Uh oh! HELP!
18 07 2009So today I was taking a shower and I slipped and I put pressure on my bad leg. I didn’t hear a “POP” sound nor am I in a ton of pain but I felt a pull and now I’m getting twinges of pain and to see if I reinjured myself I did the Thompson test with little results. Does anyone know if after 3 weeks Post-Op if you’ll have normal results with the Thompson test? I went to the ER and they took a look with the ultrasound and the lady said it LOOKED intact but only an MRI could tell. Anyone have any ideas and/or advice?
It might just be irritated from the additional stress, or it could be partial or completely re-ruptured. Being 3 weeks post-op it’ll be hard to tell because the range of motion really isn’t there.
Some things you could try, even though it may be painful, is run your fingers along the tendon to see if you can feel it. Is there any swelling that wasn’t there prior to?
The only way to be absolutely sure that it’s not re-injured is an MRI. Best advise would be to call and make and appointment for your Orthopedic doctor to take a look.
Good luck!
Lay on your stomach with the bottoms of your feet facing the ceiling. Slowly lower both till your knees are at about 135 degrees. Look back at your feet and see if they are at the same angle. In a resting state, the ATR side should be about the same or slightly tighter/higher than the uninjured side (if that makes sense).
Good luck!
Hey Krystle,
You’ll find most of the people on here have done roughly the same thing, it’s very easy to slip and accidentally put weight on your bad foot.
My opinion is that you didn’t hear a pop, the cast is designed not to allow your achilles to stetch out again, so you should be fine. But yes it’s definitely a panicky moment. I attended my father-in-law’s birthday 2 days after I was put in a cast and crutches went from under me as the crutch touched on a bit of spilled drink. My heart instantly went to about 200BPM.
Hope you’re okay,
Jon
I am at my 8th week and think I have ruptured my again. I was in a half cast for two weeks. Then the boot with a 15 degree down angle with zero weight bearing for two weeks. Then it was the boot at 90 degree with minumum weight bearing for three weeks. I have been without the boot and in PT for a week.
This past weekend I was laying on the ground and tried to get up with I herd a tear or rip. Not sure if it was scare tissue or stitches. I go for another MRI tommorow. My surgeon said if it is less than 50 percent tear he will do nothing. Is this OK or should I seek another opinion?
Thanks,
Mike
Thanks!
Mike- I agree with your doctor. If you have surgery again (especially on a tendon that is less then 50% torn) it might cause permanent movement restriction due to all the additional scar tissue. Just take it a little more easy and ice/heat when you can… maybe use your crutches if you’re going to be doing a lot of moving around…
I had almost the exact same thing happened to me (see my blog). I went in to see my doctor and had my cast removed so he can check and he said as far as he could see everything was still intact and healing nicely (although no MRI was done). Even now, 6 weeks post-op and in a boot, when I try the Thompson test myself I don’t get much foot movement. I don’t think you can really get a good Thompson result because of the calf atrophy that takes place with non-use of the ankle. I have excellent range of motion and can very deliberately flex my foot forward all the way and back to less than 90 degrees. But still nothing on the Thompson. Maybe what I felt was the steri-strips inside the cast, or some of the scar tissue releasing. Who knows. But if you haven’t yet, see your doctor so he/she can check.
I had a similar incident two weeks ago. I had my half cast removed after two weeks and put into a boot with a 30 degree angle so the doctor said that I could take it off to take a shower. So at almost 4 weeks post op I slipped coming out of the shower and felt a pop and then saw lots of blood coming from the bottom part of my incision. I just knew I re-ruptured the tendon…I called the emergency number given to me and luckily my surgeon was on call that night. He called me back and I explained what happened and he felt that I didn’t tear the tendon but to come in and see him on that Monday (this happened on Saturday).
I saw the doctor on Monday and he did the Thompson test and felt to see if there were any gaps as well. There were no gaps but I did have to have two new stitches put in where it ripped open on the incision. During the time after the fall I had this incredible pain around the area of the stitches and ankle almost like the nerve endings were exposed. That pain has now subsided.
Today I see the doctor and the plan is to put the boot zero degrees and start putting weight on it.
So, with a little extra time you may be ok.