My achilles tendonitis has flared up again, I’m so worried I’ll end up housebound for months again. Whenever people talk about strokes they never talk about this - how you can end up with one side so weak that even the simplest everyday activities can give you literal sports injuries that keep flaring up and never go away. An inflamed achilles tendon probably doesn’t sound like a big deal, but I’ve already spent months this year housebound because of it, gone through shockwave therapy and physiotherapy, it keeps coming back and as I don’t really have anyone to help me it means being unable to do basic things for myself for god knows how long. Being trapped indoors like a prisoner.
And to add even more stress I’ve had a letter from the DWP - they have a huge backlog of appeals and assessments so I’ve been told my appeal will take longer than originally estimated. It won’t be sorted by January. And I don’t know how I will manage as I have no family to fall back on and mutual aid seems to be dead now.
This is on top of all my usual stress and problems, I’m having a flare up of side effects from my thyroid cancer treatment, my eczema is infected again and I’m covered in oozing, itchy sores. I thought I’d be getting a hysterectomy to solve my bladder issues but that’s looking unlikely now. Bank charges that can’t be paid off piling up on my maxxed out overdraft, struggling to keep up with my medical appointments and absolutely nothing to look forward to whatsoever. It’s my shitty 42nd birthday this month and what have I got to show for 42 years on this earth? A wrecked body, no money or property, not a single friend in real life, no family and no hope. Can’t even do anything for xmas or my birthday, my landlady is going away and I’ll just be alone with nothing to do and no company. I wish I had some shrooms or acid at least, but that’s a distant dream.
Elevate your foot as high as you can handle every chance you get. When sleeping, put pillows under it. Google “legs up the wall”. Or just pillows on top of a coffee table.
Other therapies are supplemental compared to just being disciplined about elevating your legs IMHO.
The physio does always tell me to rest, ice, elevate and do some specific exercises multiple times a day. But i find myself now struggling to have the motivation to go on with all this. It’s so exhausting on top of being ill, having many other medical appointments and fighting endless benefit appeals. And because the injuries keep coming back it just seems pointless even trying with all these treatments any more.
Right but what I mean is that when you feel that initial stage of pain or a flare up, immediate elevation for a few minutes brings it down. Ice is a waste of time IMHO. Unless you see vast improvements using ice, I wouldn’t bother. Same with shockwave (unless it’s free! 🤑)
Physios tend to just give a routine. Multiple exercise sessions a day seems a bit much. How many people can afford the time to do that?
IMHO you have to listen to your body: reduce any pain to manageable levels with the elevation, then exercise intensely enough to stimulate the tendon to strengthen. If it’s a more of an endurance exercise, it’s not going to stimulate the tendon to strengthen. Better to have high load for a short period. A lot of physios use these weak-ass resistance bands that barely resist. Your ankle is regularly used to lift your weight, yet they use a band that is well under that amount of load. Way too low. You haven’t torn your tendon. It’s never going to strengthen unless you load it up.
You should exercise infrequently to allow your tendon enough time to recover from the exercise. If your strength is regressing, you are exercising too frequently. 2-3 times a week is plenty. And it’s way less mental stress than multiple times a day.
I haven’t been keeping up with the exercises lately anyway, I’m getting worn out. But I will try and elevate it more and see if that helps, thanks.
Are you open to advice, comrade? Ive had to deal with injuries all my life from work and being in isolation, housing insecure, malnourishment, and reinjuring myself because of all these complicated stresses. In the past ive healed sciatica and achilles tendonitis (in both feet … at the same time…) as well as a serious ankle sprain last March.
I am 42 and i havent experienced all you have. And i dont have issues from secondary physical or nervous system conditions when i can heal physical injuries (except mental health). And all my experience is anecdotal of course. But maybe it would be helpful 🙏🏻
Yes, I could do with some advice.
I agree with Greatsquare about elevation, infrequent strength exercises, and icing. Ice is good to “power through” pain and reduce the swelling, but the swelling is there for a reason, your body is pumping blood into an injury to help heal.
Heat is what i prefer, as it dilates blood vessels and improves circulation, which is what your body is already trying to do. The pain may be more but this is only for when you are in treatment (and to prepare for PT/stretch/strength, as you will be warmed up and more limber)
And when you are resting your foot and leg, especially while sleeping, its good to put medicine on. I make a compress (a bandage holding medicine) of camphor oil (of tiger balm, or chinese white flower oil) and epsom salts, whipped into a paste with hot water. The camphor promotes circulation and the epsom salts help with tissue repair. If you can spread this over your heels, and wrap a bandage for it to sit overnight, it has always helped me tremendously.
You can also try drinking comfrey tea which helps with tissue repair but its a strong medicine and depends on the individual
Also… stretching and strength/flex exercises. You want to do for stretching what feels deep but not painful. This can be tricky at first… basically if your joints pop or strain its too far. It gets easier with consistency.
Try yoga… alignment is super important. But the standard sun salutations will be painful to do in full motion with your injury, so only reach as far as feels just slightly uncomfortable. Your body will loosen over time. Even if your injury and stroke is on one side, its good to do mirror exercises on the uninjured side for alignment, core strength, and balance.
I hope you find this information helpful, comrade! Feel free to ask any clarifying questions.
I have ibuprofen gel on prescription, which I massage into it when it gets bad. I’m just getting really worn out from all the bodily maintenance I have to do, I feel like an old banger of a car that needs constant repairs but never gets any better. I used to do yoga years ago but my mobility is too bad now. Not only is my left side terribly weak but my balance and coordination have been badly affected to the point that even getting dressed and putting shoes on is difficult.