Drummer Cafe Community Forum

I have had problems with my bass drum heel (right heel) for about a year now. It started, i'm sure, from drumming, and has become a chronic problem for me.

I am in a band that i think has some potential.... and have gone to everyone i can think of, podiatrist, physical therapist.... etc..

the band went on a planned break for a three months (ending in february)... which i thought was the perfect time to solve this problem.... but as the deadline to when i need to start praticeing is about a month away... my progress towards making my heel healthy is growing short, and i am running out of ideas (trying yoga, calf stretching, & others... even quit smoking to improve circulation). Even without any activity with kit drumming... my achilles tendon (heel) is sore on a daily basis.

i have searched by as many keywords as possible for any other drummer who is having problems with their achilles tendon... but find the community silent...

any thoughts in general.... esp from others with a similar problem would be greatly appreciated...

Have you tried putting your seat/ throne at a different hight?  You may be one of these people, like me and many many others, with a naturally short achilles.  If you are sitting too low the toes are not able to come up enough thus putting strain on your tendon.  This action, where the toes are raising is called Dorsi flexion; the opposite is called Plantar Flexion.  People with naturally short achilles can not play with heal down technique too well.

(Ps, I'm a pro drummer in the UK with Fitness instructor qualifications)

thanks for replying.... back about 8 months ago, my podiatrist told me that a short achilles is most likely the problem. I'm pretty sure i know when it happened... a day when i was trying to increase pedal speed in the heel up position. so im pretty sure that it is an injury, short of a tear (no loss of strength during flexion)... aggravated by the the hit during the plantar flexion. I switched to heel up playing a few weeks into the pain, and showed some improvement... another reaction was to lower pedal tension, but now i am wondering if maybe raising the tension would have been a better idea.   i'll try raising the throne when i start practicing again... later this month... thanks for the advice...

see a Rolfer.
or Structural Integration Therapist.
ask for just one hour of leg therapy, treatment #2.
it should fix that no problem, honest.