vball’s AchillesBlog

Vball,
That’s an awesome update, looks like I’m about a week behind you. I went to two shoes at week 11. I saw the DR this past monday and he said go ahead and start bilateral calf raises, PT is a little more conservative and has me doing calf raises on the leg press machine, I have to admit, they are pretty tough even with no weight. You reminded me about the pool, so thanks to you I will jump in the pool this weekend and start working on the bilateral calf raises. My ankle has really started swelling up since stepping up the strengthening and walking in two shoes, oh well, not a big deal, I will just continue to ice .

Hi good day.
This is Melba from the Philippines I suffer from complete achilles tendon last june 4 I’m on non op treatment just doing some home remedies my achilles went will and attach but unfortunately re rupture again yesterday due to carelessness and I have no boots for protection on my legs.
We have no money to have me operated and to buy boots for may protection
This is so embarrassing but I beg for help right now
I experiencing a lot of pain since day 1.
We don’t have money to cast my legs
I begging for those who have already finish their journey and have boots that I can use for my achilles recovery.
I promise to bring it back once I already recover from this injury.
Please Help me.
I’m hoping for your positive response.

Thank you and God bless.

One idea to reuse the Vaco cast - Robocop Halloween costume!

Hi keg27,

reviewing my blog,

http://achillesblog.com/vball/

i moved into two shoes at 7 weeks 5 days.

2 shoes was not really scary. are you at neutral yet? If I recall, I was about 2 degrees past when I first tried 2 shoes at PT. The first 2-3 days will be a a little tight on the achilles. I’m usually a long strider and fast walker so I had to consciously cut both in half. Try it with short steps to have a natural form with no stretch feeling. Then gradually lengthen it over the week.

Hello! Your post caught my eye because your post-surgery time is almost exactly the same as mine. As of today, I’m 8 weeks and 3 days.

I’m in my fourth week of PT, having worked up to doing mild resistance and the stationary bike (with my boot). I go back to the doctor on Monday. I’m really curious to learn when I can start walking in 2 shoes. It sounds as though you’re making great progress. Was it really scary at first?

Thanks!

Meant “Vacocast”… darn spellchecker!

you are right about the height increasing shoe size! I guess they weren’t meant for tall big dudes!

Know of anywhere I can get size 13 elevator shoes? (big man problems)

Also, what’s “the vocalist?”

Congratulations on the 2 shoes. Walking around will get easier with practice and hopefully your heel will regain its cushioning soon.

Thanks vball for the update! Its interesting to see the PT part of it. I haven’t started PT but have been in a walking boot for two months. First month due to transitioning from hard cast then didn’t have another available appointment until the next month after. I decided to meet another PA at the end of the month but that PA told me to remove the wedges and continue in the boot. Currently the achilles is very tight. Looks like the tightness will be there for a bit it looks like!

Congrats on your progress - great hint on the tape!

It sounds like things are going well.

Your method of keeping the boot clean seems really good. I am happy now that I can take it off at the door like a regular shoe and don’t have to walk any dirt into the house.

Coach Fletch,
it sounds like it could be many things, including nerve damage or poor circulation. was it sudden onsite? do you have the boot too tight?

I’m far from being the one to give you advice. If it were me, I would not wait until thursday. Definitely call his office and ask. I’m pretty sure mine would admit me in earlier if I needed.

I am about 7weeks out after surgery. I have this burning across my foot just below my toes and in my toes. Is it nerves? Is it normal? Do not see doctor again until Thursday. Just want some relief.

Just checking out the achilles site which was a life saver for me whilst I was recovering. I’m noticing that most of the recent sufferers are having surgery while a couple years back when I had my achilles rupture it was about 50/50 and the trend seemed to be towards the non-surgical route. Has the tide turned?

Congratulations on the FWB! It feels really nice to ditch the crutches doesn’t it?

I find walking is much easier and more natural if I only take small steps. As soon as I take bigger steps it gets a bit more uneven and lopsided.

