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how do i avoid rupturing my good leg?
September 7th, 2012 by michelle153
Last week i was hopping around on my Right (good) leg to clean the house a little bit. After 10 minutes, My right tendon felt awfully tight, like it was just on the brink of rupturing. Luckily there was a bed nearby that i quickly jumped on, relieved the tightness in my right foot immediately. TO THINK WHAT I’D DO WITHOUT BOTH FEET.! Are there any stretches/massages etc to reduce my chances of rupturing my right leg? I will stop the hopping on one leg too much.
Also, can my Left (ATR) leg re-rupture from stretches? When putting weight on it, should i only put weight on the heel or the whole foot? I don’t have a boot yet, so I’m walking around the house barefoot at this stage.
My leg turns a red/purple colour and swells after 15mins average of placing it on the floor. I do have a stool at my desk that helps, but is this normal? and when does it stop swelling?
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7 Responses to ' how do i avoid rupturing my good leg? '
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ATR Timeline
- Name: michelle153
Location: Cook Islands
Injured during: Netball
Which Leg: L
Status: PWB
705 wks 2 days Post-ATR
704 wks 4 days
Since start of treatment
Michelle 153
- michelle153 has completed the grueling 26.2 ATR miles to full recovery!
Goal: 160 days from the surgery date.
Click here for the Group Marathon Tracker
on September 7th, 2012 at 9:08 pm
All the stretching and exercises that I learned in PT, I also do with my good (right foot). Is it going to help me to not rupture my good AT? I don’t know, but I figure it can’t hurt.
I am at 15 weeks post ATR, have been released from PT and have been walking two shoed for weeks with no problems and barely a limp.
I strained my good AT at 3 weeks post-op by hopping around. It still hurts. I can’t stand to massage it, so I concentrate on heel lifts, 2 footed squats, and lots of gentle stretching.
I have no idea if you can re-rupture from stretching. I think that slow and gentle is the key to success. You need some tension in the stretch, but not pain.
When I first started walking, I would plop my foot straight down and pick it straight up so that all of my weight would be distributed evenly. My PT worked with my to get a natural rolling gait by having my keep my bad foot on the floor. I would step forward and backward with my good foot while rocking my bad foot from heel to toes (picking up my heel when I went forward and picking up my toes when I went back) - simulating how your foot moves while taking a step. This loosened up my ankle and made me more comfortable putting weight on all parts of my foot.
My bad ankle is constantly swollen (I bought larger shoes and figure that this is just the size of my foot now) and my bad leg is darker and redder than the other. Both my surgeon and my PT said that this was normal for up to six months.
Hopes this helps a bit.
Joan
on September 7th, 2012 at 9:13 pm
Joan,
Thanks so much for the advice. will definitely try it out. I’m only 9 weeks post-op and have only been given the ok for PWB at this stage. But will try that out when i get to FWB with my Physio.
on September 7th, 2012 at 9:15 pm
Don’t hop around on your good leg!!! I had some pain in my good AT at your stage since it was doing most of the work for the other leg. I stretched it and did single calf raises to keep the whole calf/AT mechanism strong and flexible. My PT told me to work on transferring weight from heel to ball of foot at your stage when I was walking in my boot or shoes. I’m still careful walking barefoot at 18 weeks. I felt much safer in shoes or anything with a slight heel at first.
The purple foot/swelling continues until you start to build more strength in the injured leg - so it goes away at different times for everyone. I took pics each week and I think I was still a little discolored just a few weeks ago - you can flip through my blog as it always turned up purple in my weekly pics. I can keep it down on the floor and stand for hours now with little swelling or discoloration - since about 13 or 14 weeks.
on September 7th, 2012 at 10:16 pm
I am 3.5 weeks post op and I try to avoid hopping around on my good leg whenever possible.
In fear of hurting the good leg I will even scoot on my butt across the floor if I have too. I also found
That pivoting on the ball of your foot and letting your crutches do the turning to be much better.
on September 8th, 2012 at 5:00 am
As everyone says - don’t hop!! It’s so dangerous. Although it is very tempting to try and do more round the house with hopping, it is much better to slow down and do it gradually on crutches. I had a bag I would carry round with me to transport things, and I got a wheelchair for the kitchen so I could move food and dishes around for cooking. It was slow but safe. Please don’t risk rupturing the other one - it’s your best asset at the moment! Best wishes
on September 8th, 2012 at 9:07 am
Don’t hop!! Use your crutches or get a knee scooter! The last thing you or the baby needs right now is to fall.
Don’t worry about having a clean house - its not worth it.
Blessings - Scott
on September 10th, 2012 at 3:32 pm
Thank you all for the advice.