Hi All,
the Vacoped boot came off this morning. Such a relief. A little nervous though, as the boot was my security blanket.
Anyways, had my break down on the Physio i’m supposed to do. Did some exercises there and then and it felt fine and strong.
Tendon feels a little tender/Stiff, my calf has lost alot of muscle, but other than that i feel fine. Bought an old mans walking stick the other day. 
Catch u all later.
quick update:- 6weeks done now in the Vacoped. Now i’m at this stage the time seems to have flown by. Which is good.
its still frustrating not driving, not exercising, not being able to take it off for showers/baths. but hey ho, only 2 weeks left now until it comes off.
So the nurse changed the angle down to 0-30degrees on Tuesday. I was almost skipping into the doctors, i came out hobbling 
the angle change was really weird. As soon as i put my foot down with full weight on it, my tendon stretched and boy did i feel it. that was quite a reality check, my tendon although healing is no way on earth ready. I obviously knew that beforehand, but i went into the doctors feeling like i was almost going to jog out of there with the angle lowered, how wrong i was. that day walking and getting out of cars was a real pain.
Wednesday evening i was still using the crutches. but a work outing to the Bowling Alley encouraged me to ditch the crutches and try and have a bowl. i managed 1 and half games until my leg was hurting, or i was bowling crap.
anyway today my leg felt a little tender, but ive managed to get through the morning without the crutches. So my tendon has learnt that i need its help. still a bit sore, but walking feels much better especially without the vacoped wedge sole.
so cant wait for the 23rd when the boot comes off.
Hi All,
5 weeks into wearing the Vacoped now. Crutches have pretty much gone now, except when i go to work, just to get some extra sympathy
Next Tuesday the angle on the boot will change to 0 degrees. so extra stress on the tendon. but hopefully it is starting to strengthen up.
the Boot doesn’t really bother me as much as it did in the first few days. I’m still desperate to go for a drive, play footy, go to the shops without my wife taking me. Think she is just about sick of driving now.
Not doing any exercise at the moment, which is a pain. bought a rowing machine, so i’m hoping that will help with cardio and upper body strength.
anyways looking forward to having the level taken down, and a smaller “wedge” sole on the vacoped.
well 4 weeks have certainly gone quick, after the initial first couple of days of feeling the world is at an end!
so the doctors have altered the angle of the boot now. so its 15-30degrees. so now i can walk almost like a normal person.
finally my tendon is starting to pull on my calf
then i go back in two weeks time to get the angle adjusted again to 0 - 30degrees.
On the 23rd October the boot finally comes off, hopefully. Cant wait to start physio, training, doing something to get active again. but i know i have to take things easy and not rush.
all the best to everyone with an ATR.
Welcome to AchillesBlog.com.
This is your first post. Edit or delete it, then start blogging!
Following link will take you to your blog’s “command center” where you can write your posts:
http://AchillesBlog.com/andygreen/wp-admin/
Be sure to fill out your city, Achilles rupture date, surgery date, etc.. (if you know it) here:
Fill out my Achilles Profile Here
When you do, you can keep track of your recovery progress and see your information on the Marathon Tracker.
Here’s more info: using Achilles Timeline Widget
Please change this post’s title to something more descriptive. Just leaving it as “Hello World” leads people to believe that you haven’t updated your first post!
If you have any questions, don’t be afraid to ask!
Dennis
Nice article content you shared here, Well done
and looking forward to such other different kinds of articles.
And you can visit custom essay writing service writers help too.
Hello friend, your website is nice as you take care of your visitors and that is what I love…
cannot wait
Nice article. Thanks for sharing. Visit service host superfetch
Get the Informative article and learn that where do i find my computer windows 10 operating system if you are new on windows 10 then our article might be helpful for you.
i have been wearing my vac-ped for 10 months now after rutpuring my calf muscle on 3 seperate occasions. have found it helpful with the injury hopeing nly to be wearing it another few months, they normally reduce the degree by one notch a week till flat then intense pysio and hydro.
I posted a few days but my comment is still awaiting moderation for some reason. There’s a link right on this site’s homepage. http://Www.vacocast.com . I got mine within 3 days.
hi Peter,
sorry for the late reply.
yes i found the Vacoped boot very good indeed. easy to get around. a bit annoying keeping it on during the night, but i got used to it.
recovery at the moment is going well. can do very light jogging for a short time. my heel hurts more than everything.
good luck in trying to find one in the USA
I ordered mine from here and got it in a few days http://www.vacocast.com/pro/
I was looking at vacoped boots to replace a cam walker that I received from my ortho. How did you like your boot. They are nearly impossible to find in the USA.
Sounds great, but Watch Your Step!
Hillie, yes been on the 30-0degree since tuesday. so all in all been in the boot for just gone size weeks.