I am still having the electrotherapy 3 times a week at my PT. I have no idea if it is doing any good but it doesn’t hurt and isn’t expensive so I figure I should keep going. Thank you for posting the link about the study on rabbits.

Posting pics is buggy for me, too. I can only get it to work by uploading, copying the URL from my “media library,” and pasting using the “img” link from the post’s HTML editor. Pics wider than 600 pixels don’t look good, either.

i feel like a noob… can’t figure out how post pics.

Wow, you’ve progressed a lot in the last week! What a relief it must be to ditch the crutches. My doc uses a slower protocol that starts PWB at week 6, which seems ultra conservative, but I am on board with because my fear of re-rupture exceeds my hatred of the walker / crutches.

Did anyone else’s doctor say to stay away from naproxen (Aleve) and ibuprofin? Those are my go tos, but he mentioned something about acetominophen (Tylonol) being better for tendon healing.

We are in almost the same spot (even though I had my surgery one week earlier). I moved to .5 on the vacocast today and am hoping to lose the wedge sole soon. I might try it today. I have an evenup with a hiking boot and I’m still not totally level. My OS has me scheduled to move to 0 on 6/9.

I have the following machine

InTENSity Select 4-in-1 TENS/ EMS/ IF/ Micro Combo

you should be able to search for it. I think I bought from buy.com

I think I have seen links before so go ahead unless you hear otherwise. Do you have any information about the machine you have? I did a Google search and most of the results were for skin care. Not sure if that is the same thing.

Am I allowed to post links?

this is a really cool study.

http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2090123211000695

Ahh, I forgot you are hinging. I have it fixed and not set to hinge so things may be different for you. I hope I don’t develop similar issues when I start hinging. You still might benefit from looser straps. I hope you find something that works for you.

HI eric

do you have it on “hinged” setting when you walk around? I do so i feel the ankle sliding a bit?
if you keep it too low, the top of the front plate will start catching on the top strap?

what do you mean about the ankle joint not flexing?

the past 2 nights, I resorted to just wearing the liner (without the internal beads) and no front plate. I put a sock behind my heel
to cushion it against the brace. It got a little better but not much. then i tossed it in the middle of the night because my entire foot was just
kinda aching.

If you have it really tight I would try loosening it up some. I generally keep it as loose as possible. When I sleep with it or lie around I undo the straps so there is no tension and just secure the velcro so it stays on. If I’m up and down I put some tension on but not so much I would call it pressure and I can still feel my heel slide up and down a small amount. If I will be walking for a while I tighten things down to reduce movement but then loosen again when I’m done. I haven’t had any problems with the AT but YMMV. My rationale is as long as my ankle joint isn’t flexing the AT is not getting extra tension so I adjust for comfort and to reduce rubbing.

I also found for me the top plate is more comfortable when it sits lower than where you would think it should sit. I slide the top plate up and down my shin before strapping down in order to find the spot where it rests best. The second strap barely fits in the grooves on the top plate but I no longer get the hot spots on the top of my foot I did for the first few days. I hope that explanation made some sense.

I, too, had to cancel work and personal trips due to a visit from Achilles, the summer killer.

Very clever of you to try Tom Cruise shoes instead of Even Ups!

Standing desks are great for the neck and back, but my calves would get fatigued (foreshadowing?). When able-bodied, I’ll probably try a backless chair or sit on an exercise ball to queue proper posture (with the desk in its lowest position, obviously).

Interesting point about the corticosteroid contribution. I’ve had two cortisone shots in my elbow in the last year for medial epicondylitis. I’d be a little surprised if they compromised my Achilles, but you never know.

Looking back I can see my original post wasn’t clear. My Vacocast is set at 10 degrees and I’m using some wedges to get to 10 degrees in the night splint so they are about the same.

It’s a long story, but the short version is I had another boot before surgery for a few days. I returned that but they told me to keep the wedges. I don’t use them in the Vacocast but have been using some on my good leg to balance the height difference. I’m able to put a few in the night splint.

thx Eric,

how come you have wedges with a vacocast?

can’t you just adjust the angle?

