M50 Sprint Hurdles World Record holder, Joe Appiah, went from a tender, sore Achilles in May to competing and winning in the World Masters Athletics Championships in August. Discover how our podiatry service helped Joe to return to the sport he loves.
What symptoms did you experience?
“My main symptoms were soreness in my Achilles and every time I was getting up in the morning, I couldn’t put weight down on my Achilles. Whenever I pressed or squeezed the area, it was very tender and sore. As a result, my calf muscles were very tight too.
“I had to regularly massage and stretch my Achilles and do exercises to manage it. I had to adjust my shoes too to ensure that they would support my tendon, and I couldn’t jog for too long without it hurting. I could only do 40 metre sprints as opposed to 80 metres and when I trained hurdles, my Achilles was at its worst. This injury impacted my athletics training and competition phase a lot. I had to adapt my training programme and just manage it until I could get further support and treatment.”
I’m Joe Appiah, I am the World Masters Athletics champion, and I currently hold the world record for age M50 for sprint hurdles.
What symptoms did you experience?
My main aim this year was the World Masters Athletics championship in Gothenburg, Sweden. But then, in May, I started to have Achilles problems.
My main symptoms were soreness on my Achilles, and basically every time I was getting up in the morning, I couldn’t put weight down properly on my Achilles and my foot. And every time I pressed my Achilles, it was really, really sore and tender. So that also impacted my calf, so it means that my calf was quite tight.
How was your injury affecting your life?
When I got up in the morning, the Achilles would already be sore, which meant I had to regularly massage it and stretch it and also do some general exercises to manage it. I also had to change the type of shoes I was wearing, because some shoes were impacting the Achilles, making it more sore. So, I had to make some adjustments.
My training, when I went to do training on the track, if I was doing jogging, I couldn’t jog for too long until the Achilles started to hurt. Also, when I did some sprints, I had to do shorter sprints rather than my usual routine. Hurdles as well; it’s even worse when I did hurdles and the Achilles tendon was really, really bad. It meant I really have to adjust my training programme.
Why did you choose Benenden Hospital?
I’ve been a member of Benenden Health for a long time. I attended a webinar about foot injuries, and I saw Liam Stapleton talking about something else with my foot and I was very impressed with the work that he did on my foot previously. He’d even managed to diagnose something that somebody else had missed on a scan. So, because of that I knew who I wanted to talk to, who I wanted to see when I had an issue with my Achilles.
What happened during your initial consultation?
Immediately he told me what was available in the Achilles. For example, if you’re going to have an Achilles injection, it’s got to be in a specific place before it’s effective, so he wanted to make sure that where my injury was, was in the place where the injection would be effective - otherwise there’s no point in doing it. So I had a number of communications with him on social media, just to make sure it was the right fit for me.
What was your experience of the environment and the staff at our hospital?
I’ve used Benenden (Hospital) a number of times over the years, and I’ve never had any issues there. And I find it quite pleasant really, very clean, the staff are really nice, and the check-in system is very simple. And there’s boards everywhere, you can see your name being called and hear your name being called and everyone’s been pleasant to me every time I’ve used it. I’ve never had any issues there.
How did you feel on the day of your procedure?
On the day of my treatment, Liam again went through everything with me. He’s so professional and he’s so knowledgeable. He explained every step of what he was about to do and how effective it was going to be for me. He just took me through step by step. His knowledge was brilliant. And for me, the way he engages with me, because he wants it to work for you.
How were the first six weeks of recovery?
Again, that was important to me - when I was able to run again, when I can recover and be able to run again, so Liam took me through all of that. And so, within eight to ten days, depending on how fit I was already. And he started to explain that within eight to ten days you can begin to start gradually building up. And then I started jogging slowly after ten days, and then from then on, I just built it up slowly and I was back competing within probably a couple of months.
What difference has treatment made to your life?
I’m so grateful that the injection was effective, and I was able to start building up my training towards the Championship afterwards. And I couldn’t believe that after ten days I was able to start running again.
