Is this Achilles Tendonitis?

[Pj]

For the past few rides I have developed pain in my left leg on the inside. The area of pain is about
three of four inches in length and is loacted between my ankle bone and the back of my leg/ankle. I
did a 35 miler on Saturday and it became pretty painful, not excruciating but enough to make me call
it a day after 35 miles, which is not a long ride for me.

I have just recently lengthened the seat/bb distance in order to remedy some knee pain, but I have
also switched to shorter cranks in an effort to eliminate the knee pain, so maybe I have
overcompensated by going too far with the seat change?

Does this sound like achilles tendonitis?

Pat Mc

 

[Cletus Lee]

In article <[email protected]>, [email protected] says...
> Does this sound like achilles tendonitis?
>
I'm not a doctor, I don't play on on this NG. It sounds like a probable diagnosis. Pop a couple of
Ibuprophen at the prescribed interval and see if it improves in a day or two. If it does not, find a
'real' doctor.
--

Cletus D. Lee Bacchetta Giro Lightning Voyager http://www.clee.org
- Bellaire, TX USA -

 

[Jude T. McGloin]

PJ, If this is a "new" phenom. Was there anything you changed in your bike set up? Or new shoes,
pedals? etc.
--
Jude....///Bacchetta AERO St. Michaels and Tilghman Island.. Maryland Wheel Doctor Cycle and Sports,
Inc 1-800-586-6645 "PJ" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> For the past few rides I have developed pain in my left leg on the inside. The area of pain is
> about three of four inches in length and is loacted between my ankle bone and the back of my
> leg/ankle. I did a 35 miler on Saturday and it became pretty painful, not excruciating but enough
> to make me call it a day after 35 miles, which is not a long ride for me.
>
> I have just recently lengthened the seat/bb distance in order to remedy some knee pain, but I have
> also switched to shorter cranks in an effort to eliminate the knee pain, so maybe I have
> overcompensated by going too far with the seat change?
>
> Does this sound like achilles tendonitis?
>
> Pat Mc

 

[Scott]

[email protected] (PJ) wrote in message news:<[email protected]>...
> For the past few rides I have developed pain in my left leg on the inside. The area of pain is
> about three of four inches in length and is loacted between my ankle bone and the back of my
> leg/ankle. I did a 35 miler on Saturday and it became pretty painful, not excruciating but enough
> to make me call it a day after 35 miles, which is not a long ride for me.
>
> I have just recently lengthened the seat/bb distance in order to remedy some knee pain, but I have
> also switched to shorter cranks in an effort to eliminate the knee pain, so maybe I have
> overcompensated by going too far with the seat change?
>
> Does this sound like achilles tendonitis?
>
> Pat Mc

Hi, Pat: Take this VERY seriously. The extension of your BB is likely the cause. The very same thing
happened to me. I'm now almost 6 months into dealing with the problem. Tendonitis can be brutally
hard to recover from. I'd shorten up the reach to the BB a little and lay off the bike for a while.
This may need to be two weeks or more--depends on your symptoms. Be very careful about thinking you
can "ride-through" this. Rest, ice, massage and maybe some VERY gentle stretching would be a good
start. If the symptoms persist for more than a week or so, see a doc, preferably one into sports.

I'm currently in a pretty deep funk because of this problem. I've had to cancel a big tour.
Achilles tendonitis also keeps me from hiking, climbing, all sorts of things. It's a real show
stopper. Rest that sucker into submission and ease gradually back into action. If you think you've
rested it enough, rest it a little more. Tendons have virtually no blood supply and are some of the
slowest healing tissues in the body. I've had several cases in different areas over the
years--believe me .

I hope your recovery is speedy!

Scott Not riding his Haluzak or Greenspeed tandem much these days...

 

[Pj]

"Jude T. McGloin" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:<[email protected]>...
> PJ, If this is a "new" phenom. Was there anything you changed in your bike set up? Or new shoes,
> pedals? etc.
> --
> Jude....///Bacchetta AERO St. Michaels and Tilghman Island.. Maryland Wheel Doctor Cycle and
> Sports, Inc 1-800-586-6645

Jude,

This is a relatively new phenomenon, and became noticeable when I extended the seat/bb length. So at
this point I am pretty sure that it is a result of this change and thus will go back to a closer
seat/bb relationship. I wanted to get an idea if this was achilles tendonitis so that I could
attempt to treat it. One interesting part that I couldn't figure out is why it would occur in one
leg and not the other. As it happens it is occuring on the same leg as my broken ankle of last year
so that may have something to do with it as well. At this point I am going to stay off the bike for
a week or two (if I can hold out) and become a good friend of ibuprofin to reduce the inflamation
and pay a visit to my physical therapist.

Pat

 

[Seth Jayson]

Are either of you tendon sufferers taking antibiotics? Specifically, have you taken, within the last
year, Cipro or Avelox for, say, a sinus infection? How about, ofloxacin, norfloxacin?

These (Quinalone, I think they are called) antibiotics are commonly used to treat sinus and
bronchial infections.

Unfortunately, a large number of people who take these (a small percentage, but a large number)
suffer some very nasty damage to tendons, usually achilles, but also knee and shoulder and others.

I found out about this when I was recently prescribed Avelox for a sinus infection. After one dose,
my knee swelled up like a balloon. The doctor switched me to an older type of antibiotic, but I had
to stay home on the couch whimpering all day. (I had barely bumped the knee at the tendon a few days
earlier, and had had no pain, but apparently something in the Avelox reacted very aversely with the
minor tendon rebuilding that was going on there.)

Bored, I began looking up info on this phenomenon. Bayer, the maker of the drug, said in its own
white papers that, during testing, the stuff had crippled the beagles they tested it on. There are
other studies in medical journals documenting damaged, including catastrophic tendon damage, after
as little as one dose of this (my experience, I hope not) and sometimes as long as 6 months after
stopping the course of treatment.

You may be able to find the PDF with this info at www.avelox.com. The link was down when I last
checked. A google search on "avelox tendon damage" will yield lots of links, some more alarmist
than others.

This is scary stuff, and if I were a rider, (as we are) I would never accept any of these drugs
again unless the doctor thought there was no other antibiotic that could do the trick. What good are
clear sinuses if you can't walk?