Joe’s Achilles Rupture Recovery Blog

Hi nice post, i read your blog from time to time but i was wondering something. I also run a blog on a similar topic, but i get 1,000’s of spam comments and emails every day does that happen to you.. Any ideas to stop it? I currently have commenting disabled but i want to turn it back on.. Thanks!

You’re a few months ahead of me, Jose, but I’m already finding that my foot pains and scares and slips are getting pretty evenly divided between my two feet. One of the many weird things about us in this crowd, is that it can cheer us up to get a pain in the OTHER leg!! Your injury is probably either totally unrelated to your ATR, or related only because your recovering ankle is still a bit more unstable than the other one (but not specifically in the AT).

I’d treat it like a new injury. RICE, and go to a Sports-Med clinic if it doesn’t resolve quickly. (Feel free to tell them that you tore your AT, of course!)

It’s probably a mild sprain and nothing to really worry about. Did you use ice and elevation on it after the injury? Those two things can make a huge difference when you get an injury like that. If you didn’t you should do them both for at least a couple of days and then see how it feels. If it still hurts, go see someone and probably get an x-ray. Take it easy until you are pain-free again. And congratulations on getting back into running and sports.

Great! What a very nice document! Only 1 recommendation:When you then add images, it might be easiler to follow!

Re-ruptures after 6 months are very rare. As long as you can do a bunch of 1-leg heel raises without heroic effort, I think you’re cleared for takeoff, limited only by your strength and fitness level.

P.S. I am on my second ATR, but this one’s on the other leg!

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Thanks for the encouraging words! Good to hear from someone doing so well.

Jose - At 14 weeks you’re probably safe to give the elliptical a try. I would suggest setting the machine to a very low resistance and just slowly go through the motion. If it doesn’t feel comfortable, then stop. If it feels okay, then you can pick up the pace and/or adjust the resistance. Also, like the others have said, the pool is a great tool for rehab, if you have access to one.

Swimming, and walking in the water.
Yesterday for the first time I tried and aquafit class, it was a great feeling to kind of jump for the first time after 10 months!

Oh wow - good for you getting cleared for the pool I am a former swimmer and I love the water and pool running. Hopefully you find the time for it!! Have you ever tried the Topricin natural pain cream? Our family uses it and we love it for aches and pains! Good Luck in your recovery

I’m about a week ahead of you and my PT let me start on an elliptical about a month ago. Other things that I’ve been OKed to do are swimming and running in chest-high water. I’ve yet to find the time for either swimming or pool-running, but would expect that they’d offer a good workout.

We’ve talked about this before, but calf strength is a key issue. To run, your calf needs to be able to hold your body weight while your uninjured foot strides forward. So, in addition to aerobic fitness, work on that calf strength, too.

My general approach when I was regaining my calf strength was to do some near-maximal work every other day, like the weightlifters do, and also do lots of submaximal exercise every day. By “lots” I mean as much as you can; find a way to work it into your day.

For example, at one point I could push up the weight of one leg relatively easily, so I would do that whenever I was sitting down. Later, I would do the same thing, but with my healthy leg crossed over my injured leg, to add more weight. Later still, I would just walk around up on my toes a lot.

The every-other-day near-maximal exercise might be standing up on the toes of both feet, then slowly shifting your weight onto your injured foot’s toes until the calf starts to give out, then fight that descent as hard as you can. Once you can do a single leg calf raise, do lots of those.

A bathroom scale is useful to monitor your prog

When I started back again (at the end of June? I think, after Feb. 18 surgery), I was surprised at how weak the affected leg felt. I also had a problem with plantar fascia pain (bottom of heel in the post-surgical foot) in the beginning (but I had also experienced that walking, so maybe that is not typical)….

But most of the aches and pains I experienced were related to not running for all those months, so in a way it was like starting over…….the best advice I can give you is be patient and be prepared for hills and valleys. But it’s worth it, I am now back to long runs of up to 20 miles so far, and just did my first (really low-key) 5K!

