Achilles Tendon Issue

Last year while at work there were a few times when I would take a step and my left Achilles area would “pop” and I’d get what best could be described as a piercing “shock” from the area that subsided after a few seconds, at which point I could continue normal function. It definitely would make me take all weight off my foot when it would happen both from the suddenness of the feeling and the pain. This generally occurred at the end of the long day of being on my feet.

Ever since then, I have had pain in that Achilles area that gets worse as the day progresses, pretty much every day, though I haven’t had the pop/shock feeling in a while, maybe a year or so. It’s to the point of being really annoying, but subsides by morning and goes away with a few days rest. However, after a few hours back on my feet, it starts coming back almost immediately.

My PCP told me he thought it was Achilles tendonitis and told me to stay off of it, but it actually seems to become less of an issue as I continue through my Novice LP. However it’s not gone completely and still bothers me by the end of the day, it’s just not as bad as it was for the last 18 months or so.

In either case, I’m really trying to figure out how to make this go away. It causes me to limp when it’s really bad but doesn’t hurt if I pick my foot off the ground and move it around in different directions. On particularly bad days I feel like my foot is “weak” and I have some concern during training, though I have not let that stop me so far.

Side note: I have a history of a massive DVT in this leg (hip to ankle, with a thrombolytic procedure to remove the clot above my knee. I know blood flow is not as good to this leg as the right leg. I’m on warfarin, and do not have symptoms of phlebitis. The only discomfort I’ve experienced in the past is “lactic acid burn” if I’m running or something similar. There is some varicosing of small veins around my heel/ankle that I can see when I look at my foot.

The pain feels like it’s in my Achilles tendon area, but I cannot tell if it’s actually the tendon or not. The shock feeling made me think something might be pinching a nerve, or perhaps inflammation around a nerve might be a cause. I really don’t know, but none of the advice I’ve gotten has helped so far, and two years is probably about 20 months too long to be dealing with this. It was not an issue before the first “pop” event.

I welcome any thoughts y’all might have. Thanks in advance!

Demographics
37 yr old, caucasian male, 245lbs. (same weight as before it started).

Hey Eric,

Sorry to hear about the Achilles pain. I’d recommend a consult with us so we can give you individualistic advice: Contact Us | Barbell Medicine.

If this does turn out to be an Achilles tendinopathy then rest is not the answer.