Healing from Insertional Achilles Tendonitis! 

1:47 Here is my comment you mentioned in the beginning: (Pls pin this comment for all the other ppl who suffer from it) Ben, I had the exact same achilles pain for over a year, hurts like 1000 little needles pushing right into the achilles right? Pretty sure it is insertional achilles tendonitis in your case aswell. This video helped me: James Dunne - If your Achilles tendonitis isn't healing... WATCH THIS NOW Loading the tendon has helped me a lot, I combined it with eccentric calve exercises after a while. Of course I did other things on a regular basis too and still do all of this: foam rolling the calve and the arch, stretching the whole back chain like calves and hamstrings and butt. Eating a lot of healthy stuff, much protein, good carbs and fats, supplementing omega3 and vitamin d3+k2 Since then I added to my routine: Full body workouts to maintain my overall fitness and workouts focused on mobility and stability. Still Focusing on vegatables and fruits and high quality food in general, it speeds up recovery! I also stretch after every session, I'd really suggest that to everyone, way less soreness the next day! I exchanged my pre skateboarding coffee with a supplement which contains caffeine + theanine. The theanine counters the caffeine restlessness and gives you a calm focus - lower risk of injury during the session. I also stop when I feel I get too exhausted (wasn't able to do that for like 15 years, I'd just continue as long as I could skate) - also lower risk of injury during the session. If you are injured, skate some cupsoles for a while and maybe get yourself some orthotic insoles if you can afford them. Over here in germany health insurance pays for it fortunately.

I had a similar injury that I messed around with for a while 4 years ago when I was 38, eventually I saw a great physiotherapist who noticed I had pronation in that foot. This is when your heel doesn’t rest flat on the floor on the inside. I now have a small foam wedge under my insole (only a few mm) and my issue has pretty much gone. I bought the foam from Amazon, cut them out myself and have them in all my shoes. Hope this helps someone as it was agony for ages for me. Us older skaters gotta look out for each other. Sick video ad always 🙌🙌🙌

Just got the exact same injury trying to play full field soccer in my 40s overweight. It’s a weird one. Made my day coming across this video seeing a fellow skater walking us through the correct rehab.

Great to see you back killing it! I love your style man

Good to see your making progressive on healing up. Appreciate the upload 🤙

Yeah this is literally the best and only good video I found. Thanks man

what a lovely guy. Thanks. going through the same at the moment and doing your exercises plus others. Takes time and patience. keep shredding .peace

Good to see you back on board in general

When I was going through my achilles injury, that was some of the most annoying pain/injury I've ever dealt with. I agree with the stretching and massaging helping a lot for my particular achilles pain. Slowly but surely I was able to slowly start skating again after taking well over 2 or 3 months off of my board and dedicating time to the massaging and stretching it. Also yes the tennis ball to massage the foot and calves also is a great idea. Great video Ben, this will be very helpful to a lot of people. Hope you're feeling back to 100% soon! You were killing it! That nose manual nollie flip is something I wish I had in my bag of tricks!

Love you big dog! You’re my virtual skate uncle. Glad you recovered!

Never thought a skater would have better tips than a lot of health professionals .. very helpful I started yesterday w the exercises!

Super useful video for anyone going through this, plus just physical therapy on injuries in general

Wow that nose manny nollie flip was so effortless, would love to see a tutorial on that trick from you. Great video!

Thanks for this… I’m 46 and recently have had to take a few months off of skating due to this issue. I start physical therapy next week and this video gave me some much needed hope. Give thanks Ben

So glad this came out. I am dealing with this but had no idea

Love your videos

Hey Ben thanks so much for this vid. Been dealing with painful IAT and swollen heel for a while on my back/push foot. And previously following all the google remedies which as you said instruct to stretch out the wrong way… which didn’t make sense to me as it’s the same resistance as deep pushing etc specific to skating which caused the problem. Then I remember seeing this vid in your feed, revisit and follow your advice… noticing improvement almost immediately. Stoked. Feeling confident I can skate through this with the daily exercises before and after session. I’d add to recommendations to try supporting yourself on a table or countertop at first so that you can control weight load on injured foot for the duration of hold.

Thank you so much for this video! I just learned about the insertional form of this injury and I’m looking forward to trying these exercises to help heal this injury.