Best of luck, Gail

Hey Doug,
Thanks for all of the info. I read your blog and I am again hopeful. I am a really active guy, but I also understand that this injury does take some serious time to come back from. I am however very excited at the progress I have made. I return to the doctor for my next checkup on 11/19 and I am determined to have my full range of motion and flexibility back. Hopefully he will then have me begin strengthening my calf muscle again. I would love to play hockey again, and I would kill to go out and jog, but I am not going to do anything that the doc advises against. Still, I welcome your opinion regarding some of the things I would like to do in the future (i.e. play in a hockey game on decemeber 30th, coach my hockey team with skates on even if it means refraining from skating with any intensity at all, or run a 10k in late march). I have no idea how realistic any of that is, but a guy can dream. Thanks again for the info, and if you have any more thoughts regarding my situation, I would love to hear them.

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Jose,

A couple of words of caution, if I may.

First, don’t overdo the range of motion, as a tendon can become too long, and that can lead to another surgery and starting all over again. If you are flexible enough to walk fairly well, be careful about pushing the dorsiflexion too much farther, especially if it is already as good as your other foot. More is not necessarily better in this situation.

Second, there is much more to getting rid of the last of the limp than getting a little more flexibility; that last bit of limping is due to calf weakness. The limp won’t completely disappear until you can hold your body’s entire weight on the toes of your injured foot, with the heel off the ground. Getting to that point can take many weeks. See my note of 4/29 for a more detailed explanation.

Good luck,

Doug

Jose - your post “Freedom” has really encouraged me. My cast comes off on Tuesday and you’ve made me feel more optimistic about what I might be able to look forward to. I’ve been told to bring my other shoe (plus inserts) to the appointment so I’m assuming that means no boot for me either. But I’ve had 3 additional weeks in cast, so I’ve probably weakened a bit more too. We’ll see, but it’s all very exciting. I’ve been getting soooo frustrated with the cast now the countdown has moved from weeks, to days to hours!
Smoley

Bussy,
I had the surgery and everything feels good but a little tight. I am really working on my range of motion. You are going to love getting that cast off, greatest feeling in the world. Keep me posted on how you feel when you are cast free and I hope you feel as good as I do.

Joe

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hi jose - good going. seems every story is different with this injury. Bid message seems to be listen to your body. I get my cast off in a week. Very excited. My doc is telling me i’ll be able to do sport 3 months from the time of injury and will be walking in a week. is he insane? hope not. i had non surgical treatment. how about you? Hope all goes well for you?
bussy

Man am I gad to hear that your recovery was so quick! Thanks for the info as I haven’t really known what to think it will be like when they take this cast off in about three weeks. I am fully committed to doing and not doing whatever the doctor tells me, but it is nice to hear that you have come back so quickly and completely from your injury. Thank you so much for the comment!

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I’m a little late, but I couldn’t help but read your post when you said people were telling you that you were too young for an injury like this. I tore mine at a track meet this past spring, and since I’m only 22 I know how you feel. Plenty of people said the same thing to me.

It sucks having an injury like this take you out of commission at such an active point in our lives, but honestly? I’d rather it happen now than when I’m in my 40’s or 50’s. My recovery has been almost picture perfect, and I think being so active and young makes getting better go so much faster. I was back to running just about 3 months after my surgery, and as soon as I was let out of therapy a couple weeks later I was only held back by how sore my body told me it was. I’ve been back to my normal routine for about the last 2 months, and I just passed my 6 month mark.

I was very patient and did everything my doc told me, and everyone here has really great advice. The best thing is to have a good attitude and take it one day at a time. You’ll be back to skating and running before you know it! Good Luck!

That is good advice, thanks man. I am looking forward to getting out of this cast!

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Wow, that is encouraging. I guess I have some questions for my doc when I see him next. I can’t wait to get out of this cast and start getting strong again.

