Frustrating Plateau
Hey all. I’m on week 9 of recovery, and I don’t seem to be getting better. I chose not to do surgery and am wondering if I’m going to regret that decision. My biggest complaint is extreme weakness in my bad leg. I have almost full ROM, (my bad leg can dorsiflex further than good leg, and plantar flex almost as far as the good leg), and virtually no pain. However, I can’t even come close to doing a calf raise. I feel I should be able to do this. My achilles feels strong. I didn’t immobilize myself for too long, so I don’t think calf muscle atrophy is to blame for the weakness. I’m beginning to worry that my tendon healed too long. Or maybe I’m just expecting too much, and an inability to do even a partial calf raise is normal at this point? I’m just very frustrated because the recovery was coming along so fast, but now it’s seems to be at a dead stop. I was comfortable enough to walk in regular shoes after 4 weeks, so I figured by now I’d be further along. Also, I just got called back to work last week, so now I’m on my feet for 8 hours a day. It’s really taking a toll on my heel, since I can’t walk on the ball of my foot at all. I’m also very active, and won’t be happy until my athletic performance is where it was prior to ATR. Hobbling around with a weak leg is no option for me. Any advice, suggestions, or questions are more than welcome. Thanks in advance, and good luck with your recoveries.
