How to Treat Achilles Tendinitis in the Wilderness

Modifying your walking technique should bring relief within a day. If you're in the wilderness in a camper and have some glue and cardboard, you could elevate your heels with cardboard.

1

→ Walk with a rolling fashion. A rolling fashion is where you initially land on your heel, your weight transfers to the front of your foot and your heel lifts up before you swing your leg forward. Lifting your heel up is the crucial technique element to do.

2

→ When walking up a hill or grade, if the ground is dry and has traction, maintain the rolling walking technique.

3

→ Use a walking stick when going uphill so you can keep your balance and keep the rolling, walking movement. Obviously, to maintain maximum traction and contact with the ground, you might want to keep your foot flat on the ground and slide it forward, but by doing this you are stressing your Achilles tendon.

4

→ Walk uphill in a different route which is more step-like or less slippery (so you can walk in a rolling fashion).

TIPS

→ John Christy, in Hardgainer Magazine from Cyprus, wrote an article about doing calf raise on a low block (2") to avoid Achilles tendon pain. This article applies Christy's avoiding extreme ankle dorsiflexion recommendation to walking and especially walking uphill.

→ Your body is very forgiving, even if you have a long habit of walking incorrectly, but changing your walking style, relief comes quickly. Set in your mind the reasoning behind the rolling technique of walking.

→ Jog in place instead of jogging occasionally. In jogging in place, your heels are always off the ground.