WAG Dealing with achilles and knee pain

[stargazer]

** I'm not asking for medical advice. I've been checked out and am going to physio. I would like to hear from others who've dealt with this, thanks!**

I'm currently dealing with microtears in my achilles, and it's healing much slower than my physio and I expected. It's not from any one incident in particular, it started hurting when I was tumbling and got worse instead of better a couple days after. I want to be really, really careful because I'm terrified of rupturing it, but I'm at a loss as to what else I can be doing. I'm stretching my calf and achilles 3x a day, only doing bars with mats for soft landings, going to physio 2x a week and not doing any other activity except low-impact dance class once a week. It's been 3 weeks so far. Has anyone else dealt with this before? How long did you find it took you/your gymnast to heal? Were you ever able to return to full tumbling?

The other thing that's been bothering me are inflamed popliteus tendons behind my knees, particularly when I "absorb" deep in a landing or push off in an "explosive manner" (if that makes any sense). It's mostly a problem in front handspring front tucks if I'm not perfectly tight coming out of the handspring, and for high landings like off bars. I haven't been tumbling or running for at least 3 weeks now and it still hurts to "push off" like if I skip steps running up the stairs, or "absorb" when running/walking down a hill. Aside from physio I don't know what to do. My knees hyperextend so stretching behind the knee to reduce the muscle tension just makes it worse. Physio helps but the effects don't last unless I stop all activity, and then the pain comes back the minute I run or tumble again.

I'm 21 and only training 4 hours a week at a drop-in class (I'm level 5/6 so it's not like I'm doing crazy skills), and I just feel like my body is falling apart. I'm supposed to run a half-marathon at the end of May and now I'm worried that's not going to happen I also tend to tumble with my feet turned out so I'm assuming that doesn't help the ankle/knee situation.

Thanks for letting me go on and on, congrats if you've made it this far! I would really appreciate any advice anyone can give me, and if you/your gymmie has dealt with this and you could let me know how it turned out that would be terrific

 

[munchkin3]

Have you ever been told you have short Achilles, or tight hamstrings?

 

[LizzieLac]

I am so sorry you are dealing with this. All, I can say is I have had achilles issues off an on for years. I get tendonitis as well as bursitis in my heel (where the achilles tendon attaches to the bone). When I have flair ups for either one they can last for months. I have never had one of these injuries go away in 3 weeks.

However, that is becuase while I may have stopped running I would still walk and hike. So, perhaps you are not really resting it enough. The low impact dance class may be an impediment.

For me, I had to stay off it (biking only), heel cups in my shoes, and icing as often as I could every day.

Good luck!

 

[gymgymgymnast08]

I'm so sorry you have to go through this! From a been there done that in a slightly different situation, I can tell you what helped me was picking gymnastics over the running. My knee still hurt doing gymnastics but it would have been a lot worse if I was doing both.

Then, when I was done gymnastics because of a few completely unrelated to my knee injuries, I picked up running again.

Also lots of ice! Maybe try a cortisone shot if your doctor recommends it? It didn't work for me but I know it works for some people! Good luck!!

 

[stargazer]

Thanks for the support everyone, I really appreciate it! I've already had to cut down on a lot of skills I used to do because of my back, so further reducing my training has been really frustrating even though I know it's absolutely necessary At least I'll get really good at bars!

munchkin3, I haven't ever explicitly been told I have tight hamstrings or achilles, but come to think of it my achilles are definitely less flexible than most peoples' and I am prone to tight hamstrings due to some issues going on with my back. I'll be adding daily pike stretches into my routine now, and will be icing more often.

gymgymgymnast08 did you find your achilles ever went back to normal and were you able to return to full tumbling? I'll be so sad if I can't tumble any more!

Has anyone else dealt with popliteus inflammation? I'm kind of at a loss about what I can do for it other than icing, because stretching seems to make it worse. Popliteus pain is mostly common in runners as an overuse injury, but to be honest I haven't run more than once a week in ages and only go to gym twice a week. Have other people found this a problem in gymnastics/your gymmies, or am I special in a way that I don't want to be?

 

[gymgymgymnast08]

I never had achilles problems just knee problems. I never stopped tumbling or vaulting but I wouldn't do both the same day. Usually I was only allowed to vault once a week and do floor once a week. What I never realized is that back tucks on beam are a lot of pounding and leaps and things landing on my bad leg didn't help either.

As long as they aren't going to get worse I guess let pain be your guide.

 

[Deleted member D3987]

well, you're 21. your body's shelf life may be diminishing for gymnastics.

 

[stargazer]

dunno, that's what I'm afraid of! At the ripe old age of 21 I'm already falling apart...

Thanks for the advice everyone, hopefully I'll get better soon!

 

[Chloe Maher]

I had pain like this a couple months ago. It isn't fun