Achilles Tendon Rupture

The Achilles tendon is one of the most significant of the body’s tendons, in that it can be considered to constitute both the largest and most powerful of the tendons which can be found in the human body. For this reason an Achilles tendon rupture can be considered to be a significant impediment to a person’s health and quality of life, adversely affecting to a degree which can vary in its severity the level of personal comfort and freedom of movement of an individual. A number of treatments and helpful procedures have thus been formulated for the purpose of addressing the problems that arise from the occurrence of an Achilles tendon rupture. A person who feels that he or she may be suffering from the effects of just one such Achilles tendon rupture would therefore be well advised to attend to the kinds of forms which such treatment can take. Another useful step in implementing such a strategy can be to understand why the Achilles tendon holds such an important place in the human body, and the nature of the essential functions that it offers in terms of movement to the physically active individual.

Surprisingly, perhaps, for some people who find themselves facing an Achilles tendon rupture or feel that an occurrence of that condition may be yet facing them in the future, it might be found that the idea of an Achilles tendon rupture can be first found in the annals of ancient literature, albeit in a somewhat different form than most of those people who find themselves to be affected by this condition are likely to be dealing with. The name of the Achilles tendon can be first found being ascribed to this part of the body in an early medical textbook published in the Latin language in the year 1693 by the Flemish/Dutch anatomical expert Philip Verheyen under the title Corporis Humani Anatomia, in the course of which Verheyen made a reference to what we now refer to as the Achilles tendon as the “cord of Achilles.” In making this reference, Verheyen was appealing to the sensibilities of the audience he would have expected this textbook to receive at this time, which to a wide degree would have been exposed to a humanistic education, exposing them to the literature of the ancient Greeks and Romans. In this story the namesake for the Achilles tendon, who in adulthood would become of the greatest Greek heroes and a leading figure in the protracted struggle referred to as the Trojan War, figures as a newborn infant. His mother, the goddess Thetis, decides to protect him against receiving any kind of injury, such as, in a relatively petty form, an Achilles tendon rupture, by dipping him in the waters of the River Styx, the body of water which forms the boundary around the land of the Dead. In doing so, she holds him by the heel, leaving him vulnerable in that one place, just as people today are vulnerable in the Achilles tendon.