summer2’s AchillesBlog

It’s interesting to see how different info we all are having from pur docs. Mine said physio after 6-8 weeks with no weight bearing! I’m a bit lost since I did surgery in Bangkok and don’t have access to him any longer. Also suggestions for having a good sleep in the boot? Thanks and speedy recovery;)

hi summer,

thanks for sharing your physio thoughts, i have done quite a bit of walking on bare feet, and it feels ok. it’s mega difficult to understand our own bodies, even though we’ve had them for quite a while, doesn’t it? by this i mean that it is not easy to figure out what’s safe and what’s pushing the boundaries of recovery. personally i’m finding my sessions in the pool the most effective at stretching the tendon safely, when i come out of the pool i can almost walk normal.

we gotta laugh at our own misfortunes don’t you think? a colleague recently asked me ‘are you ok, is your tendon sore?’ and i was like ‘nope, it’s perfectly fine, this is how i look!’

…..

suerte

Hi Pozaicer ,
I have been wearing my ascis shoes around the house ,sometimes i use a heel insert (evenings when the swelling is back) I feel comfortable in them .
My Physio , though insists that whenever possible and safely try walking bare feet .
I am very stiff at the tendon , though theres very slight improvement . I am trying the “walk properly , roll on foot and agree works on small steps only and when i forget i find my self limping too .
I haven’t tried , going out without the boot as yet .
Lol …. disabled looking man !!! Probably the best time to use the disabled parking lot , which i always eyed while waitng for and empty parking lot !!
Happy healing ….

summer, this is great news, well done!

you are a cheeky sod complaining, you still beat me to shoes by a week!

on the shoes note, i feel a lot safer in winter boots or regular boots (although my consultant said this is irrelevant, but what the hell do they know?) but i noticed that the ’sole’ is a crucial factor. for me the softer, as in being able to mould itself to the ground, the better. i find myself limping when i stop ‘thinking’ to walk ‘properly’.

so every time i walk now, i think ‘walk properly, roll on the foot, start at the heel, feel the foot on the ground, then try to finish with the toes’, this only works with small steps, as if it’s my regular step it overstretches the tendon to uncomfortable levels and the limp comes in. suffice to say, i’ve gone from the disabled looking man in a boot to the disabled looking man who limps and talks to himself…..

happy healing!

suerte

Hi Manny ,
Thank you so much You always bring a smile .
I found your of of your note in my inbox and it never got posted on this blog .Also one of my reply to Pozaicer did not get posted .I wonder why .

Yes its great to be in two shoes !!!!
Hope you are healing well .

Metonia , i did hit my low after my last visit to the doc ! Thanks for the kind words and i am on my way to the progress
I am in two shoes at home with no crutches now , PT GOT a lot aggressive after the doctors feed back about my very slow recovery !!!!
Hope you are recovering well .I will try my pool for the aqua therapy ( meaning my ground exercise )
I can hardly bend for the squats and am very very stiff at the Tendon.

Congratulations, Summer! Two shoes at home is a great improvement!
Keep up the great work and improvements, and happy healing!
Manny

Hi Pozaicer,

Thanks for lifting up my spirits , i did feel better after reading your note .
Had PT session 3 days back and my therapist has got more aggressive with lots of massage and scar management and ROM exercise , practice to walk.Now PT 3 times a week . So yesterday was the big day and i am out of the BOOT only in the house !!!!
Thrilled to the core .
Right now , extremely stiff at the tendon , walking around the house freely , no crutches.Going up and down the stairs!!!
Eight weeks to two shoes .Yahoo !!!

Summers, it is so frustrating when our mind wants us one way and our body says NO. What ever the reason, it still gets our blood boiling but what is done is done, think of the positive and move forward.

Best of luck on you improvement,

hi summer, sorry to hear this!

i was in the same boat two weeks ago and was forced onto two further weeks, do you also live in Scotland and see the same consultant? lol

although i was gutted last time i took the advice with care and followed it. i just commented elsewhere (check comments feed in the main page under my name), you ought to make your best to keep walking as much as possible with the boot on without fatigue and taking risks, this will strengthen the muscle and pave the way for the next steps, as you know!

i was in the same boat as you but luckily saw a private PT and she gave me a proper bullocking and got me off the crutches (i still carried them for safety) but there is nothing to stop you from walking and navigating stairs with the boot.

so keep the spirits up and don’t worry, soon you’ll be walking too!

suerte

it was lovely to get so much of valuable information from all of you . It has lifted up my spirits and have made me feel happy .
SO i am again on my way to a happy recovery
I have started doing my upper body dumbbell workout and alternating it with seated upper body cardio workout .