Hi Andy
Unless I am missing something your treatment is, to put it mildly, less than optimum, and less than you need. These boots are designed to encourage early, sustainable mobility with increasing strength. By now your boot should typically be at about 30 - 0º PF (you’re close I think) and removable for bed, and to do some simple exercises, as well as wash as often as you want to, changing the cotton liner as you wish. From what you say you are little better off than having a simple cast.
Why not point out the YouTube videos to your guys (instructional as well as swimming and break dancing), and even suggest that they speak to orthopods at, I think, Edinburgh and certainly Exeter, as you understand that other patients are being treated differently.
Oped UK is in the Devizes and you could call them too for advice.
You might need to give your leg a day or more to stretch a little before you drive, then try somewhere quiet first to make sure that you can at least drive safely - your atr is left leg so will depend on your clutch strength, and traffic type.
Good luck.
Hi Hillie, yes every two weeks ive been going in to have my leg washed/cleaned and the inner lining replaced.
not a big deal, but i would have preferred to have the option to do this at home. As the waiting times were from 1hour-3hours thats with an appointment. they should at least call/txt to say they are running behind.
Or go back to the old days when you were buying food from the counter and had to take a ticket with a number on! then you would know where you sit amongst the others waiting.
didnt get offered any seals or anything. so Bin liner has done the job or hanging my leg out the bath.
i’m just hoping my leg is strong enough the week my boot comes off to enable me to drive.
when i was at the hospital on tuesday one chap had ruptured his tendon 2weeks back, so he was their for his clean etc… but he had no cructches and he had on the flat sole and not even the wedge! so he was walking in really funny. i told him to have a word and get that sorted because you should be on a wedge heel.
I had access to a fixed Aircast boot with heel wedges and a hinged boot left over from my previous ATR on the other side. I stayed with the fixed boot, following the UWO protocol, until around 7 weeks, when I switched to the hinged boot, letting it flex from neutral to way plantarflexed. The studies I’ve seen with boots set to hinge early in the rehab haven’t shown results as good as UWO’s. Maybe there are some newer or better studies, but I haven’t seen them, so I’m skeptical that “hinging” in the early stages of FWB is helpful.
I think I was about 4-ish weeks post-non-op when I started showering boot-less. (My blog remembers better than I do now!)
Hi Andy
Good to see that another enlightened NHS trust has the Vaco boots for its ATR patients.
Flat sole for me was (I seem to remember, it was 6 months ago) from when I had 30 - 15º PF. I was in the 30º fixed PF for first 2 weeks of boot with the big wedge sole. The 2 weeks before that I was in a light fibreglass equinous cast.
A pity that patients at Leicester appear not to be trusted with their boots though - the tape idea does away with much of the practicality of Oped’s excellent design which includes an extra liner for wash and wear. Do you have to go a fortnight before the insert is changed? That was one of the disadvantages of the old casts. For my first 2 weeks I kept my boot on in the shower but covered it up. Then I washed my ATR foot in the bidet (wondered what it was for, now I know….).
Vaco boots do come with optional seals - surprised your people don’t use them just to make sure.
H
hi Sheena,
well the doctors and Nurses told me that people do take them off but were not supposed to. the nurses are supposed to fit a piece of tape over the middle velcro strap not really to stop people taking it off, but so they know if someone has taken it off.
the more today has gone on, walking around is going well i can feel the tendon stretching (in a good way).
didn’t have to buy the vaco as it was free with NHS Leicester. yeah flat sole for when your 0-30degrees.
all the best.
Hi there,
how come you’re not taking the boot off for the bath? I have been in my boot since week two and so long as I didn’t get my wound soggy it was fine. In fact my surgeon say to shower it with clean water every day. Are you non op?
I bought my own Vaco and went down to 20 degrees yesterday with the wedge sole. My guy said weight bear as tolerated so most of the time I’m without crutches. I did try the flat sole but I’m not supposed to use that until I’m at 10 degrees so a couple of weeks. If it hurts, rest it but you seem to be doing that anyway.
Lots of people ride stationary bikes with the boot on if you want some exercise. Also, if you think neutral is too tough you can always go back 5 degrees for a couple of days?
Hi Sheena,
i wear High Heels!!! lol
i don’t…seriously. just wear a trainer on my good foot.
yes it is a pain being high up on one side. hopefully when i get the boot level down to 0 degrees it wont be as bad. Looking forward to tuesday when they adjust the height, then only 2 more weeks to take the boot off…hopefully.
i use the full length of the foot, so i walk as normal just feels my ATR side is on stilts
Hi Andy
did you use anything to even up your other leg when wearing the big Vaco sole? I have just bought one and it is lovely but difficult due to height difference so have a high heeled boot on my other foot at the moment. When you walk do you weight bear just from the middle of your foot as your heel doesn’t touch the ground. In my none hinged Aircast I use my heel to take the weight.You are supposed to wear the big sole until 10 degrees PF. They sell an even up may have to order one.
Andy, if you go to the main page and look to the left for studies and protocols. . . click on it and the UWO Study is linked on that page, under op vs. non-op or some such. The protocol is also tucked into my blog page at bit.ly/UWOProtocol (yes, that’s a URL, if not a link). Good luck.
