Bushwalk Australia

Recently I bought a new pair of boots and did a three day hit out in them covering my usual daily mileage. All was well and they were quite comfortable…until mid way through the second day.
It was then my Achilles started to become really sore. I put it down to a mountain climb I did earlier in snow and assumed it a strain or a slight stress.
Next day, last day, it hurt like hell on my last 12 kilometres back to car and I wondered if I did real damage? But the ensuing week at work out of those boots and back in comfy shoes it repaired nicely which tells me it must be the boots pressing against the tendon and not a tear or something.

Anyone else had this? I don’t want to throw those boots as other than that complaint they are a good fit and next to new. Thoughts?

I assume you broke-in the boots for at least a fortnight of real-world walking? I don't commit my own boots fresh of the shelf for about 1 month.

Aggravation of the back of the heel usually occurs from ill-fitting boots, like the boot moving up and down with steps, or too tight against the heel and causing blisters. Many boots have what appears to be seems on the inside of the heel; these certainly can cause irritation. Are there seems here on your boots?

Do you do stretching exercises?
If not, my guess is the hill climb did it and becoming worse the next day is pretty normal.

Ibuprofen is your friend in these cases. Ultralighters refer to it as Vitamin "i".

I'd clock up a few day walks and see how it goes

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Hey puredingo,
I wish i had your problem. In place of mine. At first glance i thought you were bringing attention to a torn achilles tendon.
I'm currently rehabilitating from a ruptured quadricep tendon. The expectation is a full year before i'll be back to the athletic level i was at.
It's hard to bear given i was such an active walker/climber. No way i saw it coming. I was doing a workout on hills that i have done literally over a thousand times.

Ummmm….No. No stretching or boot breaking in. At my age I should know better.

BUT! I think I’ve had something of a win. I just did a bit of a gym workout and it was ok so I’m assuming it’s got to be the boots. That’s a relief to know it’s not going to be an ongoing ailment but a bummer about the boots.

puredingo wrote:Anyone else had this?

Yep ! Quite a few years ago, with a new pair of boots, I took them for a few walks around the streets in preparation for a major expedition. I was keen to ensure no blisters.

After a few 4-8km street walks I noticed my left achillies a little sore but it recovered after a day or so. This continued for a couple of weeks, the achillies becoming progressively worse.

Finally I twigged that the boots might be the cause & investigated - the padding behind the lining had partially compacted across the back & was pressing on the tendon. Not a lot & not enough to feel uncomfortable when walking but the pressure was bruising the tendon & causing inflammation. Took the boots back for a full refund & wore my old boots on the walk.

crollsurf wrote:Do you do stretching exercises?
If not, my guess is the hill climb did it and becoming worse the next day is pretty normal.

Ibuprofen is your friend in these cases. Ultralighters refer to it as Vitamin "i".

I'd clock up a few day walks and see how it goes

Sent from my SM-G998B using Tapatalk

Ibuprofen as an anti-inflammatory blocks prostaglandin which is good for most things but a growing number of studies suggest it could disrupt tendon healing. Prostaglandin is needed to induce the healing response in tendons. The overuse of Vitamin I may actually be doing more long term harm to tendons. Eccentric loading of the Achilles tendon is recognised as a good way to prevent tendon rupture. It is easy to do and will have positive effects quickly. Tendons don't actually stretch much so any stretching done will be taken up by the muscle the tendon is attached to.

In this case I would say the diagnosis has been made and there is pressure on the tendon from the boot causing the pain.

puredingo wrote:Recently I bought a new pair of boots and did a three day hit out in them covering my usual daily mileage. All was well and they were quite comfortable…until mid way through the second day.
It was then my Achilles started to become really sore. I put it down to a mountain climb I did earlier in snow and assumed it a strain or a slight stress.
Next day, last day, it hurt like hell on my last 12 kilometres back to car and I wondered if I did real damage? But the ensuing week at work out of those boots and back in comfy shoes it repaired nicely which tells me it must be the boots pressing against the tendon and not a tear or something.

Anyone else had this? I don’t want to throw those boots as other than that complaint they are a good fit and next to new. Thoughts?

What was the drop height compared to your normal shoes?
Apparently moving to a low or zero drop shoe can place a lot of strain on the Achillies if you're not used to it.
You could try placing a bit of 2-3mm dense foam under the heel of the shoe inners and see if that helps. Just to ease into a different shoe fit.

Had that problem 40 years ago. The leather boots were too small and the back of the heel was seriously 'incut'. Really quite painful.
The simple solution was to buy bigger boots.
The much more sensible solution was to switch to low-cut synthetic joggers. So I did that 20+ years ago and have never looked back.

Cheers
Roger

Xplora wrote:
Ibuprofen as an anti-inflammatory blocks prostaglandin which is good for most things but a growing number of studies suggest it could disrupt tendon healing. Prostaglandin is needed to induce the healing response in tendons. The overuse of Vitamin I may actually be doing more long term harm to tendons. Eccentric loading of the Achilles tendon is recognised as a good way to prevent tendon rupture. It is easy to do and will have positive effects quickly. Tendons don't actually stretch much so any stretching done will be taken up by the muscle the tendon is attached to.

In this case I would say the diagnosis has been made and there is pressure on the tendon from the boot causing the pain.

Exactly!

I think I may have cracked the battle of the boot!!

After the initial walk that seen me limping over the finish line a crippled mess, a few days later a wore them to work to see if they had softened at all…they hadn’t. More painful than ever they had not relented in the slightest and I had them marked for the bushwalking pile branded “ not suitable for field use”

But being a noted miser I decided on the tactic to let my heel fully heal and try them at 10 to 20 minute intervals…. And it seems to be working, I can still feel a slight pressure but nothing like it was and it’s getting less.

Could I have actually won one? We’ll see….