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3 months post-op and getting back to normal…suggestions on how to keep the rehab entertaining?
October 2, 2009 | |
Today is three months post-op for me, and I’m getting back to normal. Anyone got any suggestions on how to keep the healing entertaining past the 3 month point? The possibilities of real life are starting to intrude on rehab…
In the last few days I’m finally starting to walk with a normal gait, raising my affected heel mid-stride before my good leg touches down. I still have a limp most of the time but am working towards being able to walk normally without having to think about it at every step.
I can’t quite manage a ‘proper’ heel raise from a standing start (legs straight), I get about high enough to slip a sheet of paper underneath but no further. I can stand on my toes when I put my foot down that way, for example I can now walk up stairs without touching my heel on the tread of the step - hopefully within the next week I should finally manage to do proper heel raises.
I have been taking the pool based-rehab to the next level, instead of trying to walk normally in the pool I’m now walking laps on tiptoes (did about 16 laps or 400m this way on Monday night). I still have virtually no strength with my foot in the fully plantar-flexed position so that is the next thing I will start working on, probably by taking my scuba fins to the pool from now on. I have also recommenced the exercises I was give a few years ago for rehab from a knee injury (same leg as my injured achilles). These involve balancing on the affected foot on an unstable surface (bosu ball, or just a stack of towels) while pushing against a resistance band in various ways with the good leg. This should help increase all-round ankle strength, but unfortunately are also required by my knee going bad again (predictably due to the amount of muscle loss over the last 3 months).
I still get some swelling (”pitting oedema”) around the malleoli after standing for long periods, and some inflammatory swelling and pain around the tendon after workouts. I’m controlling the post-exercise swelling using the compression stocking, and controlling the pain with James Squire’s India Pale Ale prn <g>.
I’m riding my road bike more comfortably now, and can get up gradients of 5-6% in the 39×25 gear without a problem, but still don’t have much endurance. Planning to ride 70km (44 miles) on Saturday including about 4km at 5% gradient and 100km on Sunday (63 miles), but will give my stated goal of climbing Mt Wellington (1270m/4100 ft climb over 22km, with about 3km continuously over 9% gradient) a miss for another week. The new Dura Ace wheelset I have on order should help (1380g of carbon-aluminium laminate goodness courtesy of a nice fat tax refund) - yes, I’m prepared to cheat!
I’m going to wait a month or so while I work on my knee strength before I try running. I’m not a regular jogger anyway, and when I do run it’s mostly trail running which is still verboten until 6 months post-op, so it’s not a huge loss to me. I did briefly break into a jog on my walk home last Friday (I was in a hurry!) which surprisingly felt fine, but I don’t want to push it too far.
I’ll probably update my blog less from now on, but will keep an eye on the site to post my witty insights (or BS) every now and then. My next milestones won’t come until my activities are fully unrestricted - come December I’ll get back into multi-day off-track hiking, trail running etc and step my mountain biking up a notch or three. Early February will hopefully see me skiing powder in Japan, then maybe around April next year I’ll play a very nervous, tentative game of squash with that new racket which led to my downfall back in June!
Good luck everyone.
Dylan
Comments
4 Comments so far
- dsut4392 has completed the grueling 26.2 ATR miles to full recovery!
Goal: 152 days from the surgery date.
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- dsut4392 has completed the grueling 26.2 ATR miles to full recovery!
Hi Dylan,
I don’t know that it’s entertaining, but I’ve been a big fan of simply walking around up on my toes as much as I can. It has the advantage of being easily worked into the day. It works the strength near the plantar-flexed end of things, which is where work is most needed. I’m a little farther down the road than you are, so now I’m walking on my toes, but with a bounce, (pushing back up), too.
I hope this helps,
Doug
Hi Dylan,
Glad all is progressing well.
We’re on very similar time-lines as my 3 month post-op anniversary was the day after you, but my surgeon took a much less aggressive approach with the full 9 weeks in cast.
It’s interesting to me personally that I may not actually be so far behind you re limp/heel raises/swelling despite my prolonged time in cast. In other ways your earlier mobilisation/PT have obviously had benefits.
Best wishes,
Sam
I spoke with my surgeon the other day about the swelling … he mentioned that this was something that I should just deal with as it is normal for the first year after the surgery.
Thanks All.
Doug, I have been trying your suggestion of walking on tiptoes, it’s not helping my reputation for being a crazy fool;-)
Sam, yes, we’re getting to the point where the rehab timelines start to merge for most of us. Yay! I think the main benefit of more aggressive treatment (aside from the potential lower re-rupture rate by 1 or 2 percent) is not in quicker return to _full_ function, but quicker return to _partial_ function. That means less time off work (I had 6 days off work, 3 of which I worked from home), less time on crutches (3-4 weeks), less time off driving (7 weeks), walking in normal shoes again at 6 weeks etc.
Bubble, I agree on the swelling, I’m not expecting it to get back to normal until 6-12 months post op. It isn’t bad enough to cause any problems anymore, but I do find I still recover faster after exercise if I wear the compression stocking (150 km of cycling on the weekend, reduced from the 170km planned because somebody else was tired, not me!).