I do karate in bare feet and have some problems with my achilles. Is there something that can help?

Question

I do karate in bare feet and have some problems with my achilles. Is there something that can help?

Answer 1

Personally, I'd see my orthopedic/sports medicine doctor and then possibly a Physical Therapist. You may laugh this off as I did with a minor knee pain, I now have no cartilage in the right anterior knee joint, so I have to really strengthen my quads and hamstrings to absorb the impact.

Little nagging injuries can become serious stuff unless you take care of them, don't wait until it become serious.

Answer 2

You obviuosly stretch before a class starts right? Then maybe you ought to be stretching at home as well.  Bending over at the waiste and touching your head to your knees while standing to about the count of 20 seconds - one thousand one, one thosand two, one thousand three and so on will stretch the back of you legs and eventually ease what ever discomfort you're feeling in your achilles tendon.  With this comes lot of stretching though.  Maybe put a two hour span of stretching together over the period of a full day, in other words, stretch a little here and stretch a little there through your day every day.  Make a religion of stretching if you must and I'm sure that will fix the problem with ye ole' achilles tendon and it will also help blood flow believe it or not. I know Karate utilizes a stretching bar mounted on the wall at most schools, but try it at home as well and do tippy toes up and down over and over with your balancing foot this will help as well.

Answer 3

I would listen to what your body is telling you and get some shoes.

Try this website.  They're awesome!  

And they have shoes specifically for martial artists.

http://www.sakuramartialarts.com

Click the link on the left margin: "Clothing/Shoes" and then choose a sub category near the top of the page: "Footwear".

Good luck!

Answer 4

Yes there is this little brace you can get it wont do anything to the other person. You can buy it at Wal-Mart or MCSports if you have one around your area.