Its great to start workout :))
Thank you , thank you Beanie , Manny , s40love , Stuart,Sunny .

Just an update , I had a PT yesterday and all is looking well .My wound scab is still there , but looks like healing well .
I have been out in the boot for 3-4 hours few times and there was not much swelling .
And thanks to the evenups , its more comfortable with them.
Another 7 days to two shoes if all goes well .
Heapping healing to all of you …..keep smiling

Stationary cycle is fine in the boot at 5 weeks. I think I started before then but just start with the heel of the boot on the pedal and work your way to the toe as tolerated. It is very boring after a while so find a distraction while you do it.

Hi! I am a Haglund surgery, nine weeks out. By week five, I cycled in my boot and it worked just fine. I am in shoes now and no issues from cycling in my boot. All the upper body exercises are great too. I recommend going to the gym. The atmosphere will be motivating. Good luck.

Beanie is tough enough to do pull ups. I’m a chicken ha ha. I agree with rowing, that’s a good one too!

Hey Summer, what s40love said - anything upper body, tummy and back extensions (superman). I did push-ups resting boot on other leg. I also did pull-ups, l-hangs, toes-to-bar. Rowing is excellent cardio if you have access- you rest the boot on something with wheels or the seat of another rower. To make the weight workout more cardio, pick 3-4 exercises and do 3-5 rounds of each alternating at 10-20 reps and do them fast. Good luck and happy healing!

Lol Manny! You make me laugh

Summer and Beanie: my apologies for changing your name Beanie! I just keep thingking “My Bonnie lies over the ocean…” LOL
Summer, I’m glad to see you are getting really great advice from real athletes!
Happy healing!……………… Manny

Summer organic coconut oil or bio oil are brilliant for wound healing and minimising scar
I actually used both one in morning massage and the other at night
Coconut oil has magic qualities read up on it on google
I also put a tablespoon into my smoothies for some added internal healing as well.
Vitamin C & magnesium are a great boost also for healing

Hi guys I think Manny meant beanie she has documented well pretty sure summer this is who Manny “the champ” meant.
Manny, Beanie & Stuart were all very instrumental on keeping me
positive through my journey, loved the humour & the advise, thanks so much
And summer take heart it us not as bad as it seems, wishing you a positive, fun & speedy recovery too

Summer - not sure on the Bonnie either. Did you mean Beanie’s blog Manny? Anyway mine is Xplora. Limping is bad for you. You should avoid it. There are ways to do that but sometimes when you get tired it cannot be helped. If you limp when you walk then you can shorten your stride and slow down. Before I got my boot off I was given exercises to engage my butt muscles again. They are the ones most responsible for walking and go soft quick. I think this was already mentioned. It wont be long now before you are back in shoes and the work begins. Best to wear shoes indoors as well. Good motion control runners with a higher heel (ASICS or Brooks). You can add heel wedges to them as well to take the pressure of your tendon and make it easier to walk. Barefoot is nice but it requires more flexion than you will have and you will limp. Of course limping is hard not to do when you have a big boot on.

Oh, you can do a lot of crunches too! =)

If you are still in a boot, I would do those workouts where you lay or seat on a bench: chest press, flies, biceps curls, triceps with dumbells, lat pulldown, etc. I would not recommend squatting. Definitely no pull ups, push ups would hurt. If you are able to put some pressure on your foot, then you could do some cable exercises. Look for some exercises from this site: bodybuilding dot com slash exercises.
I would recommend getting a personal trainer once a week so they can show you some exercises you can do and how to do it in proper form.
Don’t expect to lose a lot of calories with weight training. When you are ready you could do the ellyptical, or cycling, that will get you some cardio. For me, nothing compares to running to lose calories fast. I gained about 6 pounds so far after this ordeal. But I hope to lose it all and more after I return to my regular life.
Since I were two shoes, I have incorporated some push ups, calf raises, leg extensions, leg curls, hip abduction/adduction, etc. Pretty much everything except for anything that puts too much strain on the tendon.