Very similar to my story. Been battling this for just over 2 years. I skate, but at around 70-80%. There was a long period of time where I couldn't pop any tricks - stuck to mini ramp, doing coping tricks, learning weird flatground tricks like 360 powerslides, switch manuals, fakie manuals etc. I'm 1 month into doing the "right" rehab exercises instead of the wrong ones that my PTs had me doing, and I seem to be headed in the right direction. Recently did my first kickflip in 9 months, woohoo! The video "Aaron Lewis' Achilles Series - Insertional Heel Pain FULL" is the best one I've found that explains what exercies to do, what not to do, the science behind it, etc. Horns up to anyone who is going through this!! 🤘🖤

Great video!!! It is going to be super useful!!!

Omg thank you . I’ve been suffering from the same thing for 3 years now and no matter how I stretched it never got better only seemed to stay hurt or hurt more . I tried the exercise of loading it heavy like you said and even doin it for just 10 seconds I can already feel a difference. I think you may of saved me Ben !!!

i have the same case of this and im 18 this video has given me a lot of hope for getting through this injury, thanks!

I’m 40 have had ankle surgery on my left, ACL on my right knee, and a significant size pothole in the cartilage in my left knee. I’ve dealt with achilles tendinitis before and have found the best bandaid for all these problems , I’ve been able to skate a lot longer as well. The answer is Blazer mids for life but swapping the insoles to FP game changers 5mm. You might not be used to the arch support at first and they take skating them like 10 times to break them in but they help so much. It’s also weird at first to because when you first put on the shoe every time you wear them the inner sole feels hard until your foot heats it up. I like board feel but might even go to a 7mm next time to help with my pain even more. Good luck 🖤

Going on 4 years now with the same pain from insertional achilles tendonitis, I’m glad I ran into your video bc my physical therapist keeps making me do regular stretches and I’ve been at it for 2 months with no physical activity and my pain is still relatively the same going to try out these loading exercises you recommended hopefully they help

Damn your skating was absolutely amazing in this video, you're in your prime

Thanks for sharing, and for the skating

I did the same exercise to strengthen and stabilize my ankle. The next progression is to do the same exercise on the flat/hard plastic side of a bosu ball. This will create moderate instability underneath your foot causing the muscles to activate and fire in order to stabilize your foot and steady the bosu ball. The first couple times may be tricky but eventually you will be able to do it for as long as you can on solid ground.

Stoked your in the road to recovery can’t imagine how painful this must have been. But you’re right skateboarders are used to working through pain to do what we love. But I’m learning as I get older (40 next year) I do need to pay a bit more attention to my pain and get things checked if I get badly hurt, I think this is why my wrist got so f***ed up because 2 months I slipped out olliying on transition and fell back on to my right wrist and god it hurt but it was intact seemingly it took weeks to feel better but I think looking back I fractured it because when I came off nearly 3 weeks ago suddenly (im certain it was due to wheel bite on a new setup I was riding, just a simple 180 bs kick turn) the wrist was well my hand wasn’t on the end of my forearm it was off to one side….I won’t say anything else but if I had done the right thing I reckon I wouldn’t have ended up unable to skate for at least 3 months and I may need more surgery… so yeah I think skaters pride ourselves sometimes on our grit and toughness to power through pain to do what we love but sometimes we just have to go hang on, this isn’t quite normal I should get it at least checked. Anyway today I get my stitches out… at least I get a rad scar I suppose. Anyway thanks for the good advice and great skating, Vicarious fun as always! 👊

Hey Ben. If you're still interested in mid size shoes, the Adidas Tyshawn mid are a fantastic shoe. Great ankle support and super comfortable all around. Love your vids, good luck with your foot.

Prayers up to you Ben Degros!

I needed this now

Information how to do PT for Insertional Achilles Tendonitis is so hard to find. I have been dealing with it for 7 months. In the beginning I couldn't even stand for more than 3 minutes without extreme pain. I was sent to PT for it and they were having me do exercises for regular tendonitis. It made it worse. Finally I can walk down a couple isles at the store and stand for 15 min to cook dinner. I just want to walk to dog and go to the store. Hopefully using the excercise you talked about will improve my situation. Thanks so much for this video!

Thank you for posting this…. I’ve been dealing with my right Achilles and tried the normal stretches and they haven’t worked.. gonna try the other one you showed and it seems like it will work for me.. the point about the back of the shoes putting pressure on it is so true.. I have a few pairs the just kill my Achilles but the half cabs I have don’t hurt any where near the other shoes do… thanks again!

