Freq Asked Questions

There won’t be any definitive answers here as we can only speak from our personal experiences with the injury. We do not give medical advice, so please consult your physician.
Here’s the Disclaimer.

This is a compilation of some of the questions that have been raised on the site. This list is still a work in progress, and we’ll be pointing you to the relevant posts and comments by fellow Achilles Bloggers to make your search a bit easier. (If there is no link next to the question, then please ask someone, or you’ll have to read through the posts/comments on the site.)

As a side note, this list wasn’t created to dissuade you to ask questions (even the ones on this list). Don’t hesitate to ask! We have a very active community so someone will most likely share their experiences with you.

If you are looking for answers to specific questions, the new site-wide Google search on the top right of the main site should make it easier to search the entire AchillesBlog.com

This will search all the blogs, all the posts, and all the comments on AchillesBlog.

I tried typing in things like “insole”, “quote”, “supplements”, “aspirin”, “dance”, “insurance”, and it works well.

I’ve noticed that the search is more effective if you click: repeat the search with the omitted results included at the bottom of the page (once Google returns you the results).

This is because the content on the website is constantly being updated, and Google’s copy of AchillesBlog gets out-of-date. So it sometimes points you to an old address.
Good thing is that Google will return you many results for the same phrase, and one of them will point to the right page. So just keep looking.

If you want to add questions or references to this list, please add a comment to this page, and I’ll periodically update this page.

Achilles Rupture

  1. Should I go to the Emergency Room or instead go see my doctor (or an orthopedic surgeon) as soon as possible? Dennis’s post
  2. I don’t have health insurance. What should I do? Read Jim’s comments
  3. Do you think somebody kicked me and caused this injury?
  4. Surgery or conservative Treatment?
  5. How do I find a good surgeon?
  6. How much will the total medical cost be (whether I cover the cost or the insurance company does) if I have surgery? Tom’s Post
  7. What do those acronyms (ATR, NWB, PWB, FWB, ROM, WTF) mean?
    1. ATR - Achilles Tendon Rupture
    2. NWB - Non Weight Bearing
    3. PWB - Partial Weight Bearing
    4. FWB - Full Weight Bearing
    5. ROM - Range of Motion
    6. WTF - It’s what I screamed when I ruptured my Achilles..

Getting Ready for Surgery (If you’ve chosen to go the Surgery Route)

  1. General Anesthesia or no?
  2. What are some of the complications that I should keep in mind (complications are for the most part, rare.. but you should be aware of them.)?
  3. How long will the surgery be?

Post-op to 4 weeks

  1. I just had surgery on my Achilles, and I am in a (cast/splint) what is the most comfortable position for sleeping?
  2. When I stand up, I feel a rush of blood to the foot and my foot turns purple. Is this normal?
  3. When walking with crutches, and I tried to catch myself from falling, and I accidentally put weight on my cast leg. It was painful, but the pain went away. Do you think I did any damage to my repaired Achilles tendon?
  4. I feel excruciating pain in my calf, is this normal?
  5. My incision wound hasn’t healed right, it’s still tender after several weeks. Is this normal?
  6. I can’t sleep. Is it the pain killers? What should I do?
  7. My cast feels too tight, it’s uncomfortable. Is this normal?
  8. My cast feels really too tight. The pain is excruciating, and I can’t feel my toes! Should I go see the doctor?
  9. I get painful leg cramps (thigh or calf in either leg). What should I do?
  10. How do you use crutches? Some info here: How-to user crutches.
  11. Involuntary muscle spasms at night. (or when you “kick”, when sleeping) do any sort of damage to the tendon? They are painful for a few minutes.
  12. How do you feel about Early Weight Bearing recovery protocol?

