8 weeks post ATR

Well it is now eight weeks since my ATR playing football.

Things have progressed quickly however a lot of the info given to me by the hospital and the physio has been lacking if not in my opinion poor.

To recap quickly following my ATR i had an op the next day and spent a total of five weeks in plaster. At five weeks i was given a tuba grip and a card to start physio sessions. That was it.

Whilst i was glad to get out of the cast i thought the natural progression was the boot and was anxious that i was leaving the hospital at five weeks with no protection.

My physio has been a strange experience and the lady gave me a few exercises to do at home and to up the reps as feels right?? I have had 2 sessions then she said she would see me next in three and a half weeks.

My lack of protection has caused me no problems thankfully (except for a wasp chasing experience a few days ago which ended with me forgetting my injury and putting a lot of weight into my tendon) this hurt like hell for five minutes but quickly subsided and i was relieved to find everything still intact.

At exactly six weeks and one day (post op) i had two shoes on, new trainers, which included a small gel lift in my right (bad leg) shoe. At this point i was standing on two feet and could put a fair bit of weight onto my bad foot. It felt right to attempt a small walk, which i did and it felt great, very slow, very sure but progressivley easier.

This walk was only leading with my bad foot, bringing my left (good) foot level with my right and leading with my right (i think someone called it a gimp walk!! :)
In the last few weeks this has progressed so i that i am now moving my left (good) foot a little past my right but with a big limp (cant imagine ever pushing off my with my bad foot again).

I have also began to drive (not sure if this is right but feels fine) in the last couple of days and have managed the 50 odd mile drive to work and back with no problems (manual car).

Due to the lack of info given to me by hospital and physio despite my questions to them i have kind of developed my own rehab pattern, which in the main includes listening to my body and resting when it tells me and also reading others accounts on here to gain valuable info, sadly missing from my care.

Anyhow at eight weeks im making great progress and am fully aware how vulnerable my tendon still is but this is coupled with a need to get back to work and cope with a household with two young children.

One thing i have had whilst walking/hobbling around in the last few days is a strange pain above my tendon to the left whilst putting weight on my heel, whilst the pain is not strong enough to require painkillers i was wondering if anyone else has had a similar pain to put my mind at rest. The pain doesnt actually (seem) to be coming from the tendon itself more the general area.

I hope everyone is making good progress along their journeys to a full recovery, as some have stated before you really would have to suffer this injury to appreciate how it inflicts on your life.

Cant believe how far i have come in eight weeks (rightly or wrongly) as immediately prior to my operation i was told plaster for 10-12 weeks!!!!!!!!!!!! Good luck all………

One Response to “8 weeks post ATR”

  1. Make sure your right toe points straight forward (or normally so) when you walk/limp/hobble. Toe-out hobbling gets you into a few kinds of trouble. Me, I’d use TWO heel lifts, one in the left shoe for balance and alignment.
    I’m not familiar with your pattern of leg pain, and there’s no shame in asking for a medical opinion — though it sounds like you haven’t been able to get many. Pity. The good news is that many of us experienced numerous self-resolving pains and discomforts at that stage of rehab. The bad news is that there’s no guarantee that yours is self-resolving.

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