I’ve been through this injury twice now, it sucks. Did pretty much everything you did for my recovery. Thankfully I have a good physio that guided me through this. Now I have a rib injury that’s stopped me from skating entirely for a couple months. Gotta love being an older skater lol

thanks for this video, very helpful for me ive been struggling with this same issue

thank you so much, this episode has helped

The percentage of tendonitis in some of us older dummies is probs huge

Glad you’re on the mend mate! Boy are you killing it!!

You did well to recover in just 6 months. This is often a persistent injury that can last for years and doesn't usually go away by itself. I'm currently suffering exactly the same injury for the 3rd time. The first 2 times I corrected it with simple calf raises. Now I've tried everything, mostly focusing on eccentric calf lowering with heavy weight but I might try more isometric holds again after seeing your success. I'm also undergoing shockwave therapy, I've had 1 session so far which hasn't made a difference. My injury is a result of long distance running mostly, but then I aggrevated it more when I started skating again. Now I've stopped skating completely as it just wasn't fun (pushing/popping leg) but I'm still running and have got used to the pain/stiffness.

That kickflip back tail! 💕👏👍 I bet any sort of ladder work at ur job wasn't helping either. I know it kills my feet. I always try and use a platform if possible

Glad your better. Skate safe.

I have it on my both legs :) The left leg is with the "knot" in the middle of the tendon and the right leg with the little lump in lower tendon, just above the heel. And I just started skateboarding a month ago at the age of 40. Today will me my first time in the skate park...

As others have mentioned, this is such a helpful video! How has it improved since this video?

Wait a second, skating switch as your normal stance due to injury/health issues? Total respect. I've been two years without flicking due to tear and sprain in two out of three ankle tendons at a certain age (luckily the tear was on the strongest one). I thought about going switch but then thought, nah, I'm not Rodney, first I'll try to recover and meanwhile nollies and easy cruising switch. TOTAL RESPECT!

This video just came in time. I´m fighting this for some time, on my back foot. Coincidentaly, it seems that got better when I tried another shoe. So definitly I´ll try both and see if helps, like you said. One think that helped a lot was massage and stretch my calf muscle. I believe that being my pushing leg my calf is much stronger than the joint cause this pain. I used those motorized massage machines, streches and also manual massage. When you presses the right point it triggers the pain down on the heel joint.

Great video

They may not be the best for skating, although I found a nice style from Xero called Kelso, that i used Tuff Toe on to reinforce the ollie and flick areas, and I use flat FP insoles (a larger size cut down to fit the Xero shoe shape)... but I highly recommend barefoot shoes. They are the best thing for all the problems you mention in this video. The Achilles tendinitis, plantar fasciitis, even most knee pain, hip pain and neck pain is mitigated by switching to barefoot shoes. I recently got some Half Cabs for nostalgia sake, if I skate them for 10 minutes or so, I develop the Achilles tendinitis, just from pushing... you would be surprised how many foot, leg, and back problems come from normal shoes with skinny toe boxes and built in elevated heels. Flat sole, wide toe box, that's what we all need. Just try some, and give them a fair chance because it does take a while to transition to barefoot shoes because you will be using more muscles than regular shoes allow you to use, and going from an elevated heel to a zero drop flat sole will make you use different leg muscles that will feel sore for a while because you've rarely used them while wearing regular shoes. But yeah, I'm glad what you're doing now is working for you, but I still recommend trying barefoot shoes for your longterm health. I want to keep watching you skate for years to come! Haha

man i hope this works for me. i was doin all that same stuff too that you said hurt it more and your right, its just making it worse. i just want to get back on the board again ya know. thx for the tips man im willing to do anything at this point

I gave myself an oblique comminuted fracture Weber b on Friday so I feel your pain.

you really are the people’s champion

Really appreciate the recovery and prevention focused skate content. Learned to skate 2 years ago when I was 25 and being almost 28 now I can tell my body doesnt have the same bounce back it used to lol. Hope you check out KneesOverToesGuy as well. I feel like skating is going in a good direction with having skaters focusing on their health more as opposed to the old school shit of not caring about health, skating while injured etc. Appreciate your stuff Ben!

Had exactly the same thing, blazer highs helped a lot for me too

ben theres a big sale on fa/hockey stuff rn. would love to see some more reviews from you!

Would be cool to see you do a session with your brother

Glad to see you feeling better... being hurt sucks butt...

