In this video, I'm going to show you how to relieve
Achilles tendonitis in seconds. Stay tuned.
Hey, everyone. Dr. Rowe coming to you from SpineCare in
St. Joseph, Michigan. In this video, we're going to go over
easy exercises that can give both quick and long-lasting
relief for Achilles tendon pain. This includes for
Achilles tendonitis. A note about these exercises, each one
works just a little bit differently. To get the best
results, go through them all, use what gives you the most
relief. As a bonus, all of the exercises can be done at home
require no special equipment and you may find give instant
relief even within 30 seconds. So, with that being said, let's
get started. So, let's start with a really easy way to get
instant Achilles tendon pain relief. This one can work
within seconds. We're going to focus on a soft tissue release.
I would recommend using some form of lubrication with this
exercise. Any massage oil, lotion, or cream designed to be
put on the skin will work. Pretty much just coat the whole
area including the heel, ankle, and calf. We're going focus on
everything. So, what I'm going to do first is what is known as
the pinch and pull method. We're going to take our thumb
in our index finger and make a pincher. You're going to start
right above the heel just pinching right into that soft
tissue. Apply enough pressure where it's going to be a
comfortable self massage but not causing any discomfort. So,
pinch and then pull outward like this. Maintaining that
pressure. What I like to do is roughly about five repetitions
over one spot and with each repetition just press in there
a little bit more to get a deeper self massage and then
afterwards I just move up a little bit and repeat this
whole process going all the way up into my calf you really
want to focus on doing this all the way up into your calf if
you find that one certain spot is just really tight and achy
maybe the pinpoint spot of pain at that point keep doing this
over and over again until that finally releases or you're not
getting anymore improvement so a couple other that you can do
to help loosen this up even further is to pinch in there
but now glide upward like this and then glide down again with
this one you'll probably want some lubrication because
otherwise it won't feel the greatest but give that a try
for a couple repetitions if you find that one certain spot is
the hot spot for you that doesn't want to release you can
also pinpoint that a little bit more by taking your thumbs and
then doing a rolling motion like this over that spot so go
up with it like this you can also attack it at different
angles like thirty-five, 45degrees. You can also do
circular massages like this but I would go through as many
motions as you can attacking those fibers differently and
hopefully that will finally get it to release. So, if you want
to take this one to the next level, what you can do is
activate that tendon a little bit more by taking your hand,
grabbing your toes, and now pulling your foot upward like
this until you feel a deep stretch form over your Achilles
tendon into your cab what you're going to do is hold this
and now do the same thing you know do the pinch and pull
method do the gliding motion with it like this you can take
your thumb and just target any spot that needs it a little bit
more and this might just give you a lot more relief so give
that one a try what I like to do to take this one to the even
the next level is what is known as muscle scraping or gua shots
definitely going to be a lot more pinpoint and intense for
this one what you're going to need is pretty much having your
whole right here and the Achilles tendon lubricated you
definitely want to use lubrication with this method
but you also need a large metal spoon one with a little bit
more thickness to it you'll get better results so what we're
going to do is take our spoon and it doesn't matter what part
you use you can use the rounded portion the handle or the tip I
would experiment with it use what works better for you but
just start right at the bottom of that tendon actually I'm
going to use the rounded portion for this one and what
you're going to do is scrape upwards like this. I have it
roughly at about thirty-five, 45 degrees and I'm scraping
upward. It's really important with muscle scraping to go
upward towards the heart that improves circulation. So, just
go over one area and scrape over any spot that you feel is
just really tight and aching. I like to do this roughly for
about five to ten times and then afterwards, see how you
feel. If it feels like it needs more repetitions, just keep
doing this over and over again until it finally releases. It
is quite common muscle scraping too to get red pockets that
will form on the top of the skin. That is completely
normal. That is blood flow coming into the area which will
help promote healing and as you do this, you may find that
certain spots like right here for me just feels really tight
and gritty, almost like sandpaper. That's usually a
spot of adhesion and you really want to focus on that just a
little bit more to help break that up because that might be
causing your pain but afterwards go over the whole
area pretty much starting from the bottom working your way up
into the calf go off to the sides right here on both sides
I would stay off anything bony like the ankle and the shin
because that can cause discomfort I would only
recommend doing this over soft tissue but if you do have one
certain spot that's just really tight and aching doesn't want
to release what I would focus on at that point is going up
with it I would also attack it at different angles kind of
like what we did earlier so your spoon right here and go
more towards like a thirty, 45-° angle with it and you can
also use different parts of the spoon to dig in there just a
little bit more but give that a try and I hope it gives you a
lot of quick relief. Here's a really good exercise that can
give both quick and long-lasting Achilles tendon
and calf muscle pain relief. For this one, we're going to go
right in front of a staircase right at the bottom step. I'm
going to begin with what is known as heel pumps. This is
going to warm everything up, get some circulation in there.