Questions to consider asking your Physician during a Post-op visit

  1. How badly was my Achilles tendon damaged?
  2. When can I start partial weight bearing? How much weight?
  3. When can I start full weight bearing?
  4. Can I take my boot off at night when sleeping?
  5. When can I start exercising again? And what type of exercises can I do?
  6. When can I start Physical Therapy?
  7. Can I drive my car? If not, when can I start?
  8. How long do I have to elevate my leg throughout the day?
  9. When can I stop elevating my leg?
  10. Should I take aspirin every day in case there may be a blood clot? If so, when should I stop?
  11. When can I start taking baths?
  12. Should I take any supplements or vitamins?
  13. At what point is infection not so much of an issue?
  14. At what point are blood clots not so much an issue?
  15. How do you feel about Early Weight Bearing recovery protocol?
  16. Can I get a copy of the operative report? (only if you are curious)

Physical Therapy

  1. Is physical therapy necessary?
  2. When should I start physical therapy?
  3. Does physical therapy really help?
  4. Can you rupture your Achilles Tendon during physical therapy?

Therapeutic Massage

  1. Is Therapeutic Massage helpful? eriedutchgirl
  2. What is the difference between Therapeutic Massage and Sports Massage? eriedutchgirl’s comments

Scar Healing

  1. Will my scar from the surgery go away?
  2. Information about scarring: jenni’s comments (dermatology nurse)
  3. What can I do to reduce scarring from the surgery? Dennis’s posts and comments

Tendons and Ligaments

  1. What is the definition of a tendon / what is the definition of a ligament?
  2. Why do we commonly say tendon ruptures and ligament tears?
  3. Whay is the recovery & rehab period so much longer for a tendon than it is for a ligament?

AchillesBlog Site Related questions

  1. How did this site start?
  2. Can I use the information I’ve found here in place of my doctor’s advice? No, please follow your physician’s advice!
  3. I ruptured my Achilles, why should I blog about it?
  4. I justed created a blog. It says that it’s created. What do I do now?
    • Go to your blog and read the first post that’s automatically created. There are some instructions there. If you have more questions after that, feel free to add a comment anywhere on the site, and someone from the AchillesBlog community will help you.
  5. How do I start posting my experiences on my blog?
  6. How do I set up the Achilles Timeline widget?
  7. How do I set up the Achilles NYC marathon Widget?
  8. I don’t see “ATR Timeline” widget in the available widgets list. Where is it?
    • If your blog was created before Aug. 7th 2008, you have to activate the widget first from the Plugins page. The Plugins Page can be found on the upper-right side of your blog’s command console.  Otherwise, you should see it in the list of widgets.  If not, then let me know, and I’ll take a look.
  9. I’d like to get my information shown on the “If ATR recovery was a NYC marathon..” page. How?
  10. How do I upload my pictures on the blog?
    • From your command console (where you write your posts), go to the post (or a page) that you want upload the picture to.
    • In the Write Post page, click on the gray star just to the right of “Add media”
    • You should see a pop-up menu, click on: [Choose files to upload] button.
    • Window should pop up and you can browse your computer for the picture to upload.
    • After that, select the picture that you want to upload, and follow the directions..
    • If you have questions, ask via comments on this page, and I (or someone else) will be able to help you.
  11. I’d like to edit my comments. How do I do it?
  12. I’d like to be able to see site-wide comments on my blog, is this possible?
  13. Great site, I’d like to help, what can I do?
    • Cheer on other people’s recovery. Please read and leave positive comments on the blogs. It really helps getting supports this way.
    • Share what you learned about Achilles Tendon Rupture recovery on your pages so that others can benefit from it too.
    • You can help organize the content on the main site.
    • You can let me know if there are things that don’t work on the site, or any feedback on what can be improved on the site.
    • If you are a web designer, you can create a WP Theme for us!
    • If you are a web developer, you can help with the development on the site. (in PHP/javascript)
    • If you have access to medical journals and papers about Achilles, you can e-mail them to me, and I’ll post it on this site.
    • If you are knowledgeable about T-shirt printing, and want to help with AchillesBlog T-shirts, please let me know.

53 Responses to “Freq Asked Questions”

  1. craig, on May 11th, 2008 at 11:58 pm Said:

    Hi Dennis,

    I had a couple of questions that may want to be added to the FAQ list, though they are a bit more basic:

    - What is the definition of a tendon / what is the definition of a ligament?
    - Why do we commonly say tendon ruptures and ligament tears?
    - Whay is the recovery & rehab period so much longer for a tendon than it is for a ligament.

