Achilles Tendonitis and Heel Pain

The Achilles tendon is named for Achilles, the Greek mythology hero, who was vulnerable only at his heel. The Achilles tendon is the largest tendon (a band of tissue that connects muscle to bone) in the human body and is very strong, but is also the tendon we most often rupture. Everyone who is active can suffer from Achilles Tendonitis, a common overuse injury and inflammation of the tendon. Symptoms of Achilles tendonitis include mild pain after exercise or running that gradually worsens, a noticeable sense of sluggishness in your leg, and episodes of diffuse or localized pain, sometimes severe, along the tendon during or a few hours after activity. Symptoms also include tenderness, or sometimes intense pain, when the sides of the tendon are squeezed. Other symptoms can be swelling, morning tenderness in the Achilles tendon, or stiffness that generally diminishes as the tendon warms up with use.