A common cause foot and heel pain is tendinitis. There are a lot of muscles, and therefore tendons, in the foot. One of the most common injuries to tendons is in the Achilles' tendon in the back of the leg inserting at the heel.
What is the Achilles Tendon?
The Achilles Tendon is a large thick connective tissue that connects your calf muscles (the gastrocnemius and soleus) to your heel. This tendon at the back of your heel is also the thickest and biggest tendon in your body. The muscles that attach to it are heavily involved in walking, climbing stairs, jumping, running, and reaching overhead!
This is tendon is pretty darn busy throughout your day. Because of this it is subjected to overuse injuries like tendinitis.
Tendinitis - A Quick Primer
Tendinitis means an inflammation of the tendon. It is occurs most often in tendons that are overused. Overuse comes from a large increase in activity.
For example: If you are someone who walks a lot and then you run a few miles one day, tendons will be sore due to the increase in activity and effort required for the change of activity. Even though you are just sore (which is okay), continuing the activity without proper rest or proper training ramp up, you can eventually get tendinitis by not using proper rest or loading strategies.
Nutrition and Tendinitis:
Nutrition plays a major roll in tendinitis. It is important that you get enough of the right things to manage your loads and recovery. The proper amounts of protein and hydration are key for prevention and recovery.
Sleep and Tendinitis:
Believe it or not, your amount and quality of sleep play an important roll in your recovery. As well as the above nutrition advice, it is important to get lots of rest and sleep to aid in your recovery from injury.
A recent study showed that people with less than 6 hours of sleep per night were at higher risk of injury.
Preventing Achilles' Tendinitis
First off I will say that not all Achilles' tendinitis is preventable, but you can put the odds in your favor by following these guidelines:
Gradually build your load - whether it is in walking, running, jumping, or explosive movements
Drink plenty of water - nutritional water intake varries depending on the source. A quick rule of thumb is about 1 ounce of water per pound of body weight up to 100 ounces.
Eat the right nutrients - protein helps muscles recover and heal. If you are sore, you can increase your protein intake for a while to speed recovery.
Use recovery movements - When you are sore do lighter activity. If you are starting a running program, keep moving, but try a day or two of just walking before getting back into your running.
Strengthening Your Achilles' Tendon
This is one of my favorite exercises for strengthening the Achilles' tendon as well as recovering from Achilles' tendinits:
Good luck with your Achilles'.
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