    Craig

  2. dennis, on May 12th, 2008 at 12:06 am Said:

    craig -
    I’ve added them. thanks. If you find the answers, please let me know. I’ll either add them here, or if you have it on your blog, create a separate page, and I’ll link to your page from the questions.

  3. daveleft, on May 12th, 2008 at 1:38 am Said:

    Great idea, Dennis. Have my first post-op appointment on Tuesday. And will be armed with this! Thanks!

    You know…I did have a question. This is my first surgery and I really like my doctor. He’s a big soccer (I know, I know…football) fan and I have an extra Galaxy jersey that I never wore. Is it good/bad protocol to give him a gift? Any thoughts?

  4. dennis, on May 12th, 2008 at 10:05 am Said:

    daveleft -

    I am not sure about the good/bad protocol, doctor - patient relations, but I think he would appreciate it. :)

    Hope all goes well on your first post-op, and keep us posted!

  5. craig, on May 12th, 2008 at 11:47 am Said:

    Hi Dennis,

    I’m still looking for answers on the last two (I’ve been given some opinions, but am looking for something more substantial). I’ll let you know when I get some answers.

    Craig

  6. craig, on May 31st, 2008 at 8:24 pm Said:

    I’m trying to start PWB walking in my walking boot and on crutches. Does anybody have a website video and/or textual description which indicates both the do’s and don’ts of ATR recovery PWB walking in a boot?

    I’m thinking I want to minimize the weight I put on my toes. Is this correct?

  7. dennis, on May 31st, 2008 at 8:56 pm Said:

    craig -

    I don’t know of any PWB howto’s off hand, but I stood on the bathroom scale with the boot to get a good feel for what 30 lbs, 60 lbs, etc. felt like.

    I just kind of walked best I can with the crutches when PWB’ing.

    Putting more weight towards the heel than the toes makes sense, but maybe others here have more solid information.

  8. eriedutchgirl, on June 1st, 2008 at 11:34 am Said:

    craig,

    I thought of weight bearing on the ‘bad’ leg kind of like when you do squats—put the weight in the heel, not the toes. that was my mental image. and this is kind of random, but when I was walking fwb with the boot, if I imagined myself leading with my belly button, I had better balance and posture. that is to say, walking by leading with my belly button. In fact, I find this same method to be very helpful in my 2-shoes walking. Keeps me rolling heel to toe and keeps my posture relaxed and straight. Again, random, but effective.

  9. dennis, on June 6th, 2008 at 9:59 pm Said:

    If you are looking for answers to specific questions, the new site-wide Google search on the top right of the main site should make it easier to search the entire AchillesBlog.com

    This will search all the blogs, all the posts, and all the comments on AchillesBlog.

    I tried typing in things like “insole”, “quote”, “supplements”, “aspirin”, “dance”, “insurance”, and it works well.

    I’ve noticed that the search is more effective if you click: repeat the search with the omitted results included at the bottom of the page (once Google returns you the results).

    This is because the content on the website is constantly being updated, and Google’s copy of AchillesBlog gets out-of-date. So it sometimes points you to an old address.
    Good thing is that Google will return you many results for the same phrase, and one of them will point to the right page. So just keep looking. ;)

  10. Judit, on June 13th, 2008 at 2:28 am Said:

    Dennis, thanks for all the great effort to constantly improve the site for us!
    Could you please help me set up the time and the marathon widgets on my site, please? I tried to follow th nstructions but I am afraid I didn’t manage.
    Thanks a lot,
    Judit

  11. dennis, on June 13th, 2008 at 3:16 am Said:

    Judit - I’ve added the two widgets. Please let me know if they are where you want them.

    Where in the instructions were you getting stuck? If it wasn’t clear to you, then it probably wasn’t clear for other people too. Please leave a comment under the instructions if you have any specific questions.

    It’ll help me make the instructions clearer for everyone.

    thanks for your help.

  12. Judit, on June 13th, 2008 at 4:08 am Said:

    Dennis, thanks, it’s perfect. I followed the instructions until I got into plugins, activated what I wanted and then nothing happened. Maybe I didn’t read everyhing? :-S

  13. dennis, on June 13th, 2008 at 8:28 am Said:

    judit -
    I’ve updated the instructions:
    http://achillesblog.com/dennis/achilles-timeline-widget/

    Can you let me know if it’s clearer? I hope you get to read it..