So, I would recommend if you do have a lot of balance issues, a
lot of weakness to grab off to the side of a wall right here
or the railing for support. You want your legs roughly hip
width apart. You're going to place all of your body weight
onto the balls of your feet just like this. Start off by
just simply raising your heels upward towards the ceiling.
Nothing fancy. Just take them up until you feel the muscles
and your calves start to engage. Hold this for a brief
second and then come back down slowly and then repeat this 10
to 15 and with each repetition, try to build into it just a
little bit more. So, on the next set, we're going to take
this one to the next level by doing more of a bouncing motion
with it. So, it's a lot quicker and what you want to do is go
up with it and then when you come down, allow your heels to
bounce off the floor and just keep going up and down like
this. I like to do it roughly for 20 times but if you have a
lot more energy, you can throw more reps in. Work your way up
to fifty. Afterwards, take a breather and then throw in one
more set. So, let's really take this one to the next level by
focusing on strengthening. So, we're going to step up on that
bottom step and what I'm going to do again is place all of my
body weight onto the balls of my feet. This time around, I'm
going to do a calf raise taking my heels all the way up like
this as much as I can. I'm going to hold this for about
five seconds and then, what I'm going to do is then fight my
body weight by lowering my heels down going in reverse.
Take em down as far as you can. You should feel a really deep
activation of the calf muscles and also that Achilles tendon.
Again, hold this comfortably for five seconds and then
you're going to repeat this five times in both directions.
Afterwards, see how the calves feel. If you feel like you have
a little bit more energy, you can always throw in another set
or two. To make this more challenging, what you can do is
take one foot off and just do one leg at a time. Just make
sure whatever you do on one side to always do on the other
to keep everything in balance. So, if you really want to take
this one to the next level, what you can do is what is
known as an eccentric calf raise. It's going to confuse
the body and make the muscles become a lot more challenged to
be able to do this exercise. So, instead of going straight
up with it, angle your body kind of like towards the right
here and then go up with it. You can also go towards the
left. You can also do circular motions like this. I would
experiment with it. You'll probably find that certain
movement or one certain spot like let's say going off to the
right for me just feels really weak at that point treat that
like your weak link and build into this as much as you can
because over time it should help strengthen that and
hopefully make everything stronger where you're having
less pain. You can also do this one leg at a time if you do
have the strength. Here's an exercise that you can do
throughout the day to help relieve Achilles tendinitis.
For this one, we're going to need the edge of a door frame
or a wall. Start off by taking the big toe on the painful side
and pressing into the door frame, the other four toes are
going to be off towards the side. From there, you're going
to slowly lower your heel down towards the floor and press
into the floor as much as you can with your body weight. In
this position, you should feel a deep stretch in your Achilles
and your calf muscle. An important note with this
exercise. Only go towards a deep, comfortable stretch. So,
if this position is too intense and you're getting pain, what
you want to do is lift your heel up slightly like this
until it's only a deep stretch. At that point, you're going to
hold this for 20 to 30 seconds. On the next repetition, you
should be able to lower your heel a little bit further down
because everything is starting to loosen up but do this over
and over again until you finally can get your heel down
towards the floor. Once you are in this position with your heel
on the floor, let's take it to the next level by now bending
our knee and taking it towards the door frame as much as we
can The more that you go forward, the more that this is
really going to intensify this stretch. Again, a deep,
comfortable stretch only. Hold this five seconds, you're going
to release and then you're going to repeat this five
times. Should roughly take you about 30 seconds. It's kind of
like a nice pumping motion just like this but afterwards, see
how you feel. If everything is nice and loose and you're not
having anymore pain, you are good to go but if there's still
some tightness left, you can throw in another set or two
until it is relieved or you're not getting any more
improvements. If the exercises help, please support the
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