Your Achilles tendon is the largest and strongest tendon in your body. It’s a thick band of tissue in your lower leg that connects your calf muscle to your heel bone - you can feel it there, below your skin. It gives you the strength and flexibility you need to push off the ground, so you can walk, run, jump and climb stairs.
It’s always in use and it absorbs a lot of stress, so it’s easy to injure it through overuse or sudden impact, especially if you’re active and athletic.
This part of your leg doesn’t have good blood flow, making Achilles tendon injuries common. They can range from mild inflammation to complete tears or ruptures. If you don’t treat them, they can get worse and the pain can be bad enough to make it hard for you to move.
If you think you’ve injured your Achilles tendon, get medical care right away so you don’t damage it more and you can recover as quickly as possible.
Risk factors that make these tendon injuries more likely include:
Some common conditions include:
This is inflammation of the tendon, often caused by overuse or a sudden increase in activity. You may notice:
Types of tendinitis:
Achilles tendinosis is a chronic (long-lasting) condition that comes from long-term Achilles tendinitis, which causes cells in the tendon to break down. The repeated small tears in the tendon cause stiffness and pain over time, especially in the morning when you wake up or after you rest.
This is a complete or partial tear of the tendon that’s usually caused by a sudden, forceful movement. You may feel a sharp pain, hear a pop sound, feel like you were kicked in the back of your heel and have trouble walking. You need medical care right away for a tendon rupture.
Symptoms of Achilles tendon injuries can limit your ability to move, making it painful or impossible to walk or perform simple activities.
See a health care provider if you have:
Your treatment will depend on the severity of your injury.
Recovery could take months, depending on how serious your injury is. You may need to try different forms of exercise while your tendon heals. Don’t push yourself, since you could reinjure the tendon and it could turn into a long-lasting problem.
For major injuries, like a rupture of your Achilles tendon, or if you don’t get better with non-surgical treatment options, you may need surgery to reduce the risk of rerupture and restore your push-off strength:
After you have surgery, rehab and physical therapy are important to help you regain your strength and mobility.
Some injuries happen unexpectedly, but you can take steps to lower your risk of Achilles tendon injuries:
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