General Desciption
Achilles tendinitis is typically an overuse injury of the Achilles (uh-kill-eez) tendon. You know that band of tissue that connects the calf muscles at the back of the lower leg to your heel bone that is famous for that Greek hero. Achilles tendinitis most commonly occurs in runners who have suddenly increased the intensity or duration of their runs.
Likewise it can occur in walkers who do the same thing. They think power walking (more load and stress) and walking that extra 5 mins (longer duration) is a good idea. Power walking tends to overload the calf more. With that agressive pull / psuh from the calf the Achilles tendon is a primary area of stress.
Anatamy Lesson – The Achilles tendon is made up of two muscles the gastrocnemius (more powerful jumper and sprinter ) muscle and the soleus (deeper / posture) muscle
Exercise Info – Links below for gastrocnemius and soleus stretches
Gastrocmemius Stretch –> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vaXLwtg3Wfs
Soleus Stretch and Info –> http://www.bnchiro.com/soleus-muscle-stretch/
One of the best ways to work both of these eccentrically is to use a bench, stairs, or chair. Raise yourself with both legs (calf raise) and then lower on only one (the bad side) slowly (3-5 secs going down) to where the heel itself is lower than your toes (heel hanging off the elevated surface). I would perform for 7-10 reps 2-3 times a day. Also if the Achilles Tendinitis has been bothering you for more than 2 weeks I would recommend ice massage (cool ice massage here –> https://amzn.to/2S44XLj ) or massage with your hands to help reduce swelling. When massaging with your hands it works best load the tendon by having some tension on the foot pushing the toes back toward the shin. Then just massage with the other hand around the sides and back of achilles tendon.