up a hill (not with my bike &#128513 and tore the Achilles tendon. I looked down and thought I had been shot in my calf or had an arrow sticking out.
All of the "home remedies" sound great and well meaning, but seeing a doctor is, IMHO, the best advice.

Good luck.

Pratt

A recent, maybe this week's, New England Journal of Medicine has an article on the relative efficacy of different treatments of Achilles tendon rupture. The article is free and understandable by a nonphysician.