October 30th, 2011
17 wks since re-rupture; non-surgery
Posted by
suthrnman
in
Journal
Today is seventeen weeks! This week seems to be the point where I can walk without a limp. I can support my full weight on the bad foot (180 lbs). The tendon is continuing to firm up; however, I still have the indention running from top to bottom on the posterior of the Achilles. I am not sure if this indention is normal or not.
Anyway, I am progressing and feeling more confident. My rehab consist of walking with good form, cycling, and occasional heel raises. Hope everyone has swift and complete healing. Blessings, Paul
on October 31st, 2011 at 7:13 pm
Glad you’re getting there, I had a partial re-rupture around the same time you did (in the end I did six months in casts) just been allowed to walk without crutches around the house, and now I’m getting over the mental block that it will happen again things move on at quite a pace don’t they.
Still a bit to go, but getting there. Good luck with your healing!
All the best
Mark
http://meandmyachilles.wordpress.com/
on November 1st, 2011 at 3:22 pm
Hey, is it really 17 weeks. You really are doing so well, its good to hear after such a difficult start. Blessings to you too.
on November 6th, 2011 at 12:29 pm
Walking without a limp is huge, and 17 weeks doesn’t seem very slow, either, so YAY!
So you’ve got like a vertical groove visible at the back of your AT? Hmm. I don’t think that was “normal” on either of my legs, but maybe others have noticed it. It’s not obvious to me how a rupture (or even two) could change the shape of the parts of the tendon where the rupture didn’t happen, but it sounds like that’s what you’re reporting. No hint of that indentation on your other leg, I assume?
Oh, well, I’m sure you’d rather get back to your full-speed activities, even if you have to lose the leg-modelling jobs, right?
Last “little” point: My reading of the non-op results in studies and metastudies over the years suggests that going at around “UWO speed” lowers rerupture rates and going much slower (as most non-op cures did, until relatively recently) raises rerupture rates to the ~15% that was common in the old days. But your personal experience is convincing you of the opposite, more or less, right?
Any ideas about how we could both/all be right?
on November 7th, 2011 at 8:26 am
Thanks for the response, Norm. Just to clarify . . . the groove I am referring to is in fact on the tendon. When I flex the calf muscles, the tendon seems smooth and tight; however, when relaxed, I can’t tell if the tendon is split, but it certainly has an indention. Hopefully, it will get worked out, but I am not pushing things until I feel a bit more confident.
On the protocol: I believe the UWO protocol is good and the first rupture was probably because I rushed the time frame. For some the rushing worked out just fine, but not for me. I needed to err on the long side of the UWO protocol.
The point at 6 weeks when the wedges are removed seemed especially critical to me. I wish I would have still gone a little slower this time. It was at this time I first noticed the irregularities in my tendon.
Thanks for all the support. I am continuing to move along with moderate exercises and hope to get the muscles and tendons as strong as possible.
[WORDPRESS HASHCASH] The poster sent us ‘0 which is not a hashcash value.