honeybadger’s AchillesBlog

@mariejones98, I did not have that procedure. I simply had an Achilles tendon repair. At 8 weeks, I didn’t even try to go up or down stairs. I started at week 10. My physical therapist had me use an aerobic stepper to practice going up and down. The length of the aerobic stepper was shorter than the distance between stairs, but, this helped me. When I was going downstairs at home, I would lead with my repaired leg and hold onto the hand rail. I was and still am very careful. I would simply give it time. You shouldn’t worry too much about it just yet. Continue healing and present your concerns to your physical therapist. Wishing you all the best.

I’m at 8 weeks post op
Had hagmunds deformity surgery feb 24 then Achilles fhl transfer and debridement July 6th
I’m having a lot of trouble with stairs especially going down
Hard to bend my foot and flex it that much. Did you have the tendon transfer?

@oscillot, I didn’t try rack pulls because I go to the gym with a buddy of mines and he wanted to do Deadlifts instead of rack pulls. He even told me to go light but I felt strong enough to do 155lbs for 5 sets of 10 reps. Obviously, my tendon did not agree with this the next day.

I’m thrilled to report that I am going downstairs a lot smoother now. I don’t have to hold onto the hand rails and I can go down while alternating my steps from left to right, left to right, etc. Obviously I am still very cautious and go very slow but the improvement is significant considering that I couldn’t do this at all earlier this week

For cardio I am using the elliptical. My PT had me start on the elliptical last week at 10 weeks. I feel like it is good for my lower body coordination, too. At week 17 in your case, I would think you are more than ready and able to use the elliptical.

@donna, thanks for the kinds and insight words of encouragement. I’m pleased and happy to report that as of yesterday I am going downstairs much better (alternating between which foot I use on each step - in other words I take a step down with my right, then left, then right, then left, etc.). I also don’t have to hold onto the hand rails at all.

My PT always tells me to do incremental increases in reps and weight, too. I become so excited when I start to feel stronger and I jump a lot in weight, which, should be down gradually over time, as you suggested. Thanks again for your help. I am really looking forward to your future responses on my blog.

I’m happy to hear that you are nearly 100% recovered!

Did the rack pulls not fulfill your need to work your posterior chain, HB? I actually use the row machine instead of free weights to avoid what you experienced, too.

What are you doing for cardio on land? I’ve been riding the recumbent bike, but at week 17, it’s probably time to progress to something more more challenging, like the elliptical or stairmaster.

You said:

“The thing about this injury is that you can feel very good and decide to push a little harder with weight and exercise selection and not feel anything but then pain occurs as a result of pushing too much. I am finding out that there is a fine line in this rehab process between rehabbing the right way (working hard without causing unnecessary pain) and pushing too much.”

This is why we do INCREMENTAL training…my PT had to hit me over the head with this concept several times as I am a consummate overachiever but I did finally get it down and saved myself a lot of pain! As you said it doesn’t hurt when we do it, so we think it’s fine, only to hurt hours or a day later. So it’s best to add new exercises, and or add reps/sets in small amounts…wait a few days then add more…wait…add etc. I found out the hard way when between 10 - 11 weeks I had to take almost 3 weeks off from overdoing it. I learned the hard way.

I too couldn’t wait to walk without pain at a normal rate and it didn’t come all at once but slowly over time and at 10 months I’m still not 100% but oh so much better! I wish I could tell you when you

You said: “Thanks for the heads up Donna. I value your thoughts. Seems like you’ve done a lot of research surround this injury, surgery, and rehab”

You are most welcome.

I think we all serve in different ways here, some are story tellers, some supporters & cheerleaders, some disseminators of information,some need support some want to give it…etc…that’s what’s so great about this site, something for everyone…YAY for all of it!

As a Science Educator it’s been interesting and fairly easy for me to read the research and then explain it to others who do not have that skill set or interest. Also I’m semi-retired with the time to do that…& and I’d like to think at my age I’ve gained some tiny bit of wisdom…big smile…at 10 months post op I also have personal experience to input….which BTW I am dong GREAT! It’s true…it does get better…YAY that too!

@kmay312, thanks, I appreciate that.

@donna, I’m not sure why he had me do toe walks. Perhaps he wanted to see where I was at. I trust in him as a good PT. He has kept me in check and followed the doc’s protocol to a T. But I do agree that toe walking was probably not the greatest idea. My doc mentioned that he only had 1 guy re-reputure at 4 months post-op when his dog got loose and he tried to run after the dog and that’s how it happened. Because of this, he doesn’t want me jogging until 5 months post-op.

Thanks for the heads up Donna. I value your thoughts. Seems like you’ve done a lot of research surround this injury, surgery, and rehab

@oscillot, thanks for the words of encouragement. I haven’t even tried one legged calf raises and I know I can’t because i have to hold onto a chair when I do eccentric calf raises

My dorsiflexion on my repaired leg is better than my good leg. I have 12 degrees past neutral

I am doing walking lunges (both front and back) using both legs. The first day I tried this, it was really hard to lunge on my non-repaired leg because the angle of my repaired leg when performing the lunge was causing me to hesitate, but, I have no issues with it now, no pain.