Hi Andy,
I wish I could say it was….I simply put one foot into a very gentle incline, pushed off and POP! I knew immediatley although it took an MRI to confirm…Just always remember what you’re nursing. I know I go on about this on this site but it’s just because I don’t want others to re rupture. It is soooo easy to forget what you had once it feels better.
Also, don’t push off the side of the swimming pool when swimming….bad on the tendon. Just use your good foot and don’t walk down ladder steps into the pool for six months.
Hi Susie,
well i have a big wedge sole with the vacoped, with the angle set at 15-30 degrees.
im hoping that next week (6weeks in boot) they will change to the flat vacoped sole. and the angle set at 0-30 degrees.
Im same as Hillie, i was pretty much weight baring straight away in the vacoped. doctors said i could use the crutches or not. past week i’ve not needed them really. Im hoping this will be a good thing and encourage my tendon to heal gain strength quicker. thats the theory.
Hi Susie
How often are you being reviewed by the physio’s? My protocol was similar to Exeter’s and I was in a fibreglass cast for first 2 weeks, then just 2 more weeks with the big achilles sole attached to the boot. Then it was the ‘normal’ thinner sole and much easier. Weight bearing began after I started with the Vaco boot.
H
Wow - speedy work! I’m 7 weeks post op and only just persuaded consultant to let me weight bear at all, so still with both crutches and putting foot on floor for first time. Such a relief as all this hopping has made me really fearful of a good leg achilles rupture!
I think you deserve a bit of work sympathy - this is a pretty horrid injury and the recovery a steep climb so make the most of the odd bit of healthy “poor me”!
I would agree with Sheena about the rower. I’ve been reading round like mad being fully aware that I’m on a pretty conservative programme, but even the fast recovery guys have a warning about rowing and climbing ladders! Exeter hospital guidelines have you up and going as early as 2 weeks but say avoid the full leg rower for 6 months. Still good for the upper body but re-rupture risk on full lower leg use.
Are you still on a rocker sole with the vacoped? No one seems to be able to tell me when to change to the wedge heel.
Hope you’re feeling good about your recovery and best of luck with the next stage.
hi Sheena, good to know you.
I’ve got used to the Vacoped now. Still would rather take it off, but its helped me in getting round. Weight bearing earlier on than in a cast. Plus its a good talking point lol
Concerned about the Re-Rupture you had, was that doing anything in particular? because i do want to push myself, but know i have a long road to travel down before im fit and active.
do you have the link to the protocols you mentioned?
Hi Andy,
just to let you know I had a print out of my protocol which is very like the UWO and they don’t reccomend rowing machines for six months in case of re rupture. Thought I’d mention it…How do you find the Vaco boot? I have an Aircast. I re ruptured at 13 weeks non op and since had the op so I’m bit more careful than most this 2nd time around.
Hi there - wish you well, your recovery seems like it is progressing nicely.My boot is supposed to come off on 22 october, cannot wait….just be careful in the meantime - I have ended up with dvt but then again I have not had good follow up and ended up changing Dr,,,in my situation I have a tear and not had surgery,,
Andy:
I went non-surgical and after 28 weeks, I am totally satisfied with the results. I can walk without a limp, jog, do most everything I want to at the gym and hop on and off my boat. At 60 years old, I am past any interest in engaging in competitive sports but I do push myself pretty hard weight lifting at the gym. Other bloggers here who have also gone non-surgical have gone back to the sports they’ve enjoyed before the rupture.
Whether you go surgical or non-surgical, the important thing is to go with a modern recovery protocol such as that put forth by the UWO. Normofthenorth’s blog has a lot of detail on that. Studies indicate, that the speed and quality of the repair when going with the modern protocols is about the same whether you choose surgical or non-surgical. Going non surgical also allows you to avoid the possibility of some serious side effects that can come with surgery such as infections or the wound not healing. Plus non surgical is a hell of a lot less painful and you won’t have to spend a few days incapacitated following surgery.
In any case, you will need to be patient. This injury does require time a
[...]Hi Andy, I was an athlete once, back about 30-40 years ago. I am an active woman, almost 50 years old. I work with young people and run a school of ministry for my church. I was hanging out with 200 young people at our annual youth convention, jumping up and dancing with them (that’s what they do). I was enjoying myself when my Achilles tendon ruptured. It was a complete rupture. I opted to do nothing for 30 days. I am 4 weeks, 3 days post op because I want to continue to hang out with young people and do what they do as I influence their lives. All that to say - go get the surgery. If you want to be active again, that is my advise. I am definitely not attempting to be active in sports - exercise yes, being healthy through walking and swimming - yes, but organized team sports, not any more, but I got the surgery so that I can continue be as active as I ever was, enjoying life in ministry working with young people! Blessings as you continue to heal.
Hi, this is a comment.
To delete a comment, just log in, and view the posts’ comments, there you will have the option to edit or delete them.