Here are my tricks to recovery .. I skate three days a weel , along with three soccer games in the mix.. I had this pain for a few years. ( 45 years old ) - Get yourself a " nike recovery ball " , roll the bottom of your foot at different angles. - Foam roll that whole area - Get yourself a " night boot " , something padded so it's comfortable. You want your ankle to recover at a 90 degree angle , rather than a relaxed state which is usually a 45 degre angle. ( if you can't sleep with the night boot due to comfort , let your foot hang off the bed while you sleep , when the foot is hanging off the end of your bed , it will usually rest near a 90 degree angle in mid air ) - Start taking zinc , magnesium , and potassium pills - Tumeric pills , this is the key to reduce inflammation ( 1000 mg's ) - Cushioned insoles , when I skate in my adidas.. I have two original adidas insoles in my shoes - Stretch before skating - Make sure your drinking a shit load of water each day , lay off the booz.. Along with the massages and stretches show in this video , you should recover quickly. You need to be disciplined though , if you half ass any of this , it will never recover.. .

I had unbearable Achilles pain as well; mistakenly thought it was plantar fasciitis AND mistakenly thought I needed insoles with extreme arch support. Turns out, I talked with a skate-oriented insole company and they said with high arches I actually need FLAT insoles. Problem has improved dramatically since going with FP flat insoles with high density cushioning (not bouncy)

I had the same thing that heal pain feels like a knife in your heal every session. Takes like a year to heal too what worked for me was ice and extreme pressure and massage into the actual sore part of the heal. Also it's usually your push foot caused by the physical act of pushing. You have to go mongo or skate switch for like a year depending on what side it's on. Also you need basketball shoes to skate.

I'm going through the same thing after I broke my flick leg. I went hard at recovery and getting back into skating. I'm dumb for putting my pop foot through multiple 6 hour sessions. Getting better now but the time off my board is killing me.

hope your better now its a horrible injury ive got it now ive put ice on it rubbed it with ibrouphen gel and done streches ive had it for 2 months i also put a ankle strap on it takes a while to heal will be made up when the pain has gone i have trouble trying to walk with it always have a nagging pain

that crook nollie bs 180 was amazing. any tips on that one? such a classy move

thank you!

Your favourite role models favourite role model

home cross training help me a lot to keep skating

Awesome news.

i am undergoing the same problem im bummed and depressed by it ive gained weight coudnt skate im so glad ive skated last year i think that was it for me 😢

I've been down 5 weeks with a broken ankle, from a skating a pool with my young son's. And I'm 42yrs old so I understand and I know its driving crazy not being able to skate with my boy's. Ben I really want to see you skate some mini logo trucks they are surprisingly good and would like to get your opinion on them.

I had injured my insertion Achilles from a wrong shoe. I had a very sick dog and I was in bad weather walking in my husband‘s shoes and it actually damaged it. Everybody thought I had plantar fasciitis but now I know exactly where the pain is and what to do I’m starting the exercise and just doing that now and then going from there. Let me know who recovers from doing some of these exercises, and thank you for posting this

I have the exact same type of Achilles tendinitis. It is brutally painful. Specifically in the morning and after any jumping or running movements. Definitely going to start with some of these rehabs. The only problem with mine is that I have a bone spur on the back of my heel that is causing most of the inflammation.

I just pulled my first muscle (in my life) after getting back on the board after 13 years. Only took like 30 minutes. It was my "Oh.. I'm old now" moment. I bought a new complete, went to the park twice after work for 15 minutes each, and now can't skate for probably a couple weeks at least. It's incredibly frustrating for me, to be honest. I just want to do what I could do. Oh well.

Hey Ben, question. Have you been to Montreal before? What’s skating like over there exactly?

in my opinion wearing a high heel shoe and also applying taping even in daily life they help to support the achill insertion tendon

Sick spot

Wonder if this will help my sore heel. I had haglunds surgery 4 months ago, still dealing with soreness and burning sensation in the back of the heel. I’ll give this a try.

You skate better now than you did as a kid.

Did/do you use footprint insoles? You should try them and do a review if you havent yet

I have this same thing. I am doing th'exercise now for 2 days. Hope it works. The pain is excruciating

off topic but i do not have any dorsiflexion and have been going to physical therapy for it but it has not been getting better at all. i wonder if it makes skating harder and in what ways it would. im not too sure because i dont really struggle with anything in particular other than balancing some stuff because i think i generally tend to be leaned more forwards because of it. it took me months to be able to 50-50 on a regular ledge because i always used to lean too much on it and get no lock in. now i can do the trick but it feels like i have to completely lean away from the ledge to even kinda land aligned with it. im not too sure if i will ever be able to actually have good control on rails and ledges. but all that might also just be skill issues that will be resolved in the future, at least i hope so. we'll see edit: i also pretty much always walk and stand on tip toes so my achilles tendon seems to be super juiced lmao

It's been 1 year now, did you get from 80% to 100% recovered? The same way as you explained here?

