Week 6 Update - FWB
Well it’s another Thursday so that means it’s been another week of recovery. I’m getting to the point where I have to count the number of weeks to be sure I have it correct (let’s see, surgery was April 23, so five weeks gets me to the end of May, then one more week is 6…) At 5 week and 3 days I took my first steps FWB. I had previously tried one or two steps but it wasn’t successful. I have been getting various aches and pains in my foot when I try FWB so it’s been a little slow. It seems my foot just needed to toughen up. Once the foot pain went away then I had knee pain when I got to full weight. Using one crutch to just take a few pounds off made all the difference in the world but after a few days that pain subsided as well. The first day was just shuffling across the room but things are picking up from there. I wouldn’t want to go long distances at this point but for around the house I don’t need anything and my steps seem to get smoother each day.
On 6/9 I have an appointment with my OS and will be moving the boot to 0 degrees. The next day I have my first PT appointment scheduled. Looking at reports from first PT appointments I’m just expecting to have them evaluate my ROM, maybe some sort of massage or ultrasound treatment, show me some strengthening exercises and send me on my way. Not much else I can do at this point.
Reading other’s blogs it seems like the next 10 weeks are going to be the fastest progress of the recovery. A few days ago I couldn’t bear my own weight and in 10 weeks I should be able to go on long walks in 2 shoes. After that progress seems to taper off to incremental steps between 4 and 8 months. It also means I’m coming into a dangerous time as I try to do more every day and maybe even forget about the injury for an instant or push it a little too hard. It’s a good time to remember we recover by doing just a little more than we did yesterday and not trying to jump ahead 3 steps. Literally, I will have to learn to walk before I can learn to run.
My OS seems to have me on a fairly fast track as far as WB and reducing the angle of dorsiflexion but he’s also been fairly conservative about doing other exercise. He wanted me to stay off the exercise bike, wasn’t thrilled about lifting weights for upper body only because of moving around between sets, and didn’t want me in the pool until he could check that my incision was completely healed. I’m expecting much more clearance for activities beginning next week and then I can resume some exercise! Let’s just say my beach body won’t be ready this summer. I have started doing some open chain exercises for my injured leg I picked up during PT for other injuries (i.e. straight leg raises, quad sets, clam shells, etc) to get for activity again. I haven’t been religious about doing them but I get a session in several days a week. Maybe it will get me a little jump start on PT.
So far no significant set backs and I guess things are going about as well as I can expect. Hopefully that trend continues, good luck to all those reading this 
Filed under: Uncategorized and
My surgery was one Thursday earlier than yours. I started physical therapy this week. My experience has been very similar to yours. Partial weight bearing, full weight bearing, two crutches, one crutch with one free hand, etc. Each milestone brought more emotional relief. Definitely want to not forget the injury. Last thing I ever want to do is to go back to those disturbing first few weeks.
Hey Eric,
I think I am about one week ahead of you (I am on my 7th week) and I have ditched the boot (clearance from physio and surgeon.
Couple points for you:
- Like you said, it’s almost exponential growth from PWB->FWB->2 shoes. I think the total turnaround time for me was like 8 days.
- I personally think if your in 2 shoes you are activating your calf again (in the boot your calf doesn’t move/activate), and the biggest complaint around here is weakened calf muscle.
- I have clearance from my physio to do exercise bike
- I have been doing upper body exercises ever since 3 days after my surgery (one of those, if your in the gym your a little more likely to strain it, but I needed it for my own mental health and you just have to be careful)
- You shouldn’t swim until the incision is properly healed (although your incision should be ready to rock soon)
Keep up the hard work and my advice (other than to be careful and listen to your doctor), is to get the ROM ASAP and get your calf activated sooner (with WB and 2 shoes).
Hi clementsblock, sounds like your recovery is going great! I expect to be in the boot until at least week 8 based on what my surgeon has laid out. Maybe when I see him next week I will see what he has to say about trying out 2 shoes. I only have access to free weights so my surgeon was worried about getting around with the weights. He basically said you could, but it’s probably not worth it. I wanted to give it a try but if I hurt myself in the gym my wife would kill me so I have laid low.
Thanks for the tips and keep rockin’ it!
