Comments on: Going back to sport that caused ATR?

By: Tony B.

Tony B. — Sun, 08 Apr 2012 04:24:25 +0000

I’ve posted this on other blogs. I would listen to your body. And your body very emphatically has said NO (as evidenced by a major tendon snapping). It stinks - but it looks like my future is going to be cardio workouts.

By: lsjoberg

lsjoberg — Sun, 15 Jan 2012 21:53:35 +0000

i have gone back to basketball (the sport during which i was injured) and even added new sports that are probably even harder on the achilles. the nicest thing for me with going back to basketball is that i have decades of muscle memory and i am able to really train without thinking about the achilles, which has helped my rehab tremendously. it will take a loooooong time for me not to think about the achilles whenever i see sports on tv, though…

By: Stuart

Stuart — Wed, 11 Jan 2012 07:55:33 +0000

Kristin - You are quite rigth to say we will never know why this injury happened to us and not others who have done similar activities. I would give some caution to you about stretching. I was brought up a runner and was taught to stretch before activity but later in life I stopped stretching before running, opting for a warm up of the tissues doing similar activity at a lower level. At the end I would warm down and do some light stretching. Stretching cold tissues is not good for them. I did not suffer any more injury going down this path and have completed many ultra marathons. You are also right to say that we should be grateful to our body. I still have some issues with the recovering tendon and the other tendon still gives me some pain but I believe I will cope better if the other goes on me and I will know that I will be able to return to my chosen activity when healed. In the mean time, life goes on and we should be duty bound to make the most of it.

By: kristin123

kristin123 — Wed, 11 Jan 2012 04:15:56 +0000

I have thought of this too…will I try soccer again? The thought of another rupture is terrifying. It was a new sport for me so my life will go on if I never play again. However my Achilles popped when I took a step so while it happened on the soccer field, did it really happen as a result of playing soccer? My guess is, no. I could have just as easilly cleaning the house, and I am guessing I wouldn’t be able to give that activity up for life. I think it must have been years and years of slow wear and tear. Was it basketball in college, the cross country bike ride I did after college, a hiatus of inactivity while i had babies, the half marathon I ran the month prior, years of not stretching as much as I should have? I will never know. I do know that there was nothing that predicted this injury for me, no tendinitis, no pain, and I was in the best shape of my adult life in many ways. I think I will be smarter when I get back to sports…more stretching, more listening to my body, more rest. Mostly I hope I will be grateful of what my body can do because we never know when injury will take it all away.

By: nickokie

nickokie — Wed, 11 Jan 2012 00:35:40 +0000

I think the answer to this depends on priorities and what is important in your life. If you injured it doing something that you are passionate about and something that has been a big part of your life then get back at it. Me personally I ruptured mine doing box jumps during Crossfit. Crossfit is something that is a huge part of my life. Here I am 7 months since my surgery and I am back at doing box jumps just as hard as I was going when I ruptured it in May last year. However a lot of people will have a very different perspective. Some people have injured it when they played basketball or football on a whim - they might be a little more hesitant. I think a lot of people realize they cannot be down for a couple months because they have a job that can’t be missed or a family to take care of. Looking back on this now I think the recovery process was a very short period in my life so I don’t plan on that little bump in the road getting in my way of what I love to do.

By: bcurr

bcurr — Fri, 06 Jan 2012 08:26:29 +0000

Thankfully kathyw posted first. Her story (apologies if I got the sex wrong) is similar to quite a few peoples on here in that it happens just doing something normal.

I don’t think anyone wants the other achilles to go as well but firstly I know I would rather it go doing something than not and secondly there is a sporting life even after 2 achilles ruptures (see normofthenorth as an example, 2 ruptures, heart op, in his 50s and still kicking ass on the volleyball court!)

By: ryanb

ryanb — Thu, 05 Jan 2012 20:39:46 +0000

I feel a little fortunate in that I didn’t hurt my Achilles participating directly in a sport- rather I ruptured it training for my sport. I have gone back to the sport (speedskating), but will avoid the specific - and similar - training exercise which caused the injury.

Mostly to avoid a co-lateral rupture, I imagine I will always try to be a little cautious with activities which impart high impulsive loads into the Achilles area.

By: rosethorn

rosethorn — Thu, 05 Jan 2012 20:21:34 +0000

My injury was the result of a culmination of activities, one of them being treadmill running, which I will undoubtedly never do again. I am young as well (26) and prefer to play things by ear.

If it feels good, do it! If it doesn’t… Well, you know

By: kathyw

kathyw — Thu, 05 Jan 2012 15:42:37 +0000

My “activity” was walking down the street…I expect I’ll do that again I had had a few years of off and on soreness in the tendon, so the rupture was not a total surprise to me.

However, when I blew out my knee playing volleyball in 2001, I decided not to play volleyball ever again, and have been comfortable with that decision–I kind of wince when I see others playing volleyball and moving the way I was when I twisted & fell.