Nose Creek Physical Therapy Exercises for Achilles Tendonosis

Heel drops are a set of exercises designed to strengthen the calf muscles and the tendon attaching the calf muscle to the heel bone (Achilles tendon). Nose Creek Physical Therapists believe by doing the exercises described below, the calf muscle is made to work while it is contracting, and also while it is being stretched. Physiotherapists refer to this unique form of exercise as eccentric loading and it is different than most strengthening programs. It more closely simulates the actual movements and loads during sport and exercise.

One of the main reasons that full recovery from injuries such as Achilles tendonosis difficult is because the calf muscles often remain weak after injury. Strength does not return on its own. Inadequate strength is one of the causes of injury. Therefore, physiotherapists know that correcting any weakness is a very important part of recovery from and prevention of future injury.

Even if the strength of the calf muscle/tendon unit is ‘normal’ (meaning strong enough for normal daily activity), your physical therapists will caution that it may not be strong enough for exercise activities. The heel drop program has been designed to mimic the type of loads experienced during exercise, so it is known to be effective when used in a physiotherapy program for someone returning to sports, which involve running.

Nose Creek Physical Therapists point out that the important components of this program are your body position, the speed of the exercise and the progression.

Stand with your feet shoulder width apart, with the balls of both feet over the edge of a step. You can use a handrail for balance, but not support. Next, ensure your toes are pointing straight ahead (don’t toe-in or toe-out). Rise up on your toes and then lower your heels below the level of the step.

The program has two speeds which mimic the load that the legs experience during exercise. To begin with, you go down and up at a slow, comfortable speed. Later you begin to do fast drops, meaning you should do the drop very quickly. At the bottom of the drop your movement should stop suddenly, so that you feel a ‘jerking’ or ‘bouncing’ sensation. Then, raise slowly back up.

Your Nose Creek Physical Therapist knows that many, at first, are a bit apprehensive about doing these quick drops. However, you will find that once you begin, you will gain confidence quickly. This is the most important part of this physical therapy program, so press ahead!

There are two parts to the progression; the build up and the maintenance.

Start by 3 sets of 20 repetitions of the slow drops. This means that you do 20 drops, wait a minute or two, then do 20 more, recover, and then do the third set of 20. Continue doing this every day. After seven days, you can move to the next stage. When doing the single leg exercises be sure to exercise both left and right sides.

By using your own body weight on one or both feet, and by varying the speed, there is enough change in resistance over the program that you don’t need to use weights. So, this entire physical therapy program is easy to do because doesn’t require any equipment!

Once you have reached the single-leg-quick-drop level for 7 days, switch over to the maintenance program. Physical Therapy requires you to performing the last stage every other day. Then, continue with the maintenance program as part of your regular exercise routine. To maintain strength decrease the single leg quick drops to every other day. You should also stretch before and after doing the heel drops, and ice the area if painful.

Physiotherapists indicate that if you are near full recovery from an injury or simply strengthening muscles for prevention of injury, you likely won’t feel any major change, other than an improvement in strength.

However, if you are using this physiotherapy program as rehabilitation from an injury, you may find you do not feel much better during the build-up part of the program. A small amount of discomfort or even a slight flare-up is to be expected. Be encouraged by the fact that feeling the same while you are increasing the strength means that you are making progress!

Physiotherapists caution that you should not feel worse. If you get a flare-up when you progress from one stage to the next, back off to a previous level where you were comfortable. For example, if you were doing the quick drops with both feet and experienced a flare-up when you tried the single foot drops, return to the double foot drops for a few days. Then try to increase again. If you still have trouble, see your physician or your Nose Creek Physical Therapist.

As long as you can progress through the program, continue your other activities and sports. However, physical therapists recommend that if you keep getting flare ups as you try to do the program; you will have to reduce any activities that are irritating your legs. The heel drop program takes priority. Remember, your legs will likely not feel better until full strength is recovered.