lance’s AchillesBlog

7 Weeks - Non Operative Recovery

20 Comments Leave a comment.

1. On May 13, 2013 at 2:11 pm kellygirl Said:

   I can’t believe your mobility at seven weeks! I don’t think I’d be willing to try any of those moves until further down the road–I’d be too nervous. You are still wearing the boot right? If not at home, at least for commuting and work? Looking forward to the next installment. Happy healing

2. On May 13, 2013 at 10:30 pm lance Said:

   Hi Kelly,

   Thanks! Just a lot of hard work and dedication. I have found that one foot Balancing on the injured achilles tendon to be the most rewarding exercise. It really does seem to be the catalyst in the beginning phases of rebuilding strength and stability to the tendon.

   I stopped wearing the boot at 42 days. I am currently doing everything without it. I still have a noticeable limp but things are progressing well. Going up and down stairs has been a great exercise as well for me in recovery.

   Stay positive and keep your self occupied

3. On May 14, 2013 at 9:15 pm kkirk Said:

   As you get better with balancing on one foot you can start to do things to make it a little more difficult to increase your strength and stability. (ie: Throwing a ball at the wall and catching it why you do it, or using a foam board, or wobble board later on). These exercises were amazing for increasing my stability, balance, and helping my walking gait (Still working on my jogging/running one). Again, Kudos with the progress.

4. On May 15, 2013 at 12:37 am Jack Said:

   I’ve been alternating between the boot and my work shoe (boot) at work, and trying to spend more time walking around the work site during my night shift. Very noticeable limp but that is to be expected. I won’t start PT for another 2 weeks so I’m doing what I can NOW to help strengthen my leg and muscles in preparation. When my foot starts feeling weak, I change back into the boot for the rest of the shift until I go home and sleep. I have a pedometer at home and am going o start wearing it to measure how far I’m walking each day - working towards continally increasing the distances each day.

5. On May 15, 2013 at 2:06 am lance Said:

   Thanks Kkirk, I will definitely work on some of those exercises. It feels great regaining strength and flexibility back slowly but surely.

   Good idea Jack, as far as alternating between boot and work shoe when needed. You never want to push to hard or re injure and be back at square one. My God, I tremble at the thought of having to start over hahaha

   I actually started doing some assisted single leg toe raises on the treadmill as well as one legged jump attempts raising up onto the toe. It appears to be working wonders. My normal walking limp is decreasing. What I have realized and have experimented with in my self administered recovery, is that it seems the ATR recovery is so long b/c it is extremely hard to begin working out the upper half of the tendon (at the point of rupture) which reconnects to the calf. Throughout my rehabilitation, I do not have any pain when standing on my toe, the hard part is getting up onto the toe from being flat footed. Anyway, I have been able to gain calf muscle and strength doing these exercises which focus on the calf, and once the calf muscle does begin to fire off, it sure does feel glorious after having been dormant for so long.

6. On May 15, 2013 at 6:25 am normofthenorth Said:

   Lance, I’m still trying to figure out how you decided how fast to go — when to go PWB then FWB, when to start working on the treadmill in shoes, etc.

   Am I understanding right that your ATR is very high, near the calf muscle? That’s where you can feel a “divot” from the gap?

   I’m still in shock and awe at the speed of your rehab.

7. On May 16, 2013 at 12:19 am lance Said:

   Hey Norm,

   My progress and recovery has been solely based on my own experience and personal pressure gauge. As far as PWB/FWB is concerned, I was basically FWB from the start. The first few days in the boot were PWB but once I was comfortable mentally I was applying FWB. The Bledsoe Achilles Boot which I used to rehabilitate my tendon and I am guessing all ATR boots keep the foot safely secure in the plantar flexion position keeping you up on your tippy toe making it impossible to re injure the tendon. Understanding this simple concept enabled me to be FWB very quickly.

   I emailed you a photo of the exact location. Feel free to post it. If you would like. I couldn’t figure it out.

8. On May 17, 2013 at 12:07 pm mtmtl Said:

   Hi Lance- I ruptured my achilles 3 weeks ago, and decided to go non-operative (31yr/male). I was put into a cast the first week, then into a Cam Walker with 45deg plantar flexion. It has now been 3 weeks since the rupture (seeing my OS next week to change flexion angle), and I was wondering at what point did you start doing any physical therapy/rehabilitation on your achilles? Your progress seems pretty advanced for non-op, so I was curious as to what sort of protocol you have been following? Appreciate any input- thanks!

9. On May 17, 2013 at 2:18 pm normofthenorth Said:

   Mtml, we’ve had a few bloggers here who went faster than any large study and did well — doug53 comes to mind quickly. He was post-op, and lance is our first super-fast non-op. but we’ve also had a LOT of people who reruptured or had other painful and/or time-wasting setbacks by doing too much too soon. I’d much rather follow the fastest successful large trial — like bit.ly/UWOProtocol — than follow the fastest successful individual. On one of my pages, ryanb posted a link to a study that sent op and non-op through a supar-fast rehab, and they all did badly, including miserably high reruptured rates — and the non’op ones did much worse than post-op. There are a few activities — jay-walking and being a vegetarian come to mind — where it really pays to be smart and sensible. I think this is another one. I’d love to see a large group try to follow lance’s schedule, and see the results. It might be great, and it might not.

