These Achilles tendinopathy stretches and exercises will help loosen up and strengthen the Achilles tendon area. Tendinopathy is when tendonitis becomes chronic. It is what happens after the acute phase and can be very painful.
The first stretch will be using a step. Make sure you hold onto the rail or something sturdy when stretching on the step. Put the ball of your foot on the edge of the step so your heel is easily hanging off. Relax your heel down until you feel a stretch in the Achilles and calf area. If you need to push your body down some you can. Hold this stretch for 30 seconds and do three of them.
The next exercise is a heel raise off the ground. Stand with your feet about shoulder width apart, and come up on your toes as high as you can. Try not to lean forward, but bring your body straight up and slowly come back down. The coming back down is very important. This is the eccentric movement, and sometimes is harder to do. Push off as much as you can so your heel leaves the ground. Start off with ten and work your way up to 20-25.
Now will be balance with movement. Stand on one foot, and stay close to something sturdy to use as a target. Slowly reach forward until you touch the counter top or chair. You don’t have to touch anything either, you can just reach forward. Start off with 10 and work your way up from there.
The last exercise will be a sideways movement with a slight squat. Keeping your feet forward, step out to the side. As you are stepping out, bend slightly into a squat. Make sure you stick your bottom back so your knees stay behind your toes. You can go to one side 10-20 feet, and then come back the other way. If that becomes easy, you can use a resistive band wrapped around your ankles or your thighs to make it more challenging.
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