How to Tell if You Ruptured Your Achilles Tendon

If you are looking for a fun way to stay in shape, the Surprise Community & Recreation Services department organizes basketball, volleyball, and soccer leagues that allow you to have fun with others, while staying active and getting a cardiovascular workout at the same time. Here at Fixing Feet Institute, we hope that you take advantage of any opportunity for improved physical health, but remind you to be careful and watch out for foot and ankle injuries, like ruptured Achilles tendons.

What Does a Ruptured Achilles Tendon Feel Like?

Your Achilles tendon connects your calf muscle to your heel bone and enables you to raise your heel off the ground. It is the most commonly injured tendon in the body. When you suffer a ruptured Achilles tendon, you may feel a pop or snap, and then a sharp pain in the back of your ankle and lower leg. In all likelihood, this will affect your ability to walk and rise up onto your toes. This is accompanied by a swelling in the back of your leg, between the calf and your heel.

Causes of a Ruptured Achilles Tendon

This injury occurs frequently due to activities that contain explosive acceleration, like jumping or pushing forcibly off the ground. Ruptured Achilles tendons can be common in athletes who play basketball, football, and tennis.  It may also happen due to non-sports-related incidents such as unexpectedly stepping into a hole or falling from a height.

Ruptured Achilles tendons can be prevented by stretching and strengthening calf muscles, mixing up your exercises, and gradually increasing training intensity. With this in mind, be sure to stretch properly before games or practices. Also, ease into your athletic completion with a progressive workout routine prior to jumping into competition. As they say, you need to walk before you can run!