Physical Therapy
Information on Physical Therapy. Get your leg back in shape!
- Achilles Tendon Rupture, Overview of the recovery stages, exercises, physical rehabilitation descriptions and illustrations. by Eric Berkson, MD (Orthopaedic Surgery of Quincy, Massachusetts General Hospital)
- Achilles Tendon Physical Therapy Exercises [videos] (Thanks Johnk!)
- The first 10 weeks of recovery: Tom’s Exercise Guide
- Tom’s excellent Exercise Chart (In either Excel or pdf format.)
- Home Program for Ankle Exercises:
Ankle and Achilles Exercises At Home
(http://www.permanente.net/homepage/kaiser/pdf/6909.pdf) - Mitch has written an excellent guide on his page (Thanks Mitch!): Physical Therapy Info
- Dennis’s week 7 Physical Therapy exercise sheet.
- Some tips to beat a swollen Achilles tendon, and the pain that comes with it.
- This should be done only if you are well recovered from Achilles surgery. Be sure to get your doctor’s approval or your physical therapist’s approval before doing the following exercies: Calf Exercises.(Thanks Tom!)
- Water Rehabilitation for Achilles Tendon Rupture Recovery:
Water Rehabilitation for Achilles Tendon Rupture and video (Dr. Ross, thanks for finding this)
Some info about Physical Therapy
- Electrical stimualtion addresses inflammation, muscle strength and spasm. (thanks Ross!)
- Ultrasound deals primarily with increasing circulation to the area. (thanks Ross!)
I just posted an excellent pdf about ATR overview, recovery descriptions, rehab exercises, etc. Written by Dr. Eric Berkson
If you are starting out on this journey I think this is a good guide to read first.
(It’s the first one on the list.)
http://achillesblog.com/physical-therapy/
Dennis - I came across this link that has a lot of good calf stretching and strengthening exercises. However, I must say that these exercises should only be performed after consulting with your doctor or therapist. Most of the exercises are probably best done once out of the boot, or even further down the road.
http://www.netfit.co.uk/members/calf_exercises_muscle/calf_exercise_exercises.htm
Tom -
Thanks, I posted this on the main site, under “Physical Therapy”.
Has anyone heard of a machine called a DynaSplint? Apparently once hooked up, it moves your foot up and down by itself. My doctor wants me to use it every evening as part of my PT but i’m a little worried. I’ve never heard of it before.
leeisme - I haven’t used it, but it looks like it can be useful. If your doctor recommends it, then I think it’s fine. It looks like a great little device that’ll help you get your foot moving.
Hi all,
I just came back from my first post op Dr. appt. (8 days). I was shocked that they cut the cast off. It sure felt good for a moment.
Dr. said he has never seen anyone heal so fast. He said he could take out the staples today, but will wait until next week. Absolutely NO swelling, no bruising, and wound look healed.
He recasted me, at full 90 degrees. He felt the tendon and said that surgery went amazingly well. He said I can start putting weight on it next week.
Walking boot in 3 more weeks, at which time he will start me on PT. I am absolutely ecstatic.
He said I only had 4% of tendon left.
The wound was at least 10 inchs long. It started on my heal, hooked up a bit, and then up to the calf.
I forgot my phone, but will take pics next week.
The new cast is shorter, with more toe out and lower beneath the knee.
The nurse said that mine was a clean tear, like someone cut it, and that helped in surgery.
Dr. expects me walking without crutches at 9 weeks post op.
Mike
Mike R - sounds like you had a great visit…I loved that feeling I had after my first post op appointment. It was so good for me to see the wound. Happy Healing!
MIke R–
glad to hear the visit went well…The fact that it was a clean tear and not “spaghettied” (frayed) means that the fibers should heal quickly. Take it one day at a time.
Doc Ross
Dennis,
I am 54 in one week.
I injured my AT on March 18th, and had surgery on March 25th. I injured it hiking when I jumped down on a rock, and my toe hit without my heel, and heard the snap. I had to hike another 1/2 mile out of a steep canyon after I did it, and might have caused much more harm doing so, but will neve know.
Well, I am out of the cast and into the boot. I start PT next Wednesday, 5 weeks post op.
I took my boot off a few minutes ago for the kids to see, and it was shocked when I saw the sagging small leg muscle, especially next to my good one.
I tried to move my foot just a tad, and it doesn’t work too well yet! That was a very strange feeling. It that par for the course at 4 weeks post op?
Dr. said the tendon is healing strong, and to put 50 - 60 lbs. of weight bearing on it. I am ok to ride a stationary bike, which I am on my way to do right now.
He said I will be out of the boot in no more than 4 weeks.
What is the usual PT for the first week? i assume very light and lots of range of motion, right?
My PT is in mr Dr.’s office, and I have 5 weeks, three times a week.
He did say to keep the boot on all the time, except for showersand that I should be ditching the crutches in 2 weeks.
How did you guys do at 4 weeks?
Mike
Dennis,
I would like to be added to the atrpt. I tried and thought I set up my own blog, but I cannot find it
Off the the YMCA for my first bike work.
Mike
Mike R - I’ve added you to:
http://achillesblog.com/atrpt.php
Found your blog!
http://achillesblog.com/miker/
Mike R -
The PT was fairly lightweight the first week. Some ROM and some light resistance bands. My first PT was around week 7 though, and my ROM was pretty good.
I think you are right on par with the average. Brendan’s comment sums it up best:
Thank you guys for your posts…I have learned alot from you so far. This blog is awsome!
I have done the surgery on the 3rd of April and until now I am on cast, and my doctor wants me to visit him next week to remove the cast which will makes it total of 2 months on cast….is this normal?! I was unable to remove my leg for the past 2 months because of the cast, although i have heard on the net that its better to start moving the ankle to avoid having weak achilles tendon…and its better to start using the boot as early as possible….but I have not. I live in Dubai city and I am unable to find doctor that I trust ;-(
prince -
Are you bearing any weight on your cast foot? Well, I hope the averages at least give you a feel for what everyone is doing.
The earlier you start bearing weight, the less of muscle atrophy you’ll have. If you are still NWB, your doctor’s protocol does seem conservative.
I recommend that you also checking out: http://achillesblog.com/atrpt.com to see what everyone’s protocol has been like.
Thanks for putting up so much information. My doc had planned to have me in a hard cast for 3 months, but I discussed getting into a boot sooner last week & he said I’d have to go to another doctor - this is what he’s done and all he does (I had even taken in clippings from the medical journals/articles on the site and he glanced at them but would not consider researching alternative protocols). I called several other doctors and although my insurance will let me switch, I couldn’t find a doctor willing to take over care until 3 months post-op. Then, yesterday, I went into my doctor’s office for a medical release for work (I’d been working from home and was planning on going back to the office soon) and he agreed to switch me to a boot - however, he said I am doing my own thing as to how to progress since it is not his protocol. I was a bit surprised since I didn’t bring it up, but I figured I should take advantage of the opportunity and as long as I carefully research this (and get a qualified PT), I’ll be able to do this safely. As of the appointment yesterday when he took the 2nd hard cast off, he said it looks great.
So, I am in the boot & looking to see what ROM and other gentle things I can do safely. I’m at week 5 post-op (today) and at PWB (and have been for 3 weeks). These documents are a great resource to compare to other readings and to provide more details for when I am talking to the PTs.
Am I nuts for taking him up on the offer? Or is this worth doing it on my own for the benefits of being able to do ROM & other things before 3 months?