jhc121’s AchillesBlog

Yes…it’s been awhile since my last post. Currently I’m walking relatively well…visually about 90%. I would have to say I was about 80% just last week. I still have some tenderness to the external scar, but more distally. I had my second follow-up with my OS on September 15. She asked a few questions(how’s it going?) and watched me stand, stand on the injured leg, observed my ROM and said great…see you in 8 weeks. As far as PT is concerned, I’ve stopped going since September 14. It may seem premature, but I’ve been doing the necessary exercises(with caution of course) on my own.

During the recovery, I noticed a few things. Initially, I was having difficulty walking down stairs. I felt a restriction in the anterior portion of the ankle. I found myself placing the injured foot further out on the step to ease this walking down stairs event. Now I’m able to walk down stairs with relative ease the normal way, although feeling mild tightness. During the first week of September, I also noticed that I was still having difficulty standing and balancing on the injured leg only. I realized that when I stood on the injured side, the my weight was going through the heel. When I shifted my weight towards the forefoot, I felt a discomfort in the soleus muscle…definitely a weakness. I figured this out when I was standing on the good leg. I noticed that my weight transfer was very well spread throughout the foot. After practicing the one-legged stand, it is definitely much better.

I do notice that after I’ve walked for longer periods of time, I’m feeling soreness at the distal region around the tendon as well as the adjacent sides. I’ve continued with my AT exercises, but not doing them through pain. The one thing, however, is that I’m still unable to do a one-legged heel lift on the injured side while standing. When I attempt this, I’ll feel a throb in the soleus and around the ankle. So for now, I’ve been continuing bilateral heel lift exercises 4-5 times a day. I’m hoping to be doing taekwondo by mid December.

Hopefully, I’ll have more encouraging progress to post later. I hope everyone else doing well. Don’t be discouraged if anyone’s experiencing a “plateau.” Just remember how you were when the injury occurred and just after surgery. I surely can’t complain.

It’s been 6 weeks since surgery. I’ve been walking 2 shoes for the past 3 days. I went to 90 degrees on Aug 10 and stopped using the knee scooter and crutches on Aug 13. As I started walking in the boot, the lower part of leg would feel a bit sore, but no pain. Ah, yes…my foot near the calcaneus would be a bit swollen. But I’ve noticed the swelling at the end of each day that I’ve worn the boot. When I wasn’t in the boot, there wouldn’t be any swelling. So far I’m able to stand alone on the affected leg as well. I’ve also noticed a decrease in numbness in the proximal portion of the tibialis anterior muscle.

Once I started walking in 2 shoes, I’ve been noticing a mild strain in the tibialis anterior muscle. This is most likely due to my dysfunctional gait, as I still have some weakness with toe-off. Although my left ankle ROM is virtually equal to my right, I still experience quite of bit tightness with dorsiflexion. There’s also an odd sensation at the tendon site, approx 2″ above the medial malleolus, when I attempt to mildly engage the gastrocs by lifting the heel while standing. It feels as if there’s some restriction and fullness in that area. Has anyone else experienced this? There’s no pain, but feels weird. When I grab the area with my right hand and attempt it again, that senation is diminished. I’m thinking maybe the tissue glide is not up to par yet. My next OS follow-up is in 4 wks. Hope everyone else is progressing well too.

By the way…a question to anyone. I’m having difficulty posting some pics of my AT. I’ve tried the “add media” but at the end when I try to “insert” I’ll get a white screen. Help?
Thanks.

Hello everyone.
This is my first post. It happened on June 24, 2010 while taekwondo sparring. I was moving around and then BAM! I felt an enormous pain in my left ankle. It was as if I was struck by a 2 by 4 made of concrete. As well, I thought the floor beneath my left foot collapsed. As I fell to the mat, I heard a grumbling sound in the ankle. My first thought was…fracture? But when I saw an indentation, about 3 inches above the heel, I knew it was the achilles tendon. After confirming the injury in the ER at Cedar Sinai Hospital, I made an appointment with an ortho at UCLA. After seeing the ortho on June 30, 2010, I was scheduled for surgery on July 8, 2010. It was a complete tear.

The day before surgery, I rented a knee scooter. Check it out. It sure beats crutches, especially for distance mobility. Surgery was at 7:30 am. Once they rolled me into the hallway to the OR, I knocked out. It must have been a couple of hours when I awoke. As I opened my eyes, I felt chills which must have lasted a good 10 seconds. I saw that my left lower leg was in a splint, wrapped and slightly elevated. The pain was about an 8 out of 10, constant and throbbing. They would give me morphine for the pain, but it would
only last for a good 10-15 minutes. I was discharged at noon with vicodin. The vicodin was no help though. The pain was still throbbing, which continued through the next day. Amazingly the pain dissappeared on the 3rd day. I was instructed to NWB and unable to shower because of the splint. Until my follow-up I used baby wipes to clean myself.

With the help of the knee scooter, I was able to go back to work the following Monday. I had my first follow-up with the ortho on
July 19, 2010. The splint was taken off as well as the sutures.
Taking out the sutures hurt like !!!!! I was fitted with CAM walker adjusted at 15 degrees in plantar flexion. I was instructed continue NWB until the next follow-up which was 2 weeks later. I also started PT, consisting of passive ROM and scar tissue mobilization at 2x/wk.

I had my next follow-up on August 5, 2010. I was given the green light to start gradual weight bearing and wean off of the crutches and knee scooter while continuing PT. Presently I am walking to a certain extent, but my left lower leg is obviously still quite weak from the muscle atrophy resulting from the non use.

I’ll post my progress when I have more.