The Achilles Tendon: Types of Injuries and Treatment

In the following video Dr. López Capapé will talk about Achilles tendon injuries.

What is the Achilles tendon?

The Achilles tendon is the most powerful tendon in our body and is a tendon that connects the calf and soleus muscles with the calcaneal bone. It is essential for walking, running and jumping.

What are the most frequent injuries to the Achilles tendon?

The most frequent injuries of the Achilles tendon are, on the one hand, ruptures and on the other hand, the so-called tendinopathies. Ruptures almost always occur in people who practice sports, especially when there is a sudden sprint or a jump. Tendinopathies, on the other hand, are injuries that almost always occur gradually and greatly disable patients to play sports or even walk. Tendinopathies can be divided into insertional, when the problem is where the tendon attaches to the calcaneal bone, including Haglund’s syndrome, and non-insertional, which affect the body of the tendon.

How can we treat these injuries?

Achilles tendon ruptures when complete must almost always be treated surgically. That is to say, they require an operation in which the rupture is repaired, the tendon is reattached and then, after a rehabilitation process that varies over time, the patient recovers for sports practice. Tendinopathies are injuries that require a multidisciplinary treatment that is almost always prolonged in time. It is necessary to make a change of activity, it is necessary to make a strengthening, it is necessary to make physiotherapy and sometimes other associated or special treatments of physiotherapy. But if all of them fail, surgical treatment has good results in the vast majority of cases.