I’m not having to do more exercises to load on my Achilles anymore, I’m not feeling pain, normally the Achilles – when you touch it and squeeze it – it’s really sore and it’s unbearable. But now I can squeeze it, no problem.
I can do more training, I can do more reps without any pain. Whereas before I could do maybe three or four reps and I had to stop. Now I can do a little bit more, I can do much more distance as well. The other thing is that I can wear most of the shoes that I was wearing before, whereas previously I had to really be careful with the type of shoes I wear because they impacted my Achilles. And I think the challenge would be when I start doing hurdles again, but I’ve tested it – this week in fact – just to see whether the Achilles can take it, and it wasn’t too bad.
What would be your advice to someone in the same situation?
Well, if you’ve got a sporting injury, certainly from my experience, the foot injury, there’s so many options available at Benenden. And I’m an example of it - I’ve utilised it and it’s been successful for me. I mean, I can say at the moment it’s given me at least 40-50% back of what I couldn’t do.
Why did you choose Benenden Hospital?
“I’ve been a member of Benenden Health for a long time now, and with this membership I knew I could be seen at Benenden Hospital. So I attended an online talk where Sports Medicine Podiatrist Liam Stapleton discussed lower limb injuries including Achilles tendonitis, which was very informative.
“I’d also previously been to see Liam about another issue with my foot and I was very impressed with the service he’d provided me then. He’d even diagnosed something on a scan that others had missed.
“Having had previous discussions with Liam about my ongoing Achilles problems, I contacted him on social media and immediately he told me what treatment options were available to me. If you’re going to have an Achilles injection, you need to confirm the symptoms you’re struggling with are in the right place for it to be a suspected Achilles issue. Liam advised me on this and recommended I book an appointment to see him at Benenden Hospital.”
What was your first impression?
“When I walked into Benenden Hospital, the first thing I noticed was that it’s a very clean hospital. The check-in system is simple and there are screens all around the atrium so you can see and hear your name being called. It’s peaceful and quiet and the staff have always been very caring to me.”
How were you supported on the day of your procedure?
“On the day of my treatment, Liam was so professional and knowledgeable. He explained every step of what he was about to do and how effective it was going to be for me. Liam’s brilliant and he engaged with me well – I just knew he was really wanting it to work for me.
“Achilles tendon injections involve being injected with either cortisone or salt water and I needed to know which one Liam would use. He said my options were a combination of both or one or the other. I didn’t want cortisone because it has steroids in it, which I need to declare due to my athletics. He said if I don’t use cortisone, it would reduce the effectiveness of the treatment by five to 10 percent, but saltwater would still make a lasting impact. The way he explained it and broke it down was important for me because even if I gained 20% of my Achilles use back it would be better than I had before.
What was your recovery like?
“My biggest question post-procedure was ‘how long until I can run again?’ because my main aim this year was to compete in the World Masters Championships in Gothenburg, Sweden. Again, Liam took me through some realistic timelines for my recovery.
He said depending on how fit I already was I could start to gradually build up my exercise between eight to 10 days post-injection. On day 10 I went on a gentle jog and went from there! I had the injection at the end of May, and I competed at the World Masters Championships, and I’m pleased and proud to say that I won! I’m so grateful to Liam for him supporting me to return to competing after only two months.”
What would your advice be to anyone struggling with an Achilles injury?
“I’m not having to do any exercises to load on my Achilles anymore, I’m not feeling any pain and the soreness I used to feel when I squeeze it has gone. In training, I can participate in more reps and increased training distances without any pain. I can wear most of the shoes I could before too.
“The challenge will be when I do hurdles again. I did have a test the other day at training to see if my Achilles could take it and it didn’t feel too bad, so I’ll gradually work my way up to regaining my strength.
“If you’ve got a sporting injury, there are so many options available at Benenden Hospital. I’m an example of that and it’s been very successful for me. Having my Achilles tendon injection has given me at least 40-50% of my ability back and has enabled me to achieve my competition goal this year!”
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Published on 28 November 2024