Summer, they post regularly, so you will see them around. Just scroll down… I might have misspelled some names. S40Love, Kevin, Metonia, crzkdsmom, shady, pozaicer, and more are also regular posters (Metonia, you are a poster girl! LOL) and Stuart, Bonnie and Bobbie (I always misspell one of the two, adding an american double consonant) give great advice. Oh, and Metonia is an expert at the surgical details and finds links for us on the internet.
Happy Healing!…….. Manny

Hi Manny ,I managed to find Bobbie’s blog but can’t find Bonnie and Stuart’s blog.
Where and how do I find them.
Wishing you a great day ahead .

It was only till week three post op I had pt twice a week. The therapist told me that the ultrasound and vibrations are to reduce the swelling and pain. Since the swelling and pain was in control ,I was to just do my leg lifts at home. Since the 4 th week the PT is only once a week. Feels like I am not doing enough and it’s getting frustrating with a little weight gain.
I still have the wound scab at to tiny spots , so it’s it’s difficult the give a good massage to the incessisson area ( luckily only one inch Long ), which I have been told to do at home 2-3 times using a bio oil or vitamin e oil. The scab is dry and by evening the incessisson area does get a little red and swollen.
I have still do not have clearance to start motion exercises.
Waiting for my PT this week , which marks it to Week 5 post op….. Week 6 post injury.
Good luck with your healing …..

Hey Summer - I tore my right achilles the day after you on Feb 6th. It’s odd to hear of all the different schedules everyone is on. I’m jealous that you’re getting ultrasound and massage already after two weeks. I was 19 days in a NWB cast, and now two weeks in a walking boot. My surgery was Feb 11 so I’m almost 5 weeks Post Op. I just got cleared for physical therapy. I’ve only been doing motion exercises, but I’ve been two weeks in a boot, so I’ve taken it off once a day to put some weight on it. I’ve been cleared to walk more around the house without the boot. I walk without the boot in a similar fashion to wearing it. It’s definitely a limp -with most all of the weight coming down on the heal. I have little to no power pushing off from my toes and I shouldn’t at this point. Don’t even try it this early - unless directed to start doing so by your PT. I make sure anytime I walk without the boot that I’m clearly watching where I’m going and I’m not distracted by my phone or anything else. At our stage it can only take one lapse in concentration to forget you can’t walk directly on that foot and you risk a tear. Take i

Hi summer, welcome to the blog. We have something in common. We both injured our left legs while playing tennis. I was playing hard that fateful day, it was a hard fought match, and went for a simple forehand from the baseline, and snap. Never had any warning sign or pain beforehand, and I have done forehands a million times. So you go figure.

As far as serving, if you are a rightie, I suppose it was when you landed on your left foot after propelling yourself off the ground to serve. That landing can be hard on your left foot. I had been practicing this in the last few months and I think that could have contributed to the injury by making my tendon weaker by creating minor tears on it.

@Ipozaicer: involuntary muscle twitches once in a while, I believe they are normal, I get them too sometimes. I think some people get them after heavy exercise.

Welcome to our Boot Clan, Summer!
Check out Bobbie, Bonnie, Stuart as our super athlete bloggers
Happy Healing!………. Manny

Congratulations on the first steps out of the book, Pozaicer! That is really great! As for keeping my core in shape, I basically had my Dr.’s OK to use the stationary bike, even with the cast, so I did. Not a perfect solution, but better than sitting around all day.
My suggestion? Ask your Dr. for the PT referral and for the “2 shoes” date… And get heels to protect your tendon during the first few weeks of 2 shoes, or sneakers that have the huge heels built into them.

Happy Healing!………. Manny

hi summer,

i’m 7 weeks post ATR, aggressive rehab protocol. been PWB from week 3ish and FWB from week 4. started with CAM boot from week 2 with 5 wedges, went boot with no wedges yesterday.

have the consultants appointment tomorrow and i’ll be able to comment on what the next steps (mind the pun) will be for me.

my physio told me that during this early process you can do as much as you can (without pain) at your own rate. i was worried about calf atrophy and loosing muscle, but she said that what one has to worry about is loosing arse muscle!!!!! this was a revelation, and the rationale behind it (for those numpties like myself) is that since you are not using your leg you stop engaging the muscles going up to your gluteus (the affected side).

so it seems to me that you have put in the right focus, amount, and that this will keep you going without trouble. i’ve started a ‘core’ routine from week 5 in order to keep the centre strong.

all the different approaches are time and money dependant, so i wouldn’t beat myself up for not doing as much as others.

i took the first ‘on my feet’ without the boot last wee

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