Chronic midportion Achilles tendinopathy: an update on research and treatment.

Sports Medicine Unit, Department of Surgical and Perioperative Science, Umeå University, 901 87 Umeå, Sweden. hakan.alfredson@idrott.umu.se

Chronic painful midportion Achilles tendinosis has been known as a difficult condition to treat, and surgical treatment was often needed. In recent scientific studies, however, treatment with painful eccentric calf muscle training has shown very good short-term clinical results and significantly reduced the need for surgical treatment. Also, very recently, a new method consisting of sclerosing of neovessels in the area with painful tendinosis showed promising short-term results. Ongoing and future research will evaluate the potential of these treatment models.

PMID: 14560544 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]