    :)

  14. marianne, on June 18th, 2008 at 10:40 pm Said:

    Dennis,

    Tried to upload a picture to my blog, with the flash-uploader, I got an HTTP error, and with the browser uploader, I got an error message that said the file was too big. What am I doing wrong, can you help me?

    Thanks, Mariannei

  15. dennis, on June 19th, 2008 at 7:51 pm Said:

    marianne -
    It means that your photo file sizes are too big. You’ll have to make the image sizes smaller. You can do that using an image editing program. Once you do that, you should have no problems. ;)

  16. I’m Lazy » My attempt at contributing to the community, on July 14th, 2008 at 8:38 am Said:

    [...] was strange considering I’m obviously not using that calf for anything.  I noticed in the FAQ(question 9, post-op to 4-weeks) that there was a question about that very issue but there was no [...]

  17. dennis, on August 4th, 2008 at 7:15 pm Said:

    I’ve added more information on the FAQ section on the AchillesBlog Site Related questions:

    http://achillesblog.com/frequently-asked-questions/

    Please let me know if there are any other FAQ items that need to be addressed.

  18. catnboot, on August 6th, 2008 at 1:44 pm Said:

    Does anyone know what NWB exercises I can do while still in my cast? My calf has atrophied a lot and now my upper leg is looking puny. Has anyone tried to strengthen the leg before going FWB?

  19. dazf, on October 8th, 2008 at 5:39 pm Said:

    If someone leaves a comment to one of my posts, and then I also reply to the comments do people get notified again to say i have replied?

    I know if i leave a commont then and email is sent to the user of the blog. But does an email get generated if someone replies or adds and extra comment to theirs?

  20. dennis, on October 8th, 2008 at 8:14 pm Said:

    dazf - If someone leaves a comment on your blog, you’ll receive a notification. (btw, you can turn that off if you want.)

    If you reply to that person on that page on your blog, then the person won’t get a notification. However, all comments appear on the main site, so you can go to the main page and check the comments.. to keep up with all comments on all blogs.

    That’s why I prepend “person’s name - “ in front of all my comments, so that people can see them on the main page and know that I am addressing them.

    I browse through the comments on the main site, and scan through to see if someone is replying to me or not, rather than checking individual pages. I check fairly regularily.. unless I am really busy, and I don’t have access to a computer. :)

  21. dazf, on October 9th, 2008 at 2:09 pm Said:

    Thans Dennis for explaining this.

  22. pendersnitzel, on July 29th, 2009 at 8:48 pm Said:

    How do you get an Avatar?

  23. frouchie, on February 2nd, 2010 at 1:33 pm Said:

    When I try to add a picture to my blog…I take all the correct steps as listed above but still can’t attach the photo.
    When I click on “Insert into Post” I get a blank window\screen and it doesn’t do anything.
    In “media” it says a photo is attached to the post title…but the photo doesn’t appear in the posting on my blog page?

    What am I doing wrong?

  24. dennis, on February 2nd, 2010 at 2:14 pm Said:

    frouchie - Please describe all the steps that you are doing in trying to insert an image to your post. I’ll repeat the exact same steps as you and see what happens exactly..
    Also, which web browser and OS are you using (windows? mac?)

  25. frouchie, on February 2nd, 2010 at 3:03 pm Said:

    I use Windows….with Mozilla browser..tried it in IE browser too.

    # From your command console (where you write your posts), go to the post (or a page) that you want upload the picture to.
    # In the Write Post page, click on the gray star just to the right of “Add media”
    # You should see a pop-up menu, click on: [Choose files to upload] button.
    # Window should pop up and you can browse your computer for the picture to upload.
    # After that, select the picture that you want to upload, and follow the directions..

    When I click on “Insert into Post” I get a blank window\screen and it doesn’t do anything…just sits there blank. I can see my post page window behind the blank pop up screen. I have to “X” close the blank screen before I can do anything else.

    Does that make any logic at all?

