This blog is a chronicle of my Achilles tendon rupture, surgery and recovery. It reflects just my personal experience, so don't take it as medical advice. For medical advice talk to your doctor. This site is organized by sections, so the best way to start is to follow the Table of Contents below. Good luck and I hope you find this site useful!
Table of Contents:
- How I Ruptured my Achilles Tendon
- The CAM Walker or Boot
- The R.I.C.E. Principle
- The Days Before the Surgery
- Pre-Surgery Tests
- Achilles Tendon Surgery: Hospital vs Outpatient Center
- Achilles Tendon Surgery: Facts About Anesthesia
- Types of Achilles Rupture Surgery
- The Day of the Surgery
- The Long Road to Walking Again: Rehabilitation Protocols
- What Does Non-Weight-Bearing (NWB) Really Mean?
- Setting Up the Bathroom and Taking Showers
- How to Use Crutches
- The First Three Weeks Post-Op: Rest and Elevation
- Weeks 4 to 9: Waiting it Out
- Weeks 9 to 12: Accelerating Weight Bearing (and Driving)
- Weeks 12-20: Physical Therapy and Ditching the Boot
- The Six Month Mark
21 comments:
Cool site, great info, good to share the misery..and hope..with others....
I ruptured my AT on May 27th playing squash, a game I have enjoyed for 20 years! I did my stretching and was warmed up. Had 2 games with a fun opponent, the point spread very even. In the 3 game I dove for a corner ball and went down like felled tree. Hearing stories from other people unfortunately I knew immediately what happened.
I had surgery on June 1st. Everything went well no pain, no painkillers, soft cast in the first few weeks. Then I made the MISTAKE!!! Wanting to be a hero and thinking the company I work for can not be without me I went back to work. Not having my foot elevated and sitting most of the time, I developed a blood clot in my calf.
Now I have to be on blood thinning medication /Coumadin/ for at least three months, plus the regular blood tests which I dread. The nurses are calling me the “quick responder” relating to the speed I loose my color and break out in a cold sweat before they even touch me. The actual injury is healing quite well and I am doing therapy. The day my cast came off I went in to our pool to wiggle my foot around. I can highly recommend this if you have access to any pool. Great for the blood circulation and little stress on the healing tendon. Plus the babes will help you get in and out of the pool!!!
So any one with a recent injury. After surgery take it easy
ELEVATE YOUR INJURED FOOT possibly ABOVE YOUR HEART when laying down WIGGLE YOUR TOES for circulation.
Right now the saddest part of this story is, that the company I have been working for, for over 20 YEARS is pissed that I had to take disability leave…….
Cheers
Benedek
I found your blog very interesting. I tore my AT on July 31 playing baseball. I was simply running, nothing special, when I experienced that ubiquitous feeling at the back of the leg. Unfortunately, my rupture is rather nasty. I have an evulsion fracture of the calcaneous (Heel) bone 2/3 across then the tendon shredded up about 5 inches into the calf muscle. I am in a NWB cast for 10 weeks to be followed by the cam boot and physio. Your site gave me some great information on what to expect. Hope your recovery continues to progress as well as it has so far.
nfl 2007:
Sorry to hear about your injury. On the positive side, you will get better and time will pass by fast. I just hit my 8 month mark yesterday and I can tell you things do get better. Hang in there!
Mario.
Hi - thanks for creating this blog!
I'm waiting to hear whether I've partially ruptured my AT. I heard and felt a pop and haven't been able to walk right (without pain at both ends of the tendon) since. I've had three weeks in a cast boot (with a cane) with no improvement. Do you have any information on or experience with a partial rupture? Maybe someone else here does?
Thanks again.
~Molly
Great blog. I was in the waiting room today getting an ultra sound on my snapped Achilles and a guy around my age came in, same silly boot on his foot and we got to talking and he ruptured his last night as well. My ultra sound didn't turn out so well, mine is completely torn, 3 cm apart.
The guy gave me this website addy, I told him I'd join as "Hasslehoff" if you read this, let's connect on here, and maybe we'll be able to share info and heal better
Dan
Can someone answer this quesion for me? Which is worse between your achilles tendon being fully ruptured or being shredded. Mine was slightly shredded and i chose to have surgery and I want to know is it possible that I can recover in 4months to leave for officer training with the military
Recovery time is all over the chart depending on how your doctor is treating your injury. The only timeline I have seen is /www.sportsinjuryclinic.net/cybertherapist/back/achilles/totalrupture/achrehab
Bottom line Most athletes can expect to be out of competition for 6 to 9 months after surgery. This statement is for a total rupture.
May 14 was surgery for a ruptred achilles tendon. I never has any real pain either before or after surgery. Weird! My only issue to date was the pain memdication that I took after surgery just in case. I reacted so badly to the stuff that I almost went to the emergency room. Perhaps it was a reaction to the general anasthetic.
Its so depressing when I hear about the length of rehab. I am 63 and am a partial invalid for the first time. Oh yes, a weekend warrior playing tennis on an already sore foot.
The one god thing that has come of this is a new found empathy for the disabled. I will be an advocate for public accesibility long after I am well. I thank God that I have a caring team of helpers at home (wife and family) together with very compassinate employees at work. It is hard to imagine those both young and old who are forced to care for themselves.
