Help and Healing for Achilles Tendonitis

Tendons are strong cords that connect your muscles to your bones. Your tendons move when your muscles contract, pulling the tendon and in turn moving the bone.

This setup means your tendons are under a large amount of stress and strain that can lead to inflammation and tiny tears. This causes your tendon to become swollen and inflamed — what we call tendonitis.

Without treatment, tendonitis can progress, becoming more and more painful. This condition can occur all over the body, but one of the most common trouble spots is your Achilles tendon, which connects your heel bone to your calf.

Here at Carolina Joint and Arthritis, our team offers help and healing for Achilles tendonitis. Here’s how.

What are the symptoms of Achilles tendonitis?

Achilles tendonitis usually occurs because of overuse rather than an injury. It happens to people who are active on their feet (especially runners), which repeatedly stresses the tendon, leading to heel pain, ankle pain, stiffness, tenderness, and swelling in the tendon. You may also notice some leg weakness. The pain and stiffness will likely be worse in the morning and after exercise or activity. 

If you don’t give your body time to rest, your tendon will not heal. In fact, left untreated, it may eventually start to degenerate or break down. If it progresses, the condition can even cause a complete rupture, in which the tendon separates from your heel bone or tears in half.

How is Achilles tendonitis treated?

When he sees an Achilles tendonitis patient, Dr. Austin Yeargan begins with the most conservative treatment. One of the best treatments is one of the hardest to do: rest. Stopping the activities that have led to your tendonitis will relieve the stress on your tendon and allow it to heal.

Other treatment options include physical therapy, supportive shoes, a splint to help stretch your Achilles tendon at night, anti-inflammatory medications, and corticosteroid injections.

These treatments work for many patients, but for those whose pain continues afterward, Dr. Yeargan’s expertise in regenerative medicine comes into play. Two treatments in particular are effective in healing Achilles tendonitis.

With platelet-rich plasma (PRP) therapy, your own plasma-filled blood is injected near the tendon, releasing growth factors to activate cell healing activities and support the regeneration of your damaged tendon.

Dr. Yeargan can also use the Tenex procedure to treat your tendon with ultrasound energy to remove damaged tissue and activate the healing properties of your cells. Recovery should occur within days or weeks, helping you avoid surgery.

If you’re suffering from Achilles tendonitis, our team at Carolina Joint and Arthritis in Wilmington, North Carolina, is ready and willing to provide help so you can heal. Just call our Wilmington office at 910-659-9597 or use our convenient online scheduler to book your own appointment anytime!