Background: Achilles tendinopathy is an overuse injury that often affects individuals engaged in recreational or competitive level activity. Although most patients experience satisfactory results with therapy, a substantial portion fail to respond to traditional treatment. The purpose of this case study is to describe the successful use of compression tack and flossing (CTF) with lacrosse ball massage (LBM) in the treatment of an adolescent athlete with Achilles tendinopathy who had failed to respond to traditional treatment.
Case description: The patient was a 14-year old female diagnosed with chronic Achilles tendinopathy. She presented with 8/10 left posterior ankle pain during activity and scored 66/80 on the Lower Extremity Functional Scale (LEFS). After six weeks of PT consisting of eccentric exercise, proprioceptive training, and iontophoresis, the patient continued to report pain during sport and no significant improvements on the LEFS. With traditional PT failing to resolve symptoms, the patient was treated with CTF and LBM.
Outcomes: The outcomes of interest were the LEFS and the ability to participate in sport without pain. After only two sessions focusing on CTF and LBM, she had 0/10 pain during sport and scored a 79/80 on the LEFS. Patient was discharged to continue with a home exercise program consisting of CTF and LBM, and eccentric exercise.
Discussion: The patient's outcomes significantly improved after CTF and LBM was added to eccentric exercise. These results suggest that this intervention may be a viable adjunct treatment for Achilles tendinopathy; however further research, including controlled clinical trials and long-term outcome data, are warranted.
Keywords: Achilles tendinopathy; Adolescent.