The Best Exercise for Insertional Achilles Tendon Pain

Isometric calf raise holds constitute one of the best exercises for the rehabilitation of insertional Achilles tendon pathology. Insertional Achilles tendon pain is felt on the insertion of the Achilles tendon into the heel bone (calcaneus).

POGO Guru physio Brad Beer explains a good protocol to use in the rehabilitation of this type of Achilles tendon injury.

Transcript

Hi everyone, Brad coming at you with a little physio tip of the week. This week’s tip has to do with sore Achilles tendons. Your Achilles tendon expands the back of the calf and inserts down into the heel bone. There are two sorts of Achilles tendon problems, the first is insertional Achilles problem, and the second is what we call a mid-portion Achilles problem. Today we are actually going to talk about how to address the insertional Achilles problem. So the exercises as a physiotherapist I give for insertional Achilles tendon problem is very different to the one that I give for the problem being further up in what we call the mid-portion of the tendon. Let’s talk about the exercise that is best for the soreness down low. We call these the isometric holds - so what we do is we come up on the toes and we hold that there for a period of time and then come back down. So, you come into a calf raise, holding, use a wall for balance and support, and then come back down. Now there is an ideal protocol to follow with this, and that is to begin with 10 lots of thirty-seconds. After a weak progress to 5 lots of 1 minute, and beyond that over subsequent weeks at your physios discretion move to 3 lots of 2 minutes, 2 lot of 3 minutes, and lastly 1 lot of 5 minutes. That is a great conditioning exercise for the Achilles tendon, and it will start to get you moving in the right direction in getting you back running and doing the things that you love and enjoy. Over and out! Have a great week.

[PogophysioAu]

If you suffer from Achilles tendon pain where the tendon attaches to the heel bone this exercise will help you.

[PogophysioAu]

Suffering from Achilles tendon pain? If you suffer from Achilles pain where at the insertion of the heel bone you will find this exercise helpful.

[wskeal]

10loads x 30 seconds is too much for the beginners.
Start with 2-3 loads x 20-30seconds.

[dbGooseQueen]

But I can't put moving weight on that leg at all...this sounds impossible

[abualzuaree]

This exercise makes mine flare up even though I can do them no problem. Should I continue even if my Achilles flares up?

[matthewlewis]

How many time should this be done each week?

[jamaalharmon]

I've had this for more than a year. It'll never go away.

[deepakbhathal]

Hello. Do you have video covering exercises for mid portion achilles tendon pain?

[vasilikipatsiou]

Should I stay on my toes for 30 secs or do repetitions in 30 secs?

[chany]

Thanks for the info, what would you recommend if the pain is in the mid-portion and insertion? Thanks

[jesoby]

My physio ruling out PF says the pain I feel is from Achilles rubbing the heel bone after wearing tight shoes. Thing is I only feel pain when I put weight on the foot and it is the underside of the heel so does this sound correct? He did give me these same exercises.

[krosser]

I've had the insertional Achilles tendon pain and tried to do this exercise. The next day I developed pain in the Achilles tendon itself. Is that a normal reaction from the exercise or not? Should I continue to do this exercise with pain in the tendon? Many thanks.

[iancollinge]

Can you continue running with this condition if you pain is around a 2, out of 10? I did have this condition before, it then moved to become PF, then disappeared but had now returned as insertional Achilles again!!

[roythomson]

Should I be doing heel drops along with this?

[Aquaflange]

Hi, given that tight calf muscles can cause this problem and strengthening the calves will shorten and tighten the muscle, potentially aggregating the problem, do you recommend stretching the calves as well? Or is it best to foam roll and massage only instead. Thanks!

[priteshbharucha]

Thanks for the video. I'm probably asking a silly question but how exactly does this help with the pain? Is it a calf strengthening exercise to take the pressure of the heels?

Thanks

[petecosby]

Is it normal to experience more pain after doing Isometrics? I am only doing 3 x 30 secs or even 2 x 20 secs and after couple of days, I get worse. Is there any other type of exercise rather than Isometric that could work? Or is this pain normal and will go away?

[p]

Hi,

how many times do I have to do a day?

[mehrdadkhorsandi]

No It's not good for running, I did it, didn't work, it is only 1/3 of the way you should work on it