The Achilles tendon

The Achilles tendon , the most powerful of the human body, is located at the back and distal of the leg, behind the ankle.. It is the tendon of the twin muscles and the soleus, and is inserted into the back of the calcaneus. Its function is to propel us in the march, the race and the jump.

We can classify Achilles tendon injuries into two groups, tendon ruptures and tendinopathies.

The rupture of the Achilles tendon is usually complete and abrupt. It is an acute and very disabling injury, usually sports.

Currently, the term Achilles tendinitis has been changed to Achilles tendinopathy , because inflammation does not always exist. It is related to tendon overuse and tends to become chronic. It is usually accompanied by tendinosis , which is a degeneration of the connective tissue of the tendon.

Depending on its location, we can divide the tendinopathies into injuries of the tendon body, not insercionales, and lesions of the distal portion, insercionales. In the latter , Haglund's disease and calcified enteropathy are relevant.

All injuries of the Achilles tendon are basically characterized by pain and limitation of movement in sports activity, especially in the race.

In the breaks, surgical treatment is necessary in the vast majority of cases.

In cases of tendinopathy the initial treatment is conservative. It consists of making changes in sports activity, promoting strengthening, the use of physiotherapy and even the application of some type of infiltration. When the pathology becomes chronic and does not respond to these measures, the best option is to opt for surgical treatment, with which excellent results are obtained.