Medical history

Your health professional will ask you questions about your past medical history, including injuries to your Achilles tendon. These questions may include the following:

• Did your pain start gradually or suddenly?
• If gradually, what sports or activities are you involved in? How often do you do these activities? Does changing how you do the activity affect the pain?
• Have you injured your Achilles tendon before? How was it treated?
• Have you had any corticosteroid injections in your Achilles tendon?
• If your pain started suddenly, what were you doing when you were injured?
• Did you feel or hear a pop at the time of injury?
• Could you walk after the injury?

Physical exam

During a physical exam, your health professional will thoroughly examine you, including:

• Checking and comparing both legs to see what is normal motion and how the injury (tendinopathy or rupture) has affected your lower leg and ankle.
• Checking for swelling and tenderness.
• Feeling your lower leg for gaps in your Achilles tendon, thickening of the tendon, or bony growths on the heel bone.
• Observing how you stand and walk.
• Performing the calf squeeze test to identify a ruptured Achilles tendon.

Additional testing may include a:

• Knee-flexion test, to observe foot movement when the knee is flexed.
• Needle test, to observe the movement of a needle that is inserted into the calf near the tendon.
• Pressure test, to observe the pressure on an inflated wrap around the calf.