Moximitre

I searched, and did not find. I'm off to the doc on friday because I believe that I may have injured that tendon thing in the back of your ankle, I think it's the achilles. I also believe that it may be due to a botched skid, or some other fixed activity, as I never had the problem on my geared road bikes. Anyone ever injure this part? or know of common or injuries? or am I just a chump with weak tendons and no skill... wait, don't answer that last part.
thanks all.

eddiebrannan

google achilles injuries - they're way common in football, so there'll be tons of onfo

edit: and info too

OrangeJTM46

Sometimes after doing a lot of skipping or skids, the tendon or muscle on the ront of my ankle feels sore. It could be from that, or just that its really cold out, and its exposed when I roll up my pant leg.

fordfasterr

i agree, skidding, skipping makes those muscle work a bit harder than usual so I feel it... .

=)

WakeUpOnFire

basically, messing up your achilles tendon sucks and takes forever to heal. I injured mine once by wearing new shoes, and could barely walk, much less ride a bike very far, for a couple of months...

drac_vamp

what's not fun is disengaging your foot and slamming it down to try and stop only to have that pedal circle around and hit you right on that darn tendon reallllllllly hard. then scrape out some skin realllllly deep. fixed gear hurts!

Moximitre

crap, yeah, based on what I've read over the last few minutes it is most likely tendonitis due to the strains taht it is not accustomed to, such as the skids n skips... oh well, looks like the Upass may come in handy

thanks for the replies

drac_vamp

oh and if they give you vicodin or percaset for the injuries, please be sure to share with your forum friends.

Moximitre

I'll be sure to request some

neverwrite

I messed up my achillies tendon last august (riding a geared bike from portland to SF) and it is still ****ed up. It never really hurt badly, so I went back to work and ignored it for a few months and allowed it to become a serious problem. If you think you might have achillies tendonitis, wear good shoes (no vans or chucks, something with good structure) stay off of it and see a doctor. If you let it go you can tear the tendon and be off the bike for a long time. Don't ride fixed/brakeless until you are certain it is healed.

If you can't afford to see a doctor, try putting small ~1/8" pads/shims in the heels of your shoes to take some strain off of the tendon, stretching it religiously, heel dips/raises to stregnthen the gastrocnemius, lots of advil, and rest.

drac_vamp

yeah, that is really true. stretching does help. as does good supportive shoes. support in the heel and in the insole.

invicta

tendon injuries suck...I climb and have seen people blow tendons in their hands and forearms from pulling on miniscule crimper holds and be put out for 5 or 6 months before they can even climb gently...definately not something to mess about with... for a good illustration of what a blown achille's tendon does for ya, go see Hostel...

salome

Okay so here's my semi-short commentary on the subject ...

It sounds like you're talking about achilles tendonitis, which is basically inflammation and degeneration of the tendon sheath from repetitive activity (like micortearing in runners) or unaccustomed work after a time of realitive disuse. One class of antibiotics (fluoroquinolones) also can cause it. The inflammation basically weakens the tendon more and if overuse continues, the tendon has the potential to rupture. I think this is tendonitis because people usually present with pain over the heel. If you dorsiflex your ankle (like lifting foot off of gas pedal) the pain probably increases. You may actually feel the friction of the achilles rubbing too. And it's also probably tender. Stretch, Stretch, Stretch and avoid activities that put undo force on it. You can massage it too I suppose. I've actually had achilles tendonitis before and it takes a while to heal fully. If you ride use a very nice low gear and avoid hills. You really want this to heal fully.

Distinguish this from Achilles tendon rupture, which occurs after abrupt calf contraction. A common injury in "weekend warriors" (just saw a guy last week in clinic with one). People often hear a pop and describe it as feeling like they were hit above the heel with a tennis racket or ball. A complete rupture means you can't plantarflex (stand on toes). There's this test called the Thomson test which is done with the patient kneeling on a chair or laying down on their stomach. Squeezing the calf muscle should result in plantarflexion (pointing toes) in the unaffected leg and in the leg with the tear no plantarflexion. Fixing this means surgery or a leg cast. Yuck.

Moximitre

what's the best stretch you recommend? touch toes?

salome

here you go ...

Moximitre

Thanks for the info Salome, and like I said, I'm heading to the doctor on friday just to make sure it's nothing workse. it's going to be pretty lame taking it easy on the bike, but I guess a few weeks of rest is better than a lifetime of rest...

crushkilldstroy

you know, i was really trying to never think about that scene again.....

greengnt

i have a reconstructed acl that i tore riding bmx. i have to do stretches and bend my knee a lot before i go on rides or else the scar tissue will flare up and hurt/make me limp for the rest of the day. i do longer rides going uphill and downhill and ride 52x17. coming from me staying hydrated and stretching is the best thing you can do.

metallo pesante

your seat could be a little too high, i talked to a guy a little while back who rode an ms150 on a fixed gear and his seat was just at ouch too high and after 150 miles of riding his achilles tendons were messed up. so maybe lower your seat a little?

ahpook

those stretches look very nice salome, thx

one thing i learned from running p.t. is never never to do the 'toes on curb, drop heels down' stretch. the foot will never normally be in that <90 degree position with respect to the ankle, let alone with all your weight on it, so all that stretch does is injure...

shishi

These all work real well. I have been dealing with PF since October.

plantdude

+1 for the possibility that your seat it too high. I had an achilles tendon problem years back after getting a new road bike. My legs are slightly different lengths (by about 1/8th of an inch - pretty common), and the shorter one was stretching just a bit too far, straining the achilles, which over time developed tendonitis.

I saw a physical therapist who did some massage and used ultrasound to help with the healing process.

-Make sure your seat is low enough
-Either don't ride at all, or ride REALLY easily and casually while you are recovering. I would recommend no fixed gear while injured - at least a freewheel on there for a while (gears would be easier on your achilles)
-Make sure the shoes you are riding with have a stiff sole. If you are using normal tennis shoes/puma type kickers, get something WAY stiffer. A stiff sole will put less strain on the achilles, which has to work harder in a soft sole shoe, keeping the heel up - in a stiff sole the foot works more as a rigid unit. If you're not riding with clipless pedals - I'd recommend doing so (maybe use some speedplays so there is not pressure of engaging/disengaging) - that way you can use a stiff riding specific shoe (don't get one of the casual around town type shoes)

just my .02

hope you recover quickly