My Achilles Has a History– Am I Doing the Right Thing?

Thanks TJ. I'm starting to

Thanks TJ. I'm starting to think that my AT is just permanently compromised. It's not inflamed or hurting with activity. It just is a little sore when pressed in certain way sor when I foam roll it. It's just not the same and I don't know if it will ever regain the strength of the other side. I need to figure out how much risk I'm willing to take with it and the best way to manage it, given its limitations. It may be time for me to accept that it's just not ever going to get to 100%. As far as BFR, I like it in theory. I really think it is good and natural. I think if I had started this before my AT was ever damaged, I could have avoided a lot of trouble. But hindsight is 20/20. And now that things are what they are, I don't know if BFR is an option for me. Again, it comes back to me deciding how much risk I'm willing to take with it.

I will probably get some prolo shots for it soon. I'm already getting it in my knee, so might as well hit up the AT. In the meantime, I do not stretch it. I haven't in a long time. I have started doing the heel drops again, but only to the ground and not off a step (don't want to overstretch).

See that's another area where

See that's another area where the info is conflicted. You hear "don't stretch, rest it" on the one hand. Then on the other you hear that rest alone will never clear up tendinosis. Acute tendonitis, yes. But chronic tendinosis...no. The heel drops are supposed to help the damaged tendon fibers realign. I don't know...

With the running, part of the issue is my prolo doc is wanting me to test out running so we can see how my knee is doing. We need some feedback. But if I run 1/10 of a mile (because I'm trying to go BF), that's not giving me much to go on.

I read the no stretch article

I read the no stretch article and it pretty much confirmed what I aready think about stretching. What about the foam roller? Is that a safe option for the calf? I was also thinking about a trigger point set.

My doc looked at my AT via ultrasound about 6 weeks ago or so. He said it looks normal. But he is going to look at it again at our next visit in a couple weeks. He is not BF "unfriendly" but not all gung-ho for it either. The only reason he wants me to run is so we can see where we're at with the knee.

In his defense...when I

In his defense...when I started seeing him in July, I told him I was healed. Because I was or am or who knows. He did look at the AT and that's when he proclaimed it to be normal.

I only just now started to notice my AT again after my first two BF runs. Like I said it could just be that I was paying attention to it again and that made me notice tweaks I was overlooking before. It seems like the more I think about it, the more I feel it.

The AT injury history is long. I've done heel drops off & on throughout the time. I did them all last fall & winter while seeing the PT and getting ASTYM. Then I stopped everything because I was having a breakdown over the whole thing. My achilles felt better than ever this spring & summer. But keep in mind...no running. So I can't say if it was the no running or no heel drops or the ASTYM or what.

At some point I have to give it a shot and see how the AT responds, you know? I just wish someone could tell me what I should expect. You know, maybe a bit of soreness when I foam roll it is to be expected, maybe that's OK. Or maybe I should be feeling nothing no matter what.