alton2012uk’s UK Achilles Tendon Rupture Recovery Blog

11 Responses to “Week 8 - When can I drive ?”

1. upbeat48, on February 24th, 2013 at 11:24 am Said:

   I drove for the first time today (week 14 post op) my physio said to just sit and practise pushing the clutch in and out so as to get my leg used to it which definitely helped. Confidence in your achilles and its strength here is key, as is ensuring to keep up your rehab and strengthening exercises. I still can’t do a single leg calf raise but it’s almost there. I am working on the calf raise by first going up on two feet and ensuring weight is 50/50 balance then gently trying to sway more weight onto the injured leg until eventually it can hold. I have read that being able to do an emergency stop should be the aim,

2. hurricane, on February 24th, 2013 at 11:39 am Said:

   I just learned to drive with my left foot. I had no problem. I blogged about it here: http://achillesblog.com/hurricane/2012/12/21/left-foot-driving/

3. Lisa, on February 24th, 2013 at 12:29 pm Said:

   Mine said I could drive as soon as I got rid if the boot, which was about 8 weeks. That does seems like a crazily high threshold. I haven’t had any strength issues driving at all.

4. normofthenorth, on February 24th, 2013 at 12:42 pm Said:

   I don’t remember asking, and doubt that I did. In addition to the risk of causing an accident, there’s the risk of rerupturing from stomping on the brake in 2 shoes. And OTOH is the nuisance and loss of control… I think most of us who made it through without a disaster think we did it the right way — whether or not anybody else would agree!

5. andrew1971, on February 24th, 2013 at 12:45 pm Said:

   By the time my Doctor told me driving was okay I’d been doing so for 3 weeks.

   Problem with asking permission - once they (doctors) give it to you, there’s no going back and in some countries may be considered liable (in some way) for any accidents that occur due to the Achilles re-rupturing during an emergency stop….which is why you may not get a writtent permission until wk12 or beyond (depending on the confidence of your doctor).

   Mine was a self test - in my car parked up with engine off - practicising gear changes, accelerating and braking as well as finding the courage to emergency stop- then doign it all over again to be absolutely sure - it’s all covered in my blog.

   One thing I was told - don’t drive and then go for a long walk early on and take a break every 30mins if possible.

6. Xplora, on February 24th, 2013 at 3:15 pm Said:

   The issue of driving comes down to the level of risk you are prepared to take and the liability if something bad was to happen. Some people drive in a cast or boot or use the other foot. If you can confidently operate all the vehicles controls under ALL circumstances then you should be able to drive. Modern cars do not need a great deal of force to stop quickly but in an emergency it is our brain that tells us to push harder. We look at driving or getting a licence as a right of passage and hate it when that right is taken away because it refers to some level of independance. Cars can be a lethal weapon. If you had a collision while not cleared to drive then firstly your insurance would be void and secondly the Police would take an extremely dim view. If someone was to get hurt because of this need for independance then you could be facing serious charges let alone how you would feel. It is OK to say ‘I did it so you should be fine’ but the risk is your own. I would recommend getting clearance from your doc.

7. ryanb, on February 25th, 2013 at 9:50 am Said:

   I think Stuart (Xplora) offers good advice there. That said, I was a left foot driver starting on about day 10. I never felt unsafe in terms of control or re-injuring myself (injured right leg was safetly tucked/crossed in behind the left leg); but to be safe from a liability standpoint, it’s probably best to get a note from your doctor and/or PT, saying you are physically capable of doing so.

   To be honest, starting out, it never even occurred to me that there might be liability issues. There is nothing on my license that says which foot I have to use to operate the pedals. Stuart has convinced me that it’s better to be safe than sorry in this regard.

   I guess the other thing I’ll say about this is that I’ve been here long enough to realize this doesn’t work for everybody. You obviously need an automatic transmission to do this. Some just don’t seem to have the requisite coordination with their other foot. I’m used to all sorts of different controls (motorcycles, ATV’s, Snowmobiles, standard transmission cars, in both left and right hand drive, aircraft, etc.) So, I’m used to quickly adapting my feet and hands to doing different tasks in a vehicle. Using the left foot on the pedals took all of about 1 minute to get comfortable with. That won’t be the case for everybody though.

   I started left foot driving (and driving my manual transmission cars) when I transitioned to two shoes at 5.5 weeks post surgery. For a few more weeks, I would catch myself left foot braking sometimes. Some of this was just habit- but sometimes (like waiting at a long red light), my right foot would ask for a little break from constantly applying pressure to the pedal.

8. ryanb, on February 25th, 2013 at 11:21 am Said:

   Type-o, last paragraph:

   > I started left foot driving (and driving my manual transmission cars) when I transitioned to two shoes at 5.5 weeks post surgery.

   I started RIGHT foot driving at 5.5 weeks-

9. alton2012uk, on February 27th, 2013 at 5:37 pm Said:

   Thanks everyone for the responses & advice.

   I think this means that there is no medical consensus on timings (that sounds familiar), my consultant is setting an excessively high safety margin, and as Xplora states it comes down to individual appetite for risk.

   I will try to get some advice outside of this forum on how a UK insurer and the law would view an accident claim involving someone known to be in ATR rehab. I’ll post if I find out anything.

10. Lori, on May 21st, 2013 at 1:44 am Said:

    Next week marks 5 months post surgery for me, and I STILL cannot do single-leg heel raises! It’s the one thing I still cannot get my foot to do, no matter how much mind over matter I try! (I still come down steps like a child, most of the time, too… one step at a time, but that is getting better. But the heel lifts? Not at all.

11. alton2012uk, on May 22nd, 2013 at 5:43 pm Said:

    Lori, my initial single heel raises were really hop ups just to get the heel off the floor with the knee rolled forward and centre of gravity shifted forwards. I have a Week 19 video update which shows them. Between month 5 & 6 was when I first managed to do controlled lifts but height is only a quarter to a third of the good leg.

    It is frustrating bit keep at it & good luck.

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