Hi Eric,
Everyone’s surgeon is different (as there is no set guidance on Achilles it appears). It depends on how bad you tore it, your age, how surgery went, etc…. I had a complete rupture, and am 26 yrs old.
For reference, my surgeon told me to put NO weight on it for 6 weeks and wanted me in a cast for 6 weeks. I kept reading on blogs and asked people who have torn their achilles at the gym that:
1) Get in a walking boot as soon as possible to get ROM
2) Start weightbearing earlier to improve recovery time (as you can do FWB, 2 shoes, and ultimately build your calf quicker).
Thus, I told him to take me out of the cast at week 4 into a boot. I PWB at week 4.5 ish, FWB by end of week 5, and ditched the crutches shortly after. I mentally couldn’t take my first step on the boot without my roomate to guide me. It’s a weird process but the amount of time from PWB - no crutches was like a week.
There are studies that prove that earlier WB have NO impact long term (I.e. 1 year and beyond) but have positive impact in the short term (faster recovery time, more positive outlook) and I needed the short term pros to get through this.
Yes - would avoid free weights and all that (not worth it). I had a couple of good gym buddies give me weights and help me around the gym while I was out of commission.
I just want to caveat that just b/c it was okay for me doesn’t mean it’s okay for everyone. I read people that were in booth since day 1 and even faster to PWB/FWB/2 shoes than me. You have to take the fine line between your comfort level / surgeon’s advice.
Good to hear that things are going well with your healing. I have been surprised how quickly my walking has improved since FWB. Hopefully you will have the same experience.
And I also have to keep reminding myself not to do too much too quickly. Nobody wants a setback!
Good luck with the first PT session.
you are exactly 1 week ahead of me. I can almost walk normally (gait) without any crutches. However, even with all the height I added to the good side, I’m still a bit off. I went to the outlet mall today and took 3100 steps (iphone says so). Even though I didn’t need it, I used 1 crutch on the good side the whole time b/c my back and hips were paying for it a couple of days ago by being off balance. Have you moved to the flat sole yet? I tried it briefly this morning and while I didn’t really feel much a stretch when i tried it on, it did feel a little strange. I’m still at “1″ on the vacocast and will probably move to .5 either tomorrow or the next day. Once I get used to that setting, I probably switch over to the flat sole, which should help dramatically with the off balance height (at least 2 inches).
I see Clementsblock is in two shoes. I will probably still be using the vacocast on hinge for all of june just to be safe.
I moved to .5 in the morning and when everything seemed to be going well I tried the flat sole some in the afternoon. I have been getting my injured leg in front of me and landing on the heel of the wedge sole. Without that landing zone it feels very different and if I take a full step it puts much more weight onto my toes as I go through the gait cycle. If I lift my injured leg when it gets even with my support leg instead of letting it get behind me then there isn’t as much weight through my toes. I might go back to the wedge sole until I move to 0 in a few days.
After reading the posts about healing long it was disconcerting I didn’t feel more stretch when I adjusted the boot or changed to the flat sole but hopefully everything is on track.
We are pretty much in sync, I’m meeting my physio tomorrow. No crutches, boot outside, no boot inside and weird shuffle walk. Do you find your leg is pretty swollen at the end of the day, then more normal in the morning? My OS wants me out of the boot completely at week 8, not sure I’ll get there but we’ll see. Also week 8 I can try some swimming (not a pretty site), deep water running (never tried it before but it looks really boring), and cycling around with no tension and to stay on the flats. My next appointment with the OS is week 10. I’ve been doing upper body workouts every 2 days without fail, 45 killer minutes on a hand cycle machine, this has done wonders for my scrawny arms and given me some cardio in the interim. The OS’s last words, see you in 4 weeks and BE CAREFUL OUT THERE! Keep us posted.
Yes, it looks like yesterday we were in exactly the same spot. You “pulled ahead” with the move to shoes in the house and may stay ahead for a bit. I see my OS tomorrow, and he hasn’t given me an estimate for two shoes yet, but the original plan had me in the boot at 0 degrees for two more weeks. We will see, maybe he will surprise me.
Up until this point I haven’t had much swelling but I still spend a fair amount of time with my leg elevated and I am in a mild compression sleeve constantly. If I am up or walking for a bit then when I sit I elevate even if it doesn’t feel bad.