curlygirl’s AchillesBlog

Comment by Jenniferanderson

July 13, 2012 @ 1:03 am

I too was given the ok to sleep without the boot at 4 weeks. I didn’t go ahead and sleep without it until 7 weeks though. This was just my personal preference. I was worried about reinjuring myself via tangled sheets or getting up to use the bathroom and forgetting to put my boot on. I did not have trouble sleeping in the boot (as many people do) so it really wasn’t a big deal for me. I think that if you sleep without it at 4 weeks your foot will relax, as you say, because mine did at 7 weeks, but it won’t slow down your overall progress. You will just have to ease your foot back into the boot. Not painful or impossible, just a stretch. Hope that helps.

Comment by Susan

July 13, 2012 @ 2:57 am

I was 4-5 weeks to sleep without boot. I made sure to have the boot on my night table so I would remember to put it on before trying to walk when I would wake up. If you are confortable, and don’t push to walk without, you should be fine to sleep without the boot, as your Dr. said. I think the biggest thing in recovery was using the elastic bands multiple times a day to strengthen once I got them at PT. Good luck to you in your recovery.

Comment by sheena

July 13, 2012 @ 10:42 am

Hi Curlygirl,
I got my boot at six weeks and was told I didn’t have to wear it in bed at all.
There is a slight pull on the tendon in the morning but lasts for seconds. I would hate to sleep in it it’s so heavy. It’s an Aircast Boot. I had light weight casts for the 1st six weeks. Just make sure you don’t step out of bed without thinking and I sleep in the spare room at the moment as I don’t want to risk getting accidently kicked by hubby.

Comment by curlygirl

July 13, 2012 @ 12:01 pm

Hi,

Thanks for the quick reply! I will sleep without this heavy air cast boot tonight and see how I go. I feel a bit more confident now.

Thanks.

Comment by riptorn

July 13, 2012 @ 12:16 pm

How do you get a boot so fast? Surgery on June 23 and in a hard cast until July 30. Then another cast for three more weeks, then the boot. Does my doc have me on the slow recovery program? I am (used to be much more so) active and in good shape. Just want to get up and move without my new best friends, my crutches. Any comments are appreciated.

Comment by adam

July 13, 2012 @ 12:33 pm

Just to throw my 2 cents in.. I also was told at 4 weeks I did not have to sleep with the boot (like Jenniferanderson said, i am still sleeping with it at 5 weeks just for personal preference) he also said I can take it off whenever im sitting around watching tv which I usually do.

Comment by hillie

July 13, 2012 @ 1:05 pm

Hi, CurlyGirl, at 4 weeks (I’m now at week 19) I stopped wearing my boot in bed, and it was wonderful. I was nervous of being accidentally kicked so put a small pillow between us, and it was never a problem. If I needed the bathroom in the night my first thought was usually “do I really need to go, or can I wait?” depending on the time (and how desperate), and how enthusiastic I was about getting into my boot.

So, Jennifer, I doubt that you would forget. It’s a bit of a hassle, but much better than wearing the boot all night (even though mine had the detachable sole to keep the bed clean). After another couple of weeks, my physio said that if I was confident and able on my crutches I could go short distances (as with going from bedroom to bathroom) without the boot on - I did this a few times, but accidents can happen (as we all know…) so usually stuck with the boot.

Riptorn, 8+ weeks in a cast! By that time ‘best practice’ usually means almost ready or ready to come out of the boot. Was your ATR especially horrible? Having said that, many of the newer boots seem capable of handling just about anything. I sometimes feel that practitioners often don’t trust their patients not to play around with the boot settings, and imprison them in a cast. (I understand that even some boots can have anti-tamper fittings).

Comment by greysmom

July 13, 2012 @ 1:44 pm

Hi Curlygirl,

I’m 3 1/2 weeks post up and at my 2 week appt. was given the ok to get in the Airboot. He said I didn’t have to sleep with it at night as long as I put it on when I leave the bed. I was nervous and tried to sleep with it a couple of nights but it was just too annoying. A big body pillow is what I use now and aside from stiffness in the morning (as opposed to tingling toes in the airboot)I get better sleep without it. A few turns and dorsi-flex stretches in the morning and the stiffness goes away quickly.

Comment by andrew1971

July 13, 2012 @ 2:27 pm

I sleep with the boot on, because me and my better half like to read before we go sleep, she usually falls asleep before I do and I always want to go to the loo before I decide I am settling for the night.

Putting that boot on and taking it off again, well the noise is enough to waken her and create trouble, it’s not great sleeping in it, but I am used to it now….luckily the weather in the UK is very cool for July.

I am becoming more and more tempteed not to sleep with it on for one night and see how I get on.

Comment by curlygirl

July 14, 2012 @ 12:43 am

Great, thanks for all your input I really do appreciate it. Luckily I hardly ever get up in the night so that will not be an issue also I have a large Cal King bed so hubby’s is unlikely to kick me and if he ever does he will be on the spare bed! Tonight is the night ! And as for Riptorn asking about my quick boot My doctor said I had healed very fast . It might be worth your while asking if you can go into a boot at 4 weeks as it is only since the boot and the start of my PT that I feel I am actually making progress . Slow progress, but progress .

Thanks Guys and goodnight.

Comment by pablomoses

July 14, 2012 @ 11:37 am

well, here’s another 2 cents - i had a splint for 12 days post surgery- then an aircast boot for 4 weeks, which I never wore while sleeping.

Comment by normofthenorth

July 16, 2012 @ 3:22 pm

Riptorn, it sounds like you are on the slow recovery program. Hit your Doc with the fast modern well-proven protocol at bit.ly/UWOProtocol . Try to keep up or catch up, since going slower has never produced better results.

I slept in my AirCast boot from day 1 (non-op) to maybe 5 weeks. (I bet my blog remembers.) The morning stretch wasn’t a problem. Getting up during the night (& LOUD Velcro!) was. I doubt there’s any effect on recovery (unless you fall out of bed &c.). And for sure there’s no good evidence.

Comment by Curlygirl

July 16, 2012 @ 5:30 pm

I have been sleeping without my boot for a couple of nights now. OOh it feels lovely!

In the morning my foot slips right in , no stretch or tightness. Thanks for all your encouraging words.

Curlygirl

Comment by gntwagner

July 22, 2012 @ 12:05 am

Curlygirl, I figure you’re past the nervous part but for what it’s worth, I’m at 3-1/2 weeks & got my cast off Friday. the doc said I could sleep without it so I did! Bliss! I DID sleep with it propped up without the sheets tucked at the end & with my boot & crutches right next to me. Fortunately, my hubby’s on my right so I don’t have to worry about kicking him or being kicked. Riptorn! I feel for you! I agree with Normofthenorth, you must be on a slower protocol. This is my second dance with this ATR & I’ll have matching scars. The 1st doc had me on a slower protocol too but I figured it was because my insurance goofed me up & I didn’t get to see the surgeon until 6 weeks after the rupture. This time, I had surgery about a week after the rupture. Good luck! You too Curlygirl!