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Joe, I agree with most of the above, but unlike Smoley, I do plan to be skiing this winter. I ruptured 3+ weeks ago, and had surgery the day after the rupture. My surgeon thinks that I’ll be able to ski any time after November, so there may be hope for you to get on skates. One thing that I have heard that may limit us both is people reporting pain from having shoes, etc. pressing against their scars. Good luck, Ron

Hola Jose,
I agree with Doug and Mentalplanet.
There is lots you can do, especially if you can get out of the cast (or at least into a weight-bearing cast), and the sooner you start, the better.
As soon as you’re past immediate post-op recovery ( a few days) you can start on your “good” leg, squats and calf raises, leg raises etc can still be done. Nothing to stop you doing push-ups (support your injured leg with something under your shin to keep the weight off your toes) or sit-ups, and lots of pilates and yoga stuff also works fine (if that floats your boat, I don’t have the patience). Hopping and crutching to get around are also good workouts.
By early in week 3 post op I was doing rehab in the pool (foot unprotected), as well as stationary bike workouts (in the boot) and upper body work in the gym. No reason you _have_ to lose cardio fitness - in week 4 I did a 1.5 hour stationary bike workout with HR between 160-180 most of the time, and lost enough fluid to give myself a nasty dehydration headache!

Laziness and lack of focus will be your enemy in this respect. I slacked off when I went to 2-shoes at 6 weeks and lost

Joe, I feel for you. Your frustration is very clear. The way I see it there are three aspects to this:
(1) the good news is that there is loads you can do while your foot mends. For example, your upper body strength needn’t suffer and if you use your crutches to any extent it will improve considerably.
(2) Be involved in your healing process. Read around the subject, talk to your doctor, show him you know your stuff and that you want to be as active as possible as soon as possible.
(3) But! (always a but) You can’t rush an ATR. You can do all you can to promote the healing and minimise the side effects like muscle atrophy, but there aren’t any real ’short cuts’. So at some point you have to accept that you are going to have to live without some things for a while.
After much denial of the fact, I have finally accepted that I won’t be skiing this year. Much as it breaks my heart, the prospect of a re-rupture is just too awful to contemplate and I just won’t be strong enough this winter. Besides, I don’t think I’ll be able to fit my ski boots with my swollen foot and dweeby calf!
Like mental planet says - stay connected with y

I am so with Doug on the idea of doing what you can, where, you can. I found that a leg weight proximal to the weight of my cast on my “good” leg encouraged balance.
I started doing leg raises, both legs at the end of week one. Your healthy leg will atrophy some just due to the general reduction of activity. Keep your flexibility and strength up. Some yoga movements modified for a seated position has kept the blood moving.
There is a lot you can’t do but getting back to as much normalcy as possible keeps you sane. Get out of the house. Easy on the beer, do see friends. Staying connected to your life helps. I can pretty much assure you that you won’t be skating this winter. It is just around the corner. Be patient but aggressive.
Thanks for your efforts saving the post apocalyptic world in Halo 3. Sounds like you have lots of opportunities to be heroic. Take care.

Hi Joe,

If you are serious about a fast rehab, the key is to find what you can do, and not focus, or let others tell you, what you can’t do.

You will want to work on flexibility when you can, (see if you can get out of that cast, and into something removable, like a boot, ASAP), find ways to gently (at first) work on calf strength, (although you already have two weeks of atrophy working against you), and find ways to keep up your cardiovascular and other basic fitness.

Use your imagination and find ways to do these things, and you should be able to get back in action faster. For more thoughts and details, see my blog and peterh’s blog.

Good luck,

Doug

Jose,

I’m in week 9 and just got the go ahead to dump my boot and got two shoes. My doctor is pretty much middle of the road when it comes to getting me back on my feet. From everything I’ve heard it’s at least 8 months before you’ll be back to normal. I think you’re body will tell you when you are ready. My doctor keeps telling me to take it one step further than I think I can but don’t over due it. You being so young maybe it won’t be as long…