  26. dennis, on February 2nd, 2010 at 3:46 pm Said:

    frouchie - ok I’ll try it tonight and let you know. Thanks for the info.

  27. dennis, on February 2nd, 2010 at 9:33 pm Said:

    frouchie - it seems to work for me..
    What is the url when you are adding a picture to a post? Is it something like this?
    http://achillesblog.com/frouchie/wp-admin/post-new.php

    I am noticing the problem when I try to add images to new posts on other people’s blog, but not my own.

    It seems like others are able to add images.. hmm.
    Anyone else having this problem.

  28. frouchie, on February 3rd, 2010 at 9:21 am Said:

    Dennis -
    I see in my media library you added a picture, and you should have seen the pictures I had there in my library that I have added too.
    But My question is….if I have attached a picture to my blog posting, why can I not see them in my posting\blog page when I look at it?

  29. dennis, on February 10th, 2010 at 1:01 am Said:

    frouchie - I am stumped on this one. I don’t know why you can’t add pictures to your posts.
    Is anyone else having this problem??

  30. chocolata, on March 6th, 2010 at 10:45 pm Said:

    Hi Dennis,
    I’m having the same problem. I followed the instruction shown in the HELP page as frouchie had done. The photos I uploaded were shown in my Media Library. I then clicked “Show” for one of the photos and a pop-up page appeared. After that, I clicked “Insert into Post”, but a white blank was shown in the pop-up page and I had close the page by clicking ‘x” as frouchie did. I then checked the editing page, but the chosen photo was not embedded/shown there. I also checked my blog by clicking “Preview”, but no photo appeared there.

  31. chocolata, on March 6th, 2010 at 10:49 pm Said:

    Dennis - I forgot to tell you something. I use MAC (OS-X, version 10.4.11) and Firefox (version 3.5.8).

  32. chocolata, on March 8th, 2010 at 7:29 pm Said:

    I’ve found a way to insert photos at last!
    Here is what I have done for that.

    http://achillesblog.com/chocolata/2010/03/08/i-can-insert-a-photo-in-my-post-at-last/

  33. aron, on March 11th, 2010 at 2:14 pm Said:

    i ruptured my achillies over a year ago and it is still swollen and my scar looks like an s curve still tender and worked out on it a couple of times but still hurts. Can you help me please

  34. Gerryr, on March 11th, 2010 at 6:45 pm Said:

    You need to talk to your doctor or a foot/ankle specialist. Anything you get here in terms of diagnosis will be pure speculation. Obviously something isn’t right but you need a doctor to sort it out correctly. Good luck.

  35. mikek753, on March 17th, 2010 at 8:05 pm Said:

    No, I was not able insert Image nether.
    I followed chocolata’s manual to insert my image / picture to my post.

  36. mikek753, on March 17th, 2010 at 8:06 pm Said:

    How I can get email updates for every post I posted comment?
    So far I get notifications for my own posts only.

    tnx

  37. Jay, on July 2nd, 2010 at 6:32 pm Said:

    Hi Guys/Gyals,

    I had surgery on the 27th June and want to fly out to the UK from Canada on the 22nd July….will I be ok?

    My leg should be in a cast.

  38. ggrace57, on July 2nd, 2010 at 9:10 pm Said:

    Should be OK. Any chance of getting into a CAM Boot at least PWB? Would be much better than cast. Good luck.

  39. mike75, on November 30th, 2010 at 2:39 am Said:

    Heyyy youuu guyyys!

  40. lacevedo, on August 19th, 2011 at 11:24 am Said:

    Hi, I have tried to start my Achilles blog but i don’t see
    any button in the dashboard to start posting.

    anyway here is my question:
    I had a spur removed in my left foot. Doctor had said he would perform FHL if needed (if tendon had tearing). but even when MRI had said my Achilles was in perfect condition.. the doctor performed FHL which has been terrible. was this FHL really needed?

    the worst thing is
    I had a surgery with another doctor to remove spur from right foot .surgery went successful and I remember the doctor
    telling me that in no way he would need to touch my Achilles

  41. edmonton, on September 12th, 2011 at 12:22 pm Said:

    Hi all. I have a question that might seem silly. I’m a little confused by the difference between PWB, FWB and “two shoes”. How do I qualify the difference between PWB and FWB?

