Hey everyone:
My name is Greg and I am a 39 year old male who tore his Achilles on 3/21/2014 playing basketball. I am looking forward to sharing some experiences, getting some helpful hints/tips, and just being part of the community. Thanks!
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Neat scar. Good to hear recovery going well but you’re right it is a long process. Think we become more patient. Good luck.
Looking neat. Good luck with the rest of your recovery n getting back to the gym.
Congratulations! It’s great to see what 16 weeks can look like. I’m sure in no time you’ll be doing even more.
Thanks for the comments guys. I have started to try some eccentric loading and it is insanely weak. At least I have gone from a complete inability to slow down the lowering to stopping it just a tad. I know it is a marathon but my brain is ready for mile 26 already!
Greg, are you talking about 1 or 2-legged heel raises? I’m one week ahead of you (week 15) and just started single-leg heel raises on my injured leg. I also continue to do the transition exercise of a double heel raise and then lift up my good foot and descend (eccentric contraction) on my affected one. It’s much harder to do a full 1-legged heel raise on my injured foot–my rise (concentric contraction) is pretty pathetic. However, my PT assured me that this will improve quite a bit over the next 2-3 weeks. I think (full) calf strength is the last thing to come on this long road to recovery. -David
BTW, you should reread your post, because it tells a story of smooth and steady progress, despite your understandable impatience! 
Comparisons are oderous. (Mrs. Malaprop) you’re doing fine, IMO.
Since you’re ahead of me, I’ve been following your progress. Sorry I can give any insight. I do look forward to your future posts.
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Congrats! Looking forward to myself at twelve weeks! Hopefully, I’ll be doing as well as you. I start work in week 9, hoping I’ll be able to work. Looking forward to more of your progress reports.
Greg - Stupid me. Just found this. Well done. I also kept the boot around once in 2 shoes and used it on uneven ground or outside in the dark.
Joey - it may be good for you to start your own blog page as it looks llike we have hijacked someone else’s a bit. Sorry Greg. Haven’t heard how things are with you since the 4 week mark and I notice you are at 10 weeks. Hope all is good. Anyway Joey, the boot will soon give you some freedom to walk but it is there to do a job as well so for now you have to accept the restriction. At least you can take it off and wash the leg. You will see improvement but it may take a week to notice some things. Although my injury was years ago I still remember how it was. Now I am recovering from another tendon rupture and am sidelined again for some time. At least this one is in the arm but it is my dominant. The things I learned from my AT injury are helping me get through this one better but I also wish I was further along. The anit spam word this time is patience and that is what we all have really being saying to you. Diversion is also good. Find something else to keep your mind working on or start some upper body exercise.
Ya, socks or leggings/tubes, lots of people love them. Mostly to control swelling, but maybe also for a psychological boost. I didn’t ever love them as much as R,I, & E, but many do.
Thanks guys!! Love this site. Any of you guys tried wearing compression leggings to aid healing? It’s seems to be all the rage for athletes.
Joey
We understand your being disheartened, disappointed, and all the other disses that you are probably contemplating - you have time on your hands and you spend it worrying.
Really and truly, in a few weeks you’ll wonder where the time went - and let’s get realistic here, this is not some life-threatening condition, it’s not cancer, or a stroke, you don’t need chemo or anything like that.
It’s a few weeks out of your life, relax, read, listen to some music, talk to friends, plan for your successful full recovery in a few months time.
What Jeff said!
Joey - be patient! As I recall, you are just 4 weeks post-surgery. I was on a pretty fast protocol. 10 days in a splint, two weeks PWB in the Vacocast at 20′, then FWB for four weeks, first at 10′ and now at 0′, so I really was not FWB until the one month mark. Because you were NWB in a cast a bit longer, you will be a bit later. If allowed by your OS, just start putting a bit more weight on your injured leg each day, and you will be ditching the crutches before you know it. Once allowed, the transition for me from PWB to FWB went very fast - about two days. Once I forgot where my crutches were, I knew I hade made the leap! Get your scoop on the ATR timeline so you can track your progress - I found it to be very helpful.
Just a little disheartening. When she said can you flex your foot up for me and I can only move it a little I was disappointed. I saw the boot as a sign of freedom but doesn’t feel that way anymore. I’m still relying on the crutches to get around
Ok brace is on. She said is was healing fine. While sitting on the bench she had me bend my foot up. Unfortunately, it didn’t move much. It was very stiff. She said I should move it up and down a little every day. I was then fitted with a airboot with 2 lifts. All I can say it I feel like a newborn trying to learn how to walk. I feel safer with my crutches. I think I’ll stay on my crutches.
There is not need to be disappointed. You are at where we all have been mentally and physically. This is normal. The trick is not to try for too much without knowing the affects. Listen to your doc and PT and use the resources here as a guide and ask questions if you are not sure. It is a long road to recovery and it is early days.
A little disappointed with myself. I was hoping I had more mobility. But I realized my tendon was really stiff. Could barely life my foot. The doctor told me to flex it upwards daily. I was hoping for more freedom when I got my boot on.
Great tips guys. Get my cam boot today. Iwas told I’ll be getting two wedges also. I’ll post on how it goes. Are you still icing your leg?
Cingrats! Getting my boot today. I’m set to return to work in July 7th. My job requires me to do a fair bit of driving and some lifting. I was wondering how much weight you can put on it? Should I keep my crutches with me?
