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Hi Mike;

 

I would look at the entire leg, Rolfers always look at the "entire" thing, rather than where you are having the pain.

If the pain is on the outside of the tendon, medial aspect, it may be the peroneal tendon and not the achilles. It may also be the peroneal nerve and not the tendon at all. The peroneal and the tibialis anterior support the transverse arch of the foot forming a kind of "stirrup" with their respective tendons. They attach on the first metatarsal and you can often palpate this spot as a painful bump on the bottom of the foot. This is the first indication that something is not right with the foot, ankle and leg.

The peroneal nerve branches off of the sciatic nerve and as such is influenced by the entire leg and pelvis.

As a runner you are probably very aware of your body and any imbalances in it.

I can remember riding with stirrups leathers that I had to fight, it is a pain, no pun. There are products for repositioning them.

Sally Swift has some suggestions for this in her book. A resource for PNF stretching is www.stretchman.com 

hope this helps

regards

jim

--
Jim Pascucci
Advanced Rolfer
www.JimtheRolfer.com
www.equinesi.com
Author of Equine Structural Integration: Myofascial Release Manual

 

From: Mike Lewis <mlewis73@xxxxxxxxx>
Subject: [RC]   Sore Achilles Tendon


I've been out of riding for about 3+ years now, and have been having
moderate pain in my Achilles' tendon after about 10 miles or riding.

One problem I've noticed is that my stirrups tend to naturally twist away
from my foot.  Like everyone else, the way the stirrups mount in the
leathers naturally holds the stirrup the wrong direction.  I've made this
problem less of an issue by putting a half twist in each "leather", and
will see how it does.  If I were to lose a stirrup, then the stirrup would
face perpendicular to the way I need it to face to get back into the
stirrup.

Of course, I never lose stirrups...  Neve r, ever...  :-)

Two questions:  Is there a product that will keep the stirrups facing
properly so they're not working against my foot?  Seems I remember
something that did this from my earlier days of riding a few years ago...
Secondly, any thoughts on what is causing the sore tendon?  I tried
lowering my stirrups today and we'll see how that does.  Other than that,
I'm a distance runner, so I'm not out of shape... maybe just out of shape
for riding...

Thank you,
Mike