Reply
Thu 14 Jun, 2007 03:40 pm
I have recently noticed that when I wake up in the morning, my achilles' tendons are pretty sore. When I get out of bed and walk, the first several steps are painful enough that when I walk I go, "aaaggghhh..." and have to be very gentle. After those first few steps the pain recedes mostly, but I can still feel a slight soreness there all the time, even though it is not much of a bother at all during a regular day.
I don't remember exactly when it started, but it's been like this for at least a month or so. I haven't done anything different activity-wise that would cause this. At first I thought it might be the beginnings of tendonitis, but maybe it's just old age.
So what do you think? Is it just my forty-one-year-old body starting to slowly fall apart? When do the normal aches and pains of old age usually start to kick in? Should I be concerned?
Are you stressed more than usual? Sometimes, if you aren't getting a restful sleep your muscles and joints will be tensed all night and you'll feel it in the morning.
Nope. If anything, I've been less stressed out over the past couple months.
Excercise may help...your ligaments are probably pretty weak from sitting around drawing pictures of ligers and wizards all day.
Oh, and although I don't really notice the pain during the course of a regular day, I can't just take off running like I could before this, and actually my ability to do any athletic activity is hindered by the pain. If I run or jump, I feel it, and it makes me go "aaaggghhh..."
Does it hurt when you wear high heels ?
Smoker? That'll do it. Reduced circulation. Pretty soon you will have gangreen of the feet and your toes will fall off.
Seriously!
You should see a doctor about it, especially f it is bothering you,
It doesn't sound like normal aches of old age to me.
I recognize that. I used to have that when I jogged a lot. Stretch before and after....
Also, wear the right shoes. Worth looking at runnersworld.com even if you don't run, just re the types of feet and shoes. You might, for example, need arch support. You're slapping those feet on concrete every day.
Is it your Achilles tendon or your heel that's the problem in the morning?
The general description you're giving sounds a lot like Plantar Fasciitis.
Quote:Plantar Fasciitis
When your first few steps out of bed in the morning cause severe pain in the heel of your foot, you may have plantar fasciitis (fashee-EYE-tiss). It's an overuse injury affecting the sole or flexor surface (plantar) of the foot. A diagnosis of plantar fasciitis means you have inflamed the tough, fibrous band of tissue (fascia) connecting your heel bone to the base of your toes.
link
A colleague of mine who's a soccer referee after work/on weekends suffers from it chronically. He finds one of the most important things is to not let his feet get cold overnight. Really.
No, it's definitely the tendon.
Thanks for the information, everyone. I am going to try stretching it out before I go to sleep and just keep doing gentle stretches while I'm at work and throughout the day. I'll give the doctor a shout if it's still bugging me in a couple weeks or so.
If it's the tendon, you probably want to get it checked out - make sure you didn't tear it - that's pretty serious ****.
Not necessarily old age, in and of itself, though more and more of it becomes less ignorable. Ask Mr. Apisa
I'm pretty sure it isn't torn. How could I have torn both achilles tendons at the same time and not even noticed when it happened? It seems like a very remote possibility.
I did a little stretching yesterday at work and last night when I went to bed, and it actually may have helped a tiny bit. It didn't feel quite as painful when I woke up today. I'll give it a little time.
At work I'll extend one leg, and point my toes, and at the same time try to make the heel of my foot draw into that tendon, don't know if that makes sense to you.
If feels really great, and when you flex your foot the other way, you get some reall great cracks.
Then, I'll curl the toes on that foot, and then try to slowly point my foot, like you see those women who do water ballet. THAT is really hard, don't force it.
If I remember right, certain types of feet are more prone to plantar fascitis, and mine aren't one of those types. But, as people said, see a doc if this keeps up. I used to see an orthopedist, that's how I know my foot type, besides from that runner's world site.
Stumble It!
Tweet This
Bookmark on Delicious
Share on Facebook
Share on MySpace