Greg, congratulations on the 2-shoes milestone! BTW, you should change your ATR Timeline status from PWB to 2-shoes, too. In the first week of a 2-week boot-weaning period I used my boot 4 times, then I put my boot on the shelf (as it were) and haven’t looked back. I’m now just beyond that 2-week period and I really feel like I’m getting some strength back in my leg. Going bootless has re-introduced some swelling and general soreness to my recovery, but overall I’m very glad to be back in 2-shoes–and I hope you will be too. -David
Did you tell The System how you did the ATR? Your ATR timeline doesn’t know.
The rest seems OK. A Proper Gait, IMO, does NOT mean symmetrical. As long as everything else is normal, shortening the stride on one side is normal and beneficial. As your strength and ROM improve, that stride will naturally lengthen. Soon you’ll be able to walk slowly (shorter strides) perfectly, but still with a stride length asymmetry (or a “dip limp” at stride’s end) at higher speeds. Then perfectly at high speed…
Great to hear the progress DMB! I just finished my last stage of the boot before attempting two shoes full time (outside of the house). Slow, and a little sore, but so far so good. I had my first stationary bike ride, but am really looking forward to light jogging again as well!
Greg, in my last post’s comments I re-posted another blogger’s (Chocolata’s) instructions for how to insert pictures into your blog. They worked for me. Check it out if you haven’t figured this out on your own already. -David
Great report. It’s the rapid “gear changes” up to around 10 weeks in that make the next phase — the long period between “walking decently in 2 shoes” and “walking perfectly in 2 shoes” such a “frustrating plateau. But the leg needs what the leg needs, and it’s not designed to please the mind. . .
Great news. I love your third paragraph - this injury sure has its “phases”. Just started PWB - looking forward to those first steps!
Use the EvenUp and whatever else you need to get your hips even when you walk. Back, hips, knees can all suffer otherwise, AND you also may develop a silly walk that’s hard to unlearn.
Regular maintenance i.e. massage and especially chiropractor that specializes in ART (Active Release Technique) has been absolutely critical for me throughout this recovery thus far. At lease once a week. It may sound extreme, but those little issues have a way of growing into larger compensation issues that can spread through your body (or at least mine) in relatively short order. IMO, if there is ever a time to ensure that your body is properly treated and aligned, it is now.
Sounds like excellent progress to me. Agreeing with the back pain. I think the even up is just the ticket to get that sorted.
Greg, here’s an unsolicited tip for sleeping in a boot–at least this works for me: loosen the straps a little at night. This still protects your foot, but (I’ve found) having a little wiggle room makes sleeping much more comfortable. Then, in the morning when I get up, I tighten the straps down for the rigors of the day. -David
I’d continue to take “a massive burn/pain right along my incision site” as a sign to back off. Apply “tincture of time” and lots of what you’re doing.
Greg, glad to hear you’re doing better. Being totally immobilized in a cast for weeks will do a number on your foot and leg, that’s for sure! For me, the time from starting PWB to FWB was 2 weeks, but I didn’t start the weight-shift balancing exercises until about a week and a half after going PWB–those were key for me to move to FWB. As to steri-strips, I’m starting to wonder if mine will ever fall off! -David
I have a theory - unproven - that the crutch people make this transition more easily than the scooter people. If you go through the motions of walk g while using crutches, I bet you’ll quickly go from 0% WB to 100%. With that practice and a dose of tincture of time…
It looks good–and I see you’ve already crossed the bridge over the bay to Brooklyn (metaphorically)!
Thanks David.
I think I added it correctly. Let me know if I missed something though.
It took me about 2 weeks to transition from NWB through PWB to FWB (weeks 4 & 5 for me). I started with just PWB around the house for a week increasing the distance and weight as the days progressed. I didn’t really like using just a single crutch but I did a bit of that in the second week until I worked up the strength/nerve to walk parallel to the kitchen counter. Once I’d proven to myself that I could do that I gradually started FWB more and more around the house.
Hang in there! Nothing in this recovery seems to come immediately but with patience and practice you’ll be FWB in no time!
Not sure I’m qualified to respond, but I’ll share my experience as it may help. I was placed in my boot (an AirCast XP) with 2-wedges (each composed of 3-slivers) at 4-weeks post-op and given directions to remove 1 wedge each week for the next 6-weeks. I was also directed to begin PWB status and gradually move to FWB over a 2-week period–all this from my OS, as I hadn’t even begun to see a PT until after my 4-week post-op check-up. At my 1st PT appt, I learned I was placing approx. 25% weight on my injured foot (with crutches), which was fine, but then the following week I was at the same place even though I thought I was applying more weight. My PT then instructed me to do some simple balancing exercises while standing at the kitchen counter with my feet about shoulder distance apart (rocking side-to-side, forward and back, and diagonally–both ways). After just 3-days of this, I found myself able to graduate to FWB–and, now just 3-days later, haven’t looked back. It’s certainly not the most fluid gait, but I’m working on that and hope practice and some personal guidance from my PT will help. -David
Greg, welcome, as it were, to this exclusive club! Wow, as a PT, and now a patient, your insights should be invaluable to this group. If you would add the ATR Timeline widget to your blog here, it would make it easier for all to track your progress. I’m 6-weeks post surgery and just made it to FWB. -David
Greg, welcome, as it were, to this exclusive club! Wow, as a PT, and now a patient, your insights should be invaluable to this group. If you would add the ATR Timeline widget to your blog here, it would make it easier for all to track your progress. I’m 6-weeks post surgery and just made it to FWB. -David
Thanks David.
I think I added it correctly. Let me know if I missed something though.
It looks good–and I see you’ve already crossed the bridge over the bay to Brooklyn (metaphorically)!