A simple treatment option for Achilles tendinopathy?

Many runners as well as other athletes suffer from Achilles tendinopathy, considered to be induced predominantly by overuse.1, 2 There exist several treatment modalities compromising both conservative and surgical procedures, but therapy is not always successful and additional options would be desirable.1, 2

Also fluoroquinolones like ciprofloxacin, frequently (probably too frequently) used for antibiotic therapy, can cause tendinopathy and at least in animals they induce also chondrotoxicity.3, 4 In animal experiments these adverse effects could significantly be diminished by dietary supplementation with magnesium and vitamin E.⁴

For more than 10 years I had suffered from Achilles tendinopathy and had experienced several injuries including partial rupture of one tendon. Eccentric training twice a day for six months (and continued thereafter at lower frequency) led to significant improvement, but some discomfort and moderate pain following longer workouts remained.

So far I was not able to discover publications reporting treatment attempts with magnesium and/or vitamin E in humans. Encouraged by the remarkable results of the animal experiments cited above I decided to try this kind of treatment myself.

I started to take 1 × 400 I.E. vitamin E and 2 × 150 mg magnesium citrate per day. After three months both discomfort and pain had completely disappeared.

Based on this (admittedly anecdotal) observation and on the published animal experiments I propose that the effect of magnesium and vitamin E in patients experiencing Achilles tendinopathy should be investigated.

I would appreciate if someone who is capable of doing this would perform a controlled clinical trial. If it turned out that I am not the only person responding to this simple treatment this could be a significant achievement for many athletes suffering from this widespread impairing condition.