According to mythology, the Greek Hero Achilles was invincible except for his Achilles tendon, which was shot by an arrow and later caused his death. Today, arrows rarely pierce the tendon, but it still remains a huge weakness to modern man.
Why Does an Achilles Cause so Many Problems?
Well, in podiatry we literally see hundreds of different problems and sadly, a tight Achilles is arguably one of the most common root causes of foot pains and problems. A tight Achilles causes abnormal pulls when we walk and structures in the foot have to take a beating because of it.
Recently I had a patient with only foot pains and NO Achilles pains. He looked at me strangely and said, ‘So, you want me to stretch my pain-free legs and it will help fix my FOOT pains?!’ The answer was basically, ‘Yes.’ In a matter of weeks he was feeling better.
Sometimes the Achilles hurts and sometimes it doesn’t but if you have heel pain, tendon pain, muscle cramps, diabetic ulcers, forefoot pains, shins splints, and even bunions and you can join the Greek Hero and blame at least part of it on your Achilles.