Could Vibrame's help eleviate Achilles soreness

Avatarr

All I have been having a lot of problems with Achilles tendon soreness and inflammation, which is coming from long standing issues I have with tight calfs. I have tried all the usual stuff to eleviate this, with no success.

Distances of up to 10k will leave me limping afterwards, I have pretty much given up running but for some light circuits. I was recently speaking to a friend who recommended Vibrames. Has anyone tried them and would you consider them worth a try.

Thanks for your help.

RacoonQueen

Vibrams will push you onto your forefoot which will put a little bit of extra strain onto your calves than you'd be used to in more supportive/cushioned shoes.

Have you been to a physio for your achilles? or had a gait analysis done? Would be very careful about moving to minimalist shoes if you're already having achilles problems.

spurscormac

RacoonQueen wrote: »

Vibrams will push you onto your forefoot which will put a little bit of extra strain onto your calves than you'd be used to in more supportive/cushioned shoes.

Have you been to a physio for your achilles? or had a gait analysis done? Would be very careful about moving to minimalist shoes if you're already having achilles problems.

+1

ss43

Avatarr wrote: »

All I have been having a lot of problems with Achilles tendon soreness and inflammation, which is coming from long standing issues I have with tight calfs. I have tried all the usual stuff to eleviate this, with no success.

Distances of up to 10k will leave me limping afterwards, I have pretty much given up running but for some light circuits. I was recently speaking to a friend who recommended Vibrames. Has anyone tried them and would you consider them worth a try.

Thanks for your help.

They could possibly help or they could break you completely.

If you wear Vibrams, you'll probably land on your forefoot. That's fine if your heel drops (if your heel doesn't drop you'll develop even more tension in your calves and achilles).
As you already have calf and achilles problems, you need to be extremely cautious as you use them - starting with walking on flat ground, developing to walking up and down hills, jogging short distances, jogging longer distances, running faster.

If the achilles is sore, the vibrams are probably a bad idea. They could be a good idea when there is no pain.

You're going to have to be so cautious that you shouldn't bother with vibrams. Walk barefoot or in a pair of €4 canvas shoes from Penney's.

If you do a simple swap where you replace normal running shoes with Vibrams and try run, I suspect you will get hurt.

sconhome

Avatarr wrote: »

All I have been having a lot of problems with Achilles tendon soreness and inflammation, which is coming from long standing issues I have with tight calfs. I have tried all the usual stuff to eleviate this, with no success.

Distances of up to 10k will leave me limping afterwards, I have pretty much given up running but for some light circuits. I was recently speaking to a friend who recommended Vibrames. Has anyone tried them and would you consider them worth a try.

Thanks for your help.

I would suggest speaking with a physio and trying to resolve the cause of the calf tightness in the first instance. It may be posturally related or shoe related.

I would definitely try a lot more time barefoot (in the house all the time) to help stretch the calf muscles introducing flexibility into the area. Forget about trying to barefoot run to solve your problems though. The majority of people havent been (properly) barefoot since they were babies and it takes time & patience to revert back to barefoot condtioning.

It is not a miracle cure unfortunately.

Avatarr

I have been to a number of Physio's, all have the same basic message, I am not expelling lactic acid efficiently. This results in swelling of the calf and pinching of the achilles tendon as i run. I have tried dry needling, acupuncture, soft tissue and others, they all have short term effect but I eventually built up knots within the calf. I warm up well and cool down. I have had gate analysis done and got runners fitted as well, and I have also tried heel inserts.

I played alot of GAA in the past and have torn both hamstrings and right calf, I think its catching up on me.

ss43

Avatarr wrote: »

I have been to a number of Physio's, all have the same basic message, I am not expelling lactic acid efficiently. This results in swelling of the calf and pinching of the achilles tendon as i run. I have tried dry needling, acupuncture, soft tissue and others, they all have short term effect but I eventually built up knots within the calf. I warm up well and cool down. I have had gate analysis done and got runners fitted as well, and I have also tried heel inserts.

I played alot of GAA in the past and have torn both hamstrings and right calf, I think its catching up on me.

That to me sounds like the explanation of someone who hasn't a clue what they're on about. I'd try find someone more knowledgeable if I were you. It's not lactic acid.

The treatment will sort the symptoms but won't address the neural patterns that cause them. You wither need to find a way of managing the situation or set about changing the neural patterns that make up your running form. Doing that is quite a difficult and lengthy process.
In my opinion, most likely you overuse your calves and they become tight to the point that running is painful. To solve this you need to use your calves less by getting your power from your core and upper legs, mainly glutes. Strengthening these areas through pilates, sit-ups and weights (squats, cleans, lunges, dead lift) may help but you would also need to be actively engaging those areas while running. To give yourself a good chacne you would probably need to start with really small amounts of running and build up very gradually. Lots of walking with good posture would help.

Heel drops would help also to stretch the calf as well as self massage.