10. On May 17, 2013 at 4:01 pm lance Said:

    http://cdn.memegenerator.net/instances/400x/37915949.jpg

    But on a more serious note mtml, I never had my foot in a cast. My foot was just dangling for the first 8 days until my boot arrived. I started the ROM around 12 days very gently. From this point I continued with weight bearing while wearing the boot, ROM, and I also did some hydrotherapy when showering by filling up the bathtub with water and pushing the foot back and forth. I sure do miss those days of crawling into and out of the bathtub and leaning up against the wall to shower hahaha. It’s crazy to think it was nearly impossible for me to get into and out of the bathtub only a month ago considering where I am at today.

    My experience with this injury is that it has been a week by week progression. I will be 8 weeks this Sunday. I am determined to walk gait free by then. I am close but not there yet.

    Even though I do have a slight gait in my step. It really has no detriment to my life. I started going to the gym last week. I have been bike riding around the city fine. Swinging golf clubs and baseball bat just as fast and hard as I was before the injury. All this without any fear of re rupture.

    The first few weeks after the initial injury I was convinced my life would never be the same. This is not true. You and everyone else who have had an ATR will be just fine. I have already told myself I will not participate in any fast moving sports like basketball and tennis that require any quick sudden moves but I am already rethinking that statement b/c of how comfortable and confident I feel in the bodies ability to repair itself but only time will tell.

    Anyway, hang in there, you are well on your way to being back on your feet.

11. On May 17, 2013 at 5:15 pm ripraproar Said:

    Norm , starshep
    Wonder if you old shed me some light, my eyes are burning trying to find someone with th e same circulation problem as me, I tracked down on here someone called Harry H , like me also he didn’t have a blog ( found out the blog issue isn’t me being thick my dashboard isn’t set up right) anyhow guys I managed to follow Harry h up to July 12 , which was 26weeks non op you guys were dialogue with Harry do you know how his circulation and at recovery ended

12. On May 18, 2013 at 1:58 am normofthenorth Said:

    RRR, I don’t know the answer to your Q about HarryH.
    But my two feet have been different colors for several decades, the left one much redder than the right when I stand in the shower. It started way before my second (left) ATR, and maybe before the first (right) ATR, I don’t really remember. The left ATR didn’t seem to change it once it healed, and open-heart surgery (1 valve replaced, another repaired) didn’t change it either. I think it’s just “me” and I’ve stopped worrying about it.

13. On May 18, 2013 at 7:19 am Mum of 3 Said:

    Hi all,
    I have a question about a suitable boot. My current doctor has no advice about boots at all, he actually said that since I am in a cast, why should I need a boot? However after reading through many shared experiences, seemed that many will go from cast to boot so that there is still some protection but still ability for some walking even with a boot on. After the rerupture experience at 8 wks I hope to try the boot after when my cast will be removed. I have searched but the number of choices (bledshoe, vaco cast, air cast, cam walker) is a little overwhelming. Can anyone give some recommendation? The vaco cast looks quite good…., it is currently 30 degree Celsius in hk , so hopefully I can find one that isn’t so stuffy. Also, since my doctor has no experience with the boot, I am a little worried that I have no one to turn to when need advice on the boot. I will see another specialist next tue with the hope that he has some experience with these boots and also more advice on rehab. Thanks all in advance for your advice!
    Mum of 3..

14. On May 18, 2013 at 1:17 pm ripraproar Said:

    Hi thanks norm
    The colour I don’t mind , it’s quite quirky actually , it’s the damn pain , anyhow ill let you know how I go on at docs, have a great weekend

15. On May 18, 2013 at 1:24 pm ripraproar Said:

    Hi mum of 3 if I had to do it again, hoping I don’t I’d go for vaco, only because overheard rave reviews, some people say a rep came fitting it for them, also seen it in yt looks good ,I’d guess and only guess they are the leaders

16. On May 18, 2013 at 3:09 pm lance Said:

    Mum of 3,

    The Bledsoe boot which I used to rehabilitate was great. The only two issues I had with it was that the velcro began to wear off after a month of use, however, you can rotate the inner line to a fresh unused piece of velcro. Secondly, the Achilles Tendon is pretty much wide open to everything meaning that there is not a protective shell covering the back of the tendon.

    With that being said, the boot was extremely well made and reliable. It came with 4 removable velcro wedges and an air pump which is used for greater support around the ankle.

    Mum, I am curious what caused your re rupture after 8 weeks? How tragic

17. On May 21, 2013 at 8:03 am mum of 3 Said:

    hi Lance,
    thanks for your info, in the end i opted for the VACO but still need to get it from the doctor.
    I was just crossing the road and needed to quicken my pace when the rerupture happened. The doctor diagnosed about 1/3 AT tear.. so put me back in the cast… it was like the end of the world to me.. i had just started walking on one crutch and no crutches at home at my 8th week, you know that feeling of being free (well partially) , when this accident happened… .. so ,back in cast for 2 wks now… i am a bit worried because i have had open surgery but now am using self healing of the tendon after the rerupture… read about the importance of early weight bearing for the non-opt way so really concerned about having to stay in the cast , doing nothing for 4 wks. That’s part of what drove me to purchase the boot asap and hoping to do some mild excercise instead of no action…

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