Testimonials

Achilles Tendonitis (Male/ 20's)

This patient is a middle-distance runner who were suffering from Achilles tendonitis for a while. 

Symptoms before treatment

In my late twenties, my personal record started to improve, and I started to participate in domestic selection races. At the age of 29, when I tried to increase my training and improve my record even more, I felt pain in my Achilles tendon.

The pain started to appear in March, and I received massage, PRP injections, shock waves, and other treatments, but they were not effective. When I was thinking that I might not be able to cure the pain anymore, I heard about an athlete in different team who got better after taking a catheter treatment. So, I came to OKUNO CLINIC in Tokyo for the first time in October.

Findings from our doctor

He was in a hurry to improve his record as an athlete, but the ultrasound clearly showed problem blood vessels, and the Achilles tendon itself was swollen about 1.5 times bigger than normal. 

Tendons are tissues with few blood vessels, technically speaking, they are called oligovascular tissues. It was believed that the more blood vessels are in a tendon, the better it is. In fact, the area such as Achilles tendon where strong forces are applied, it is known that there are abnormal unnecessary blood vessels entering the tendon. 

We showed him the blood vessels in Achilles tendon by ultrasound scho, and explained to him that not only the pain but also the condition of tendon would be improved by treating them. 

Problem blood vessels were observed in the angiography, the same area of blood vessels seen in ultrasound echo. We used a transcatheter to reduce his problem blood vessels. This treatment took approximately 40 mins. The patient said that he was able to receive the treatment without any worries as he could check his condition by the screen during the treatment. 

After the treatment

There was no immediate change in the pain right after the treatment. When I practiced about two weeks after the treatment, I felt the pain on the next day. So, I asked the doctor, and he told me to rest for another two weeks. 

One month after the treatment, an echocardiography showed that the signal in the blood vessels had decreased, so the doctor said that it’s okay to resume practice again. This time I did not feel any pain and kept practicing. When I came back to the track two months later, the swelling of the Achilles tendon had also improved. I still had some tenderness, pain when pushing, but were able to keep running without severe pain. 

It has been two years since his treatment, and he is still able to run without any recurrence of Achilles tendon pain. 

For those who have given up on Achilles tendon pain and the treatment, please consider our transcatheter treatment.