Just tore my Achilles last week playing basketball. I’m 23 and was just starting to see some good progress in my skating after skating for 2 years (hitting stair sets, learning grinds and more flip tricks etc) and now I don’t think I’ll ever be the same mentally when attempting anything.

Ive been battling this for over 5 years and its to the point where my brain is not connected to this muscle to do these strengthening moves. I try, but my brain can not make my foot raise on that side. I have the classic bulge that is removed during surgery, and remain active (5 mile walks daily..i used to run!). High Air Max shoes are the only thing that lets me even walk more than i have to. I deal with pain and limping all day, but of course more in the AM. I feel destined for surgery, or just dealing

we should get Crob to come to Canada and skate your curb!

Does Ted still skate? Would be rad if you guys filmed some new clips together.

Thank god dealing with this currently

I am a runner and a skater. The stretches and massages did not work for me no matter what. To get it to go away, I had to use these "Boots" that you strap your legs in and it holds your foot so that your toes are pointing up. 1 hour a day. This made it go away in less than a week. But you have to continue to wear them for an hour a day for 12 weeks and adjust the stretch on them every 4. Very annoying, but it works. Just look up achilles tendonitis boots.

Hey in your video you did a 180 switch manual. Could you please do an in-depth tutorial on how to 180 manual. (All types) I've got switch manuals down but every time I try 180 in my shoulders wanna keep turning and I can't keep them straight. I'm sure there is some kind of trick to it. I think this would be a great video. Would help me out.

😂 The ad I got before the video was for something called Hypophosphatasia or HPP

Just came down with this with a vengeance over the last few days. Always had a little Achilles tendonopathy, but never behind the heel like this. Totally sucks. Mornings are a nightmare

Should do the exercises before skating or after pls answer me

I starting getting some mild discomfort in my achilles-ish area just today. I had a 3 or so hour session where I skated to the park and back AND did a full body workout when I got home. Might've overdone it, and still too soon to know if it is this or if it's retrocalcaneal bursitis. Apparently this can be mistaken for Achilles tendonitis and lasts a much shorter time. Time will tell I suppose lol

Damn, those shoes are tight

Did you ever use a heel raise shoe insert? Have same insertional achilles pain…tia

I actually have problems with my achielles too but my problem was that my hamstrings aren’t strong enough and every muscle in my hip was so tight

This stuff worked with me too. Calf raises and no calf stretches…

for me sometimes not really too often when i skate or do any sports and then i go sit for 30 min walking feels so bad

sw back tail 😮 wow

You stretch the wrong muscle. It's not the cave. The problem is that your muscles in around the chins have become tight and too short. This causes too much tensions on the Achilles tendon. You can test this to see if your chin muscles have shorted or are under tension. Go on your knees so your foot gets stretched and you kind if sit on your caves. I dint know how to explain. Like a praying position where your foot gets stretched. If there is a huge space between your arch and the ground your sitting on and if you can't stretch it further without pain your chin myscles are short end and cause too much tensions on the Achillis. Do this stretch 2 min every day. Try to hold the pain and you'll notice It's like stretching the opposite muscles of the Achillis to take tension away. You will notice that your Achillis starts to hurt when you stop the stretch and letvthe foot go to normal position. Man this had me almost stop skating. You can 100% get rid of it but you have to stretch the correct muscles. You'll see. It's a common problem around older guys because...let's be serious. When did you stretch your chin myscles last time...yeah...never!

back nose grind 180

i had a pretty nasty swollen or misplaced tendon in the achilles about 5 or 6 years ago. Made skating a chore. One day a friend of my brothers did that thing where u cave someone’s knee from behind, otherwise known as a dead leg. For whatever reason(to this day i still don’t get this) but it basically knocked the tendon back into place. I felt and heard a phat pop from my achilles and after that it felt fine. Still can’t exactly pinpoint what caused a dead leg to fix my achilles but damn was i glad. The tendon was messed up for months.

A lacrosse ball is even better than a tennis ball