It has been one year since my original ATR while jumping around BAREFOOT in the gym.
First I got conservative treatment, however after the re-rupture not quite 8 months ago I opted for surgery.
The good news is that the past month I became comfortable on my feet, I do not worry about tripping or slipping anymore. I can jump, jog a bit, not too well, but I have never been a runner. I am able to walk fast and swim as well as before. I am attending and enjoying my regular (low impact) fitness classes at the Y. I reached my goal of resuming my 7 km week-end walks.
The disappointment is that I still can not forget about my injury.
I lost the original (very good) flexibility of my foot in the dorsiflexion. That makes squatting down, leaning forward a bit awkward. I get cracking in my forefoot when doing heel lifts or strong movements, which I never did before the surgery. I still get stiff if I sit for a while and have to stretch a little or I limp the first few steps.
What bothers me most is the pain in the front of my foot - not in the heel! - if I walk too much. (more than 2 hours) So while the surgery fixed up a lot of issues, it messed up some other parts a bit.
The nearly 6 months total of immobilization weakened the calf significantly. Though I can do heel lifts my injured calf is still 3 cms skinnier than the other one. I try to work on that but it is hard to keep motivated after so many months.
It is kind of annoying that with all this time spent immobilized I got in the habit of using mostly my good leg, putting more weight on it sparing the injured one when I have to get up from the floor etc. And with all this merciful treatment my injured calf got lazy and does not want to engage. Sometimes I feel like I have to do a few heel lifts to wake it up.
I find certain issues are taken care of if we just give our body some time. I see how eager everybody is to get back to normal as soon as possible, and it gets quite frustrating for most. Unfortunately it seems this injury does take a year of recovery. I am still optimistic that by July, that will be the anniversary of my surgery, my calf will be stronger.
So I wish you all lots of patience and determination for your recovery.
Thanks for the 1 year Posting.
To hear how others have made it through the pain and frustration, and have come out on the better side of it is great.
When it is time to give my one year report, I’ll hopefully be in my 2 or 3 month of having my other AT repaired.
Again thank you…and good luck.
Sounds very familiar…walking fine most of the time, but still need stretches in the morning and after sitting for some time.
Dorsiflexion still not great, but doesn’t interfere with “normal” life.
Guess we’ll both just have to persevere some more to keep on improving. My physio says soft tissue is still regenerating for up to 18 months.
Best wishes,
Sam
You don’t describe the pain in the ball of your foot much, but sounds like it could be plantar fasciitis. I started to get similar pain a couple of months ago, behind the ball of the foot. I found it related to pushing off using the toes to compensate for calf weakness. After a few weeks of stretching the toes (leg out in front of you, knee straight, dorsiflex the foot, and pull the toes back towards the ankle) it got much better. Also helped with a tight sensation at the base of the heel.
Finally I rarely get these aches, it happens when I walk too much.
All I know, I did not have it after the first rupture, it started after when I tried weight bearing after the surgery, after the 2nd rupture. It felt like I had a broken toe, and after a few weeks the pain kept changing, moving to a different spot. Hopefully it is behind me now. But I certainly did enjoy stretching my toes as you described.