Signs and Symptoms of Achilles Tendonitis

Achilles tendonitis is an injury to the Achilles tendon that connects the calf muscle to the heel bone. It usually afflicts people who are unaccustomed to regular exercise but suddenly start off on high intensity exercises; it also affects runners.

Consider the following scenarios:

Mr. X has discovered the joy of running. While running is undoubtedly a great form of exercise, Mr. X’s enthusiasm has led him to not only running everyday but also increasing the distance he runs quite appreciably. Mr. X did not realize that his body needed time to adjust to his new found passion for running. As a result, he is feeling pain in the heel that worsens with exercise.

Mr. Y on the other hand is a seasoned athlete. But the mistake Mr. Y did was to increase his exercise intensity in spite of experiencing stiffness in his calf muscle. Unknowingly, Mr. Y further strained his Achilles tendon and is experiencing severe pain the day after the exercise.

Mr. Z, unlike Mr. X and Mr. Y, cannot blame the heel pain and tendon thickening that he is experiencing on exercise. Mr. Z has a bone spur (extra bone growth) at the point where the Achilles tendon joins the heel bone. The rubbing of the bone spur against the tendon is causing swelling of the tendon and consequently heel pain.

In all the above cases, Achilles tendonitis was the result. Thus the symptoms for Achilles tendonitis include:

• Heel pain
• Heel tenderness
• Stiffness in the lower leg
• Swelling of the Achilles tendon
• Pain experienced in the tendon in the morning
• Pain the day after exercise
• Pain on squeezing the sides of the tendon

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