In a unpopular and unlikely move, Tiger Woods the once most dominant professional golfer in the world, abruptly walked off the course this past weekend at Doral's Blue Monster. Mr. Woods turned to his caddy and said "that's it, lets go." They summoned the course officials and a cart jettison them to the parking lot where Woods got into his car and sped off. The only thing he said was a brief sentence from his car window that he had pain and it was his left leg.
I say unlikely because Tiger gutted out one of the best golf performances I've ever seen in the U.S. Open win over Rocco Mediate in a 91 hole marathon. Playing with a severe knee injury Tiger decided to play though the pain to accomplish what other golfers dream about pain free...three U.S. Open titles.
As time developed it was learned that Woods had injured his Achilles tendon in his left leg. Apparently the pain began early in the round where Woods showed signs of discomfort after certain shots. You could see that Woods was in pain as he continued to play but then he made an executive decision to 'shut it down.' With the Masters looming in the next few weeks, I'm sure that the combination of his declining play and knowing if he continued to press the injury, knowing the possibility of worsening, it was easy to say to himself "lets stop here before it gets worse."
The Achilles tendon is a tough fibrous tendon connecting the calf muscle to the heel of your foot. The Achilles tendon is the thickest tendon as well as being the strongest. When you push off your foot in a forward manner you active the gastrocnemius (calve) muscle along with the Achilles tendon. This combination allows you to stand on your toes, walk, run and jump. What many people don't know, it's not just the muscles of the calves. It's important that the muscles of the entire leg stay strengthened to protect you from any future injury.
The most common Achilles tendons injuries are Achilles tendinitis and Achilles tendon rupture. Tendinitis is an inflammation of the tenon itself that can be painful. An Achilles tendon rupture normally comes on in a very rapid onset usually the patient hearing a "pop" and experiencing a severe sharp pain in the calve area.
Active people between the ages of 30 to 60 are more prone to Achilles rupture which leads to surgery. Many times the patient will experience a partial tear of the the tendon which obviously isn't as severe as a complete tear but can be just as painful. Partial and full Achilles tendon ruptures are most likely to occur in sports requiring sudden eccentric movement such as tennis, sprinting, racquet ball, basketball and long distance running.
When the muscles of the lower extremity lose their ability to properly absorb force that force will continue to travel to the joint to where the tissues of that area are not designed to absorb force. If that force continues the likelihood of stress occurring to the tissue is high. This repetitive stress can weaken the area and with one ballistic move, the tendon fibers can break down resulting in micro tears or to a severe full tear of the tendon.
The key is proper strengthening of the muscles of the legs from the thighs, back of the thighs, shins and calves. Build strength, endurance and the ability to absorb force then you can feel confident that you will not injury your Achilles tendon.
"Got good news from doc tonight. Only mild strain of left Achilles. Can resume hitting balls late in week and hopeful for next week," Woods tweeted.
The good part is that Tiger Woods didn't completely tear the Achilles tendon but let's hope he gets the appropriate advice to lean how to properly absorb force. With the right treatment Woods could be playing pain free and free from the fear of future injury in a week or so. I've been able to do this with numerous athletes in my office and I see no reason why this can be done for Tiger.
Dr. Malcolm Conway is a sports injury specialist who treats all types of sports injuries in a non-surgical, non-drug fashion. His methods are described by some advanced and innovative but more importantly affective. For more information on injury prevention or to ask Dr. Conway questions please go to www.conwayclinic.com.
