UKC

Has anyone else had any problems with their heels in the past? I've been climbing for about 3 years now and never had any real problems 'till some point in the last few weeks my right heel started to get really sore to the point where I couldn't even wear my climbing shoes (Which until that point had never been a problem)

The spot at the back of my foot where the Achilles tendon meets your heel feels 'squeaky' if that makes sense, but the feeling vanishes after a while. It doesn't feel painful in my trainers but ten minutes in any climbing shoes and it's agony! I've not climbed in three weeks now except one short session at the bouldering wall when I felt like it might be on the mend, but that was a really bad idea in hindsight.

I'm in two minds as to whether or not to go to the doctors about it, I'm not sure there's very much that can be done in all honesty. But in the meantime, anti-inflammatories and a few foot exercises have been recommended, anyone here have experience of anything like this and what you're looking at for recovery times?!

Thanks

In reply to stoo2k:

I have had achilles tendonitis, i was around 5 years ago.

My physio thought it could have been caused by wearing flip flops when i was on holiday!

When I had it, I could hardly walk in the mornings due to it being rested all night during sleep. The first hour or two of wach day was very painful, but throughout the day it did loosen up and become less painful, but I still limped very obviously.

I had physio, and I remember it took around 3 months to return to normal.

If you stand with your back to a mirror and your feet together then look over your shoulder, you can compare both achilles more easily.
When I did this, it was easy to see as one achilles, where it joins the leg to the heel was probably 2 or 3 time thicker than the normal one.

I did the exercises each night and used anti inflam gel. Also the physio recommended me to use heel pads in my footwear to raise the heel and reduce the stress on the achilles during the time I had tendonitis.

HTH

Allan

In reply to stoo2k:

I've had it at least twice. Once when I was younger (late 20's) and starting to get more exercise. It fixed itself in a few weeks of taking it easy.

But"-

fast forward until 59 yrs old and this time.........no way would it get better on its own. GP gave anti-inflames and said rest. In the end I went to physio and an ex RM friend of mine both gave me some extensive stretching exercises to do. By then a year had passed!!!! But it got quickly better once I'd given the exercises a fair go.
Good luck!

Go and get it seen to asap!
If you leave it too long without good physio you'll regret it. Trust me!!

In reply to ross fullarton:
Absolutely.

In reply to ross fullarton: I had problem with the sheath around the tendon. I was off climbing shoes for a couple of months and normal shoes hurt. I could feel it creaking all the time and at its worst it was pretty audible (Other people in the room would be able to hear it).

I went to the doctors and he set me of on Naproxen which cleared it up really quickly (Loads better in a week wearing climbing shoes within a month). I also applied ice/warmth pretty regularly and did some eccentric type exercised.

Good luck with it!

In reply to stoo2k: Hi Mate,As most folk have suggested get it checked out sooner rather than later.Have had this twice previously myself,both on the right a/tendon.Used Voltarol,Ice,rest etc. Accupuncture on both occasions sorted me out,see your GP or a decent Physio if i were you.
Best of Luck, Ee

In reply to stoo2k:

Im suffering with something like this at the moment too. Im a fell runner but have just started climbing a bit. I went to see a physio and it turns out its not actually an achilles problem, but related to tightness in the calf muscles and some other tendons in that area, causing a kind of referred pain around where the achilles tendon, but also other tendons (cant remember the name, sorry) go into the heel. anyway, physio gave me a sports massage and it hurt like mad, definitely some tightness in my calves which i hadnt really noticed, and then the heels have felt ok in my running shoes since then. climbing shoes still hurt a bit, but then im not really used to them anyway. long and short of it, as others say - go see a physio. turns out the thing I have isn't as bad as achilles tendon problems, so v glad i went.

In reply to stoo2k:

Cheers guys, I appreciate the advice! I'll be off to the doc's in the morning then it would seem!