Achilles Injury Recovery Time - The 5 Psychological Factors that Influence It

Achilles injury recovery times vary wildly. Pain and injury psychologist Caroline Marlow explains the five psychological factors that research has found to be good predictors of when and whether people can return to work and normal life after an injury. The good news is that these are things over which we have control to an extent - if we are aware of them.
🌟Need more help with your injury? You’re welcome to consult one of the team at TMA via video call for an assessment of your Achilles injury and a tailored treatment plan: www.treatmyachilles.com
👉To find our more about how Caroline Marlow can help you understand the psychological aspects of your injury, go to her website and use the 'Step 1: Can We Help You?' link: www.landmconsulting.co.uk/inj...
📽️Other videos you may find useful:
▶️ Persistent/Chronic Achilles Pain? How Understanding Pain Can Help: • Persistent/Chronic Ach...
▶️ Recovery Times for Achilles Tendonitis - The Factors that Influence It: • Recovery Times for Ach...
▶️ Partial Achilles Tear Recovery/Healing Time: • Partial Achilles Tear ...
▶️ Achilles Rehab after Surgery - Exercises and Recovery Times: • Achilles Rehab after S...
▶️ How to Deal with the Mental Side of Being Injured: • How to Deal with the M...
📚Chapters:
00:00:00 Introduction
00:04:01 Recovery expectations
00:06:51 Confidence that you can cope
00:10:05 Catastrophising
00:13:45 Feelings of loss and blame
00:15:48 Health beliefs
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References:
Edwards, R.R., et al., (2016). The role of psychosocial processes in the development and maintenance of chronic pain disorders, Journal of Pain, 17(9 Suppl):T70-92 (www.jpain.org/article/S1526-5...)
Sullivan, M.J.L., et al., (2011). Catastrophizing and Perceived Injustice Risk Factors for the Transition to Chronicity After Whiplash, SPINE, 36 (25 Suppl): S244-9 (dx.doi.org/10.1097/BRS.0b013e3...)

[@confdenhaag]

Loved !

[@JPEEZYLA]

Good work!!

[@lindal986]

Thank you for sharing these videos, I'm on the right track, early observation, first week, the scale of pain is 1 to 3 on...a scale of 10, the overly optimistic athlete in me converted that to...the pain scale is 1 to 3...oops, caught it, backed off & continued with less aggressive return to running, thank you for the information, I'm sure it helped me avoid making it worse than it was. Happy holidays!

[@Caramel5367]

This is very VERY good!

[@TreatMyAchilles]

Glad you found it useful!

[@injuryandpainpsychology2102]

Thank you so much, Katarina. There is so much more that people can do to help themselves recover. so if this has helped you, I am delighted. Best wishes. Caroline

[@riccardodiluca6862]

Hello. I have mild discomfort and some swelling in my tendon from recent successive football matches. I trained my calves for the past 15 years. Can I continue to do that while recovering the tendon or not? Thank you

[@TreatMyAchilles]

You need to figure out the optimal load that your Achilles can currently handle - you can and in most cases should do calf raises for this, but you usually have to start with a much reduced weight and sets. If you overwork it, it will just continue to stay painful because it is an overuse injury to start with. There's a video going live later today that answer this questions actually as well but here's an article about it: www.treatmyachilles.com/post/swollen-achilles-tendon-is-it-safe-to-exercise

[@louiet890]

Hi, almost 2 weeks ago I felt tightness in my achilles. Couple days later the stiffness/pain was a lot better and ended up doing 4 sets of iso heel raise on both feet but the next day the pain/stiffness was worse than before. A week and a bit on from then and it’s still quite tight in the mornings but as the day goes on at work it gets better. Just wondering how long the tightness in the mornings should go on for? Other than the heel raises I done on the 3rd day I haven’t been doing anything, just going to work (truck driver) and gym but no cardio only weight training and only upper body. Any advice would be appreciated

[@TreatMyAchilles]

The stiffness in the morning can take a long time to go away. It sounds like you may just have jumped in with a too big a set of exercises for what your Achilles can currently handle - it is usually better to test a very small gentle set. Here are some videos that you may find helpful: 1. Overview of all the treatment options: kzbin.info/www/bejne/fmLRl5qLZsagrMk 2. Overview of all the exercise options: kzbin.info/www/bejne/eqGbmK2nbt-ir5Y

[@louiet890]

@@TreatMyAchilles thanks for the response, the tightness has pretty gone now which is great so I will start introducing strengthening at a smaller rate and see how that goes. Problem now is that because I had been walking a certain way, I think the tendons on top of my foot are inflamed now. Is that something you see often? or was I just unlucky?

[@Devblivion]

When you say pain meds you don’t mean ibuprofen right?

[@TreatMyAchilles]

Yes, ibuprofen is usually not recommended unless you have an excessive inflammatory response associated with your Achilles injury e.g. bursitis or something similar.