I just purchased a night splint from Amazon for $23. I have only tried it one night but it’s more breathable, keeps some dorsiflexion while I sleep, and reminds me to be careful while I roll around in the middle of the night where if I’m out of the boot it gets caught up in things. Right now I have some wedges in the heel to approximate 10 degrees in the Vacocast. Might be something you want to consider.

I figured my pain was due to using an ace wrap really tight around the achilles. Once I took that off, pain went away. DUh!

compression sock works well it seems.

I haven’t been icing, just elevating to reduce swelling but I do find that after some time out of the boot, it is painful to put it back on. The pain is quite a lot, but goes away quite quickly. I am just assuming it is because when I have the boot off, my foot is flexed downwards and when I put it back on it is in a neutral position.

That is the main reason I haven’t tried sleeping with the boot off yet as I am worried about putting it back on in the morning.

Today, I’ve found that after I ice and then put on the boot (vacocast), the AT hurts like #$@# for a while. I’ve noticed this the 3 times now. anbody else get that too?

You will not have any problem jumping again. You said that you should have played libero. Well, from what I read, that’s worst. Hitting = sprang ankle or shoulder injury. Libero= archilles tendon injury. It’s the charging toward the ball that causes the achilles injury. Research shows that people who play tennis, racquetball, basketball are more prone to achilles injury because they charge toward the ball fast. Vball players are prone to sprang ankle and shoulder injury, especially men. I have patients who injured themselves by chasing after the kids at the beach, Again, it’s the running really fast that did it to him. Another patient just left the gym, tripped on the sidewalk. One guy stretched himself too much during the night(Charlies’ Horse). When you have cold/cough/flu, taking medications, they weaken your immune system. As a result, you can’t hit as hard as you want or normally can. I work out 4-5 days a week and I work with patients all day so my immune system is great, but I still get injury. It’s tear and wear. Research shows that middle age sport players have more achilles tendon injury than anyone else

I must admit, the thought crossed my mind the day it happened… but then I have resolve to come back because I’m not leaving on these terms… even if I only play 1 more year. I was training super hard to go to nationals and I am going to miss it this year so my goal is next year.

isn’t that one of the main reasons to go under the knife?!

I am not letting this define my exit terms if I can come back at the level I was at.

now its a different story if I can no longer jump…

I thought so too. I was surprised that my left foot was the one that got injured. I even ran around the court to warm up before the game. The captain of my vball team wanted me to play vball again in 6 months. My husband and brother said I need to give up vball and that I’m getting too old for it. For God’s sake, I’m 45, not 60. It’s been a real inconveniece, mostly because of work. Even thoug the OS said there is only 3-6% chance of re-injuring, I’m worry that my right foot migh go next. Are you planning on getting back to vball someday?

Hi tasha

no, I am right handed. As I started my approach, I took one step backwards to plant my right foot and it snapped. A move I do hundreds of thousands of times over 25 years.

If any, i would think it’s the right foot that gets stressed more in volleyball for right handed players b/c that is the plant foot to jump.

Hi fellow vball player,
I, too, ruptured my left achilles tendon playing vball. All I did was ran to pass the ball. when I heard a “pop”, I thought someone stepped on my foot, but no one did so I thought I pulled a muscle. I massaged my calf and it felt better so I got back on court. Unfortunately I could not walk. I went to the after hour urgent care, and the PA told me he didn’t see any fracture on the xray, and I should feel better in 3-4 days. The next day the nurse called me and told me that the radiologist saw something on the xray and recommended that I MIGHT need to see the OS. I didn’t see the OS right away bc in my mind, I thought I would just rest like the PA said and I would feel better. 5 days later I still didn’t feel better. My husband insisted that I see the OS so I called the OS near my house in VA. I went to see him and he said I ruptured my achilles and I need to either wear a boot for 3 months and let it heal naturally, or have surgery and heal in 6 weeks. I went with surgery bc I have to get back to work. I can’t lie around the house for 3 months. Unfortunately, this OS doesn’t do foot surgery, only knee and h