Can a simple home workout beat clinic visits for achilles pain?
NCT ID NCT06374654
First seen Jun 27, 2026 · Last updated Jun 27, 2026
Summary
This study compares two ways to treat new Achilles tendon pain: doing exercises at home versus going to a physical therapist. About 56 adults with Achilles tendinopathy will be randomly assigned to one of the two groups for 12 weeks. Researchers will track pain, function, and mood over a year to see if home-based care works just as well.
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Study facts
What this study's own registry entry says, in plain language.
- Phase
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Not a phased trial
Phase numbers describe drug development. The registry uses this when they do not apply, as it does for trials of devices, procedures or behaviour changes, and for observational studies.
- Participants
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About 56 people
The number the study aims to enrol. It can still change while the study runs.
- Started
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Jul 2025
- Expected to finish
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Jul 2027
An estimate. End dates often move.
- Lead sponsor
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Other sponsor
The registry's catch-all category, for sponsors it does not file as a company, a government agency, or a research network.
Who can take part
This study's own entry requirements. Only the study team can say for certain whether you qualify.
- Ages
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18 years and older
- Sex
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Anyone
- Healthy volunteers
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Accepted
You do not need to have the condition being studied to take part.
Show the full entry requirements Hide the full entry requirements
Copied word for word from the study's registry entry, so the wording is the study team's rather than ours.
Inclusion Criteria: * Must be 18 years of age * Must have a new diagnosis of Achilles tendinopathy that has presented with pain, thickening and tenderness at the mid substance of the Achilles tendon * Symptoms present for at least 6 weeks Exclusion Criteria: * Patients with insertional Achilles pain or tenderness or concomitant plantar foot pain * Patients who have had prior treatment with home eccentric stretching or physical therapy * Patients who have prior diagnosis and treatment for Achilles tendinopathy * Patients with history of injection (corticosteroid or sclerosing agents) to the Achilles tendon * Patients with inflammatory arthritis * Recent fluoroquinolone antibiotics (these agents are known to alter Achilles tendon physiology) * Patients who have had prior foot or ankle surgery * Individuals that do not speak English * Bilateral disease * Pregnant women
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Genom att skicka in godkänner du våra Användarvillkor
Conditions
The condition(s) this trial relates to.
As listed by the trial registrant
The condition terms exactly as the trial's registrant entered them.
How to take part
Only the study team decides who joins. These are the ways to reach them.
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The places running it
1 site. The list below names each one and where it is.
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The official record
The full official record for this study. This one lists no contact details, but it is the first place any would appear.
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A doctor treating you
A doctor who knows your case can contact a study site on your behalf, and can tell you whether this study is worth pursuing at all.
Contacts and locations
Locations
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Brigham and Women's Hospital
Boston, Massachusetts, 02130, United States
More trials for these conditions
Other studies related to the condition(s) this trial covers.
- Can collagen shots around the heel tendon speed recovery?
- Tendon pain showdown: which injection works better?
- Keyhole surgery may beat open cuts for achilles repair
- Pilates put to the test for achilles pain relief
- Exercise study for sore achilles tendons pulled before it began
- New tool may predict who will suffer after achilles surgery