I remind myself every day that things can be a lot worse. I will eventually recover.
Thoughts?
Barry
http://www.mahalo.com/achilles-tendon-tear
Check out this website for even more new on achilles tendon ruptures! Help me improve the site.! I just ruptured mine and thought I'd make website with lots of resources.
Hi, I'm from Bangalore, India, female, 58, and in week 7 after surgery. I cant thank you enuf for all the information help and support in this site! For some reason( one never learns from other's experiences) I was convinced when my cast came off, I would be fine, and back to normal!
what a hope. I am now in a plastic boot of some kind strapped up to prevent tendon use, and shuffling around, and having to slowly learn to walk all over again!.
I had a below knee amputation in February 2008. In November, 2009 I ruptured my achilles tendon in my remaining leg. Went to the dr and he pulled the tendon out in his office. Said it was dead. I can not find anything to help with how to overcome obstacles on the internet. I can find how to relax your AT but not anything about when you no longer have one. I can not walk up stairs without assistance (or even a small step). Surely I am not the only one in the world that the achilles tendon has been removed from. Any help?
I just want to say what a great Blog this is...your injury sound pretty much identical to mine. I am only at Week 1 post-sugery but I have really enjoyed and benefitted from reading your journey because it sounds similar to what my surgeon has told me...Of course every situation will be different but even your work environment etc is so similar to mine...same foot too!!!Thanks for all the great info and I hope to be as cool with it all as you...sure it is all about how you heal etc but I also believe it is how positive you approach all aspects from surgery to RICE to rehab..Cheers Angela (Perth, Western Australia)
I ruptured my AT two weeks ago at judo practice. It didn't really ever hurt other than the initial pop and I walked on it the first week. I went to the sports medicine doctor first, he referred me to an ortho. Both of them did a Thompson test and suggested surgery. After reading the differences between surgery and non-surgical procedures I pushed back and asked to explore non-surgical. He put me in an aircast until I had an MRI done. What it found was that my tear happened higher than where normal tears occur near the muscle according to my ortho. In this case, he suggested that non-surgical was the way to go. Although this blog is extremely helpful, it weighs heavier on the surgical procedure side, which is what I've found to be the trend here in the US, contrary to international sites that lean to non-surgery. I read about studies showing that non-surgery can be better with the right PT because of the risk of complications with surgery. Can anyone relate to not having too much pain, and going the non-surgery route?
im 47 yo, quite active recreational athlete. I had a ruptured right achilles tendon 9 months ago, while running to catch a drop shot (tennis). I had surgical repair within a week. Had fiberglass cast for a month, then walking boot for another month, before being allowed on regular shoes.
7 weeks ago, i ruptured my left achilles tendon, also while moving forward to catch a short serve. after researching, going conservative this time.
im 4th week on a splint at 30 degrees equinus position, and now moving to 20 degrees.
quite frustrating to be on a slow rehab program. my doctor is kind of conservative, contrary to some recent reports which advocate accelerated rehab.
In the philippines, most would advocate surgery. its only because i asked around that i got the doctor to agree to a conservative(non surgical) protocol.
there's a great variation in protocols so i suggest you get the fastest rehab program available. usually its the doctors who treat a lot of athletes who are more agressive at getting you back on your feet early. Regular orthopods or rehab specialists usually are too conservative.
re casts, i have a very bad experience Most surgeons would now just use splints, instead of the cast. cast is really terrible, and splint is so much more tolerable. of course it all depends on your doctor, so i suggest you ask about rehab program before going through with it.
Thank God for this Blog! I tore my achilles tendon from my right heel on 19 July 2010 playing tennis and got surgery to reattach to the heel on 21 july- Three weeks now in non a weight boot (NWB) elevated on cruthes - I have discovered my right foot bottom skin seems to be rotting! I change my sock every other day. The staples were removed at 1 week and I can shower with the strips in place now - Has anyone out there had this skin rot problem and what did you do about it - george
Cool site, great info, good to share the misery..and hope..with others.... his is my second visit to this blog. You have done a admirable job.
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That’s great good think saw at this post I heard and felt a pop and haven't been able to walk right. I am doing therapy. The day my cast came off I went in to our pool to wiggle my foot around. I can highly recommend this if you have access to any pool. Great for the blood circulation and little stress on the healing tendon. I chose to have surgery and know is it possible. I reacted so badly to the almost went to the emergency room. Perhaps it was a reaction to the general anesthetic. It found was that my tear happened higher than where normal tears occur near the muscle according to my ortho. You are so nice article post at this page. I think this is use full inform.
This would definitely help others with such a kind of a problem to relate to the pains and the treatment lines.
Just to reassure fellow AT tear sufferers, it does get better. Please rest for the first few weeks. That means doing nothing except the bear minimum. It will really help in the long run. Do lots of toe wiggling, and stretch the fitter parts of your body. Do ask for help from others. Life gets better as your plaster is changed to a more bearable angle. Weight bearing is scary as is physio. Sadly you will see significant wastage of your calf muscle, but it comes back pretty quick. I have found an exercise bike safe(week 9) and short walks are a relief. Good luck, keep positive, find a new hobby or read all the books you promised yourself you would!
unique blog, I like your way of presentation.
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