conservative - 3rd week post-rupture
I ruptured my left AT three weeks ago while playing basketball. Didn’t get a proper diagnosis at the hospital, so I went to see a couple more doctors to determine the proper treatment. I opted for the conservative method even though I’m still young and would like to stay active in sports. Maybe not basketball, since this was my third major injury in the same leg, all basketball-related (tore my ACL two years ago and near-ruptured a ligament in my foot five years ago), but I would like to continue surfing, beach-volleyball and golf. My surgeon (Prof. Wenda in Wiesbaden, Germany) is quite confident that I would be able to continue these sports (after 6 months of rehab, yuck!), so we’ll see how it goes! His approach is to treat as many patients conservatively as possible, even if they are young athletes like me. I wanted to avoid a surgery because I made some bad experiences with my surgically repaired ACL (numbness, really annoying scar tissue), so I was quite happy that I ended up with him.
His method of treament consists of one week of immobilisation post rupture and mobilisation under full weight with a special brace for 8 weeks. After that they’ll take the brace off, but I’ll have to do specific rehab program for at least four months before I can start playing sports again.
In the second week post rupture I was given the special brace which locks the foot in a 23 degree angle and thus permits full weight bearing without putting any strain on the AT. The plan is to reduce the angle in my foot to 13 degrees after 4 weeks and to zero after 7 weeks.
The first week with the brace I was only allowed to sort of limp around on crutches and mimick a walking motion with my injured foot. I started walking short distances without crutches in the second week and it’s working out so far, no pain or instability. Permanent ultra-sound checks are key for conservative treaments, I’ve had two up until now and it seems to heal nicely.
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Thanks Achillos for sharing. I’m very interested in the non-surgical route although I had to opt for surgery since I couldn’t find a dr who would go the non-surgical route for me. Keep the blog updated on how you’re doing. Good luck on your rehab.