An injury to the Achilles tendon can easily interrupt anyone's active lifestyle. According to the Greek myth, Achilles was vulnerable only at his heel. His name has since been passed down to tendon, which connects our calf muscles to our heel bone. Tennis player Eric Carlson remembers the exact moment during a tennis game that he injured his Achilles tendon. "I slipped on the line and my foot grabbed and then there was just a loud pop."

Physician Ricardo Maribona says that an Achilles tendon rupture is quite a traumatic injury. Many patients report a sudden, extremely intense pain and also hearing a 'pop' or a 'snap.' They also say it feels like being kicked in the heel. "If it's minor you may be able to wait a few days, ice it, elevate it, do the typical things. Anti inflammatory medications but certainly if it starts lasting more than a week to 10 days you should seek medical attention or help to have it evaluated."

Sometimes surgery to heel the tendon may be required, as was the case with Eric. "He did the least amount of dissection that he could with my tendon, so I was really happy with that."

Dr. Maribona also says that preventative measures before you begin an activity are key to preventing this type of injury. "Making sure you stretch before and after activities and you have a proper warm up and warm down period.

Also, Dr. Maribona says footgear is very, very important. Making sure you have the right footgear for the activity you're going to be doing.

Achilles tendon ruptures are most commonly seen in men who are around the age of 30-40 years old.