    Given the amount of damage to my achilles my surgeon wanted a more conservative recovery for me. It’s been 10weeks since surgery and I’ll jyust be transitioned from a cast to a air boot this week. Am I essentially going from NWB to FWB?

    Thanks

  42. bcurr, on September 12th, 2011 at 1:03 pm Said:

    In terms of this site it means …

    PWB = walking with bad foot on the ground but with assistance ie. crutch or crutches
    FWB = as above but with no assistance
    2 shoes = wearing shoes and walking with or without assistance

  43. brian, on September 28th, 2011 at 12:21 pm Said:

    bcurr,

    Thanks for the response. My recovery process has been quite different from many who have commented on this site. I had surgery on July 5 and spent the next 3 weeks in a fibreglass 1/2 cast, then 7 weeks in an adjustable boot. I was told to stay non-weight bearing for the entire 10 weeks. I’m happy to report when the 10weeks ended my surgeon instructed me that I was free to use 2-shoes, provided I work hard at physio and not to do anything stupid!

    edmonton

  44. petec, on October 17th, 2011 at 6:22 pm Said:

    Hi all
    I’m 10 weeks post op & walking about in two shoes unaided. I was discharged from outpatients about 2 weeks ago with no offer of physio. I found some physio videos on youtube and have been making decent progress following these. However I am starting to experience some considerable pain in my middle three toes. When I think back this pain has been there since I had my first cast off, but is now getting very painful. I wondered has anybody else had a similar experience ?

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  47. rmb4, on February 9th, 2012 at 7:52 am Said:

    How to start om this blog?

  48. shamrock, on February 22nd, 2012 at 2:20 pm Said:

    Hi all, am 2 wks post op in a cast for another 6wks and then i progress onto the boot for another 12 weeks.

    My advice to fellow patients is get off the pain killers asap .ecause i found significant side effects eg. constipation and difficulty urinating and also loss of appetite.

    I’m 4 days of pain killers now & already body is starting to get back to normal. Be very careful on crutches if the weather is wet.

    Take Care

  49. Jin, on June 12th, 2012 at 7:06 pm Said:

    can someone explain to me what 2-shoes is? I am week 10, the doc said to start wearing normal shoes. Week 1-4 in cast, 4-8 in cam walker, week 9 cam walker no wedges, now as I start week ten doc says go straight into normal shoes. Everyones talking about 2-shoes, what is that? People also say doc gives them shoes with wedges. Is it normal for me to go straight to normal shoes without wedges? My doc didn’t give me wedges for the cam walker either, I had to stuff a sock for a bit.

  50. starshep, on June 13th, 2012 at 12:26 am Said:

    Jin,
    I haven’t seen a cast-in-stone definition of 2 shoes. I have been transitioning into 2 shoes now for several weeks. At this point, I am wearing 2 shoes now in the house most of the time. Still if I am doing some risky behavior like playing with the dogs, weigh lifting, doing heavy chores or walking on broken ground, I put on my CAM boot. As such, I still don’t consider myself in 2 shoes. Others may have a different opinion on that.

    When I started my transition to 2 shoes, I had no wedges.

  51. wacaine, on October 4th, 2012 at 9:51 pm Said:

    I feel silly not being able to figure this out. I wanted to post my story. I signed up and when I login in I cannot figure out how to make my own blog. Any help/ideas?

  52. ryanb, on October 5th, 2012 at 9:55 am Said:

    Wacaine, from the main page:

    To create a new blog, please create a user account first. And then, please send me an e-mail (achillesblog@gmail.com) from the e-mail address that you registered with, and I’ll create a blog for you. Please tell me what your username is, and mention briefly how your injury was caused. (The amount of spam blogs that gets created on the site is becoming unmanageable, so I’ve decided to restrict creation of blogs to just me.) I check the site frequently and check AchillesBlog e-mails from my phone, so it’ll won’t take long for you to get your blog up and running.

  53. abronia, on May 14th, 2013 at 9:04 pm Said:

    Can anyone recommend a doctor in the Ventura Co. or Los Angeles area that specializes in the non surgical approach? I am two week help.

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