While not heard of as much as ACL tears, Achilles tendon tears can be just as bad — if not worse. Tearing the Achilles can take longer to rehab and may not return to the ability level it was before. The tendon is used every time you walk or move your foot, so tearing it can hinder both drastically. Symptoms include an inability to bend the foot down or push off it when walking, an inability to stand on the toes of the injured leg, and a popping or snapping sound when the injury happens.
What Causes Achilles Tendon Tears?
Tears are caused by a sudden increase in stress on the Achilles tendon. An increase in training intensity — especially involving jumping — can lead to a tear, as can falling from a height or stepping into a hole.
Who Is Most at Risk?
Age, activity level, and size can all increase the risk. People who participate in activities involving a lot of running, jumping, and sudden starts and stops have an increased risk, as they put a lot more force through their legs than the tendon may be able to handle. People with excess weight also increase their risk because of the constant extra strain on the tendon.
How to Avoid a Tear
Steps to reduce your chances include stretching and strengthening the calf muscles, varying exercises, and slowly increasing training intensity. Stretching and strengthening the calf muscles allow for greater range of motion and more force absorption; varying your exercises lets the tendon recover from intense training; and slowly increasing intensity lets the tendon strengthen enough to handle the wear and tear of training.
Related service: Orthopedic Physical Therapy