Ask your therapists if you can try them. Good exercise for balance, too

As far as I know 10.5 weeks is way early for toe walks…you are not out of the rerupture zone, why push it…there is no reason for toe walks and no reason to do hard core calf building before 12 - 16 weeks…not all PT’s are equal, some are not good and you’ll find several stories here of PT’s directions setting bloggers back in recovery and several that caused reruptures.

Wow sounds like you are doing great to me.

I’m 17 weeks post-op: http://achillesblog.com/oscillot/

Don’t feel bad about not toe walking. Your PT is trying to find your limits, and frankly, I’d be surprised if you could hold a one legged heel raise at this point (I can’t, either, at week 17).

How much dorsiflexion do you have? Are you doing lunges with just one leg or two? I wonder if I can start doing those…

@oscillot, I haven’t tried that. Way to have fun and keep up the competitive drive by “racing” with your daughter in the early portion of recovery. By the way, how many weeks out are you? Do you have a blog on here?

My OS stated on the PT protocol that he doesn’t want any stretching of the Achilles which I believe he will stick to until I am 5 months post-op. Not sure why. I am going to try your method of a slow step down from a thick book using the repaired leg. Thanks for the help!

@donna, @oscillot, @eyceman, thanks! I lost so much mass on the calf. I never had big or very defined calves to begin with. Even when I was fine (before the injury), calves were the only body part I didn’t work on. Now they are all I think about lol

Probably best to avoid pain, HB. Do you ever scoot down on your butt? Earlier in my recovery, my two year old daughter and I would “race” down stairs this way.

My therapist has me stretch out my Achilles (still at 0 degs DF) and practice slow-motion “step downs” from a thick book using my injured leg (eccentric stretching).

My calf looks like it’s split in two still at 29weeks lol

A lot better than mine!

Not that bad.

@oscillot. I have to take one step up with my repaired leg when going up stairs. When I am going down stairs, I have great difficult. I feel a little pain in the tendon and I have to hold onto the handrails. I also step down exclusively with my injured foot

What are you doing at therapy and on your own to help you move more efficiently when going down stairs?

You’re having problems walking UP stairs, HB? I find going down to be much more difficult. When I have two hands, I only rest the heel of my injured side on the step, then roll over with my body weight so as to not go into dorsiflexion. If I only have one hand to hold onto the bannister, I step down exclusively with my injured foot first.

@oscillot, my PT is in agreement with my OS’ protocol especially on the jogging part which I’m finally ok with now.

When I told my PT that I’ve seen guys easing back into deadlifts at 3 to 4 months, he said, don’t worry, I’ll get you there.

Today I did shoulders at the gym and a little leg workout prior as a warm-up. For my shoulders I did standing military press and was able to do 115lbs. As I was walking out the weight, I could notice the weakness in my repaired side. I also did standing barbell shrugs with light weight (135lbs) and it felt fine. I’m going to ask him about light rack pulls.

As for my warm-up, I did calf raises with a 10lb plate on each hand for 3 sets of 15. I did the same for wall squats (10lb plate in each hand) for 3 x 15 and wall squat hold. I even was able to do single leg RDL’s with my bodyweight, but, only did 3 sets of 5.

@cpo, thanks. I attempted to do down a flight of stairs today and it was so difficult and actually painful. I think I will ignore the stairs for a few more weeks. Have you tried going up stairs and if so, what helped to make it easier?

Thanks again for the suggestions. I’ll hold off on jogging until 5 months.

HB, straight legged rack pulls and leg press machines have mechanical failsafes that prevent you from overstretching your Achilles (i.e. knees forward of feet).

What does your PT say about your OS’ protocol? Often times the surgeon is more conservative because their priority is preventing re-rupture, whereas the PT’s job is to get you back to normal.

@honeybadger, I’m with @oscillot on this one. I am at 5 months plus, post-op, and walking without a limp and almost able to do a one-legged heal raise, but I can say with certainty that jogging at four months would have been impossible for me. I didn’t fully lose the limp until a few weeks ago, and it comes back when I am tired (e.g. walking 5 miles on an even surface).

Others reassured me early on that this injury would be a distant memory soon enough, but that it would be sooner if I did not re-rupture or re-injure. I am doing everything I can to balance being aggressive with putting my tendon at risk, and am taking the long view. IMO, it definitely helps to keep the long term goals in mind as well as the goals for next week.

Good luck with your recovery!

Thanks, oscillot! My family and a lot of my friends are telling me the same thing. I think I’ll take everyone’s advice and listen to it. I like that your PT gave you permission to start light leg presses and rack pulls. Is there a reason your PT and you decided to start with rack pulls instead of deadlifts? I’m going to ask my PT if I can do the light leg press and rack pulls at week 12.

I would listen to your doc and PT, HB. Every rupture is different in location and severity (Haglund’s, partial thickness, etc.), and one size does not fit all. A medical professional who has access to your body and imaging is much better qualified to determine the best protocol for your case than some wahoo on the internet.

My repair was pretty typical (full tear in the middle, open repair). I’m at week 16 and at least a month away from losing the limp or doing a one legged heel raise. Jogging comes after that.

My PT gave me permission to start light leg presses and rack pulls at week 12. It was a lot of fun to start regaining strength, and it comes back quickly. I am going to wait on full squats and deadlifts until dorsiflexion is normal. A re-rupture at this stage is unlikely, but you certainly would not want a loaded bar on your shoulders if it happened.

Patience is a virtue, good luck!

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