ATR playing basketball
28 year old male - Left ATR - occured while playing basketball - Injury 11/24/08 - Surgery 12/7/08 - Cast NWB 4 weeks (included week long trip to Florida) - 1 week NWB in boot - PT starts 1/14/09.
Would love to hear from anyone with similar stats. Getting very frustrated with lack of walking progress…. Thanks in advance !!
im 39yo and also sustained my ATR injury playing basketball.
there will be a lot more weeks on not being able to walk well man…. you will go probably PWB for a few weeks before you can do FWB - so be patient and let that sucker heal up .
dont neglect other things you can do like if you are on the boot you can do a lot of stationary cycling to keep fit ( if your Pt is ok with it)and other exercises to keep your upperbody and good leg / affected hip and knee strong coz if you dont - you wont notice it much right now but when you go full force later on youll see how weak you can get .
i have one Question for you - are you still gonna play after recovery?
Coz in my case - i feel like i dont want to gamble anymore as i am 39 already and cant afford to miss any more work( been off work 4 1/2 months.
Thanks for the reply .. My doctor advised me to FWB w/ the boot starting now (5 weeks post op). I start PT tomarrow, so hopefully they will calm my FWB boot worries. I just feel 5 weeks post op is too soon for FWB w/ boot ref others on this site. About your question on continuing to play basketball, I think I will start pick up games in a year or so, I need to do some self convining. I’ll see how that goes and maybe leagues after that. I havfe a desk job, so I only missed two weeks of work. Married with no kids and no real responsibility, so I’ll give basketball another try.
Hey Xmunch–I am 34 and also ruptured my Achilles playing hoops. I was back at work after 5 days and went FWB at about 5 weeks, or shortly after. To learn how it went for me feel free to take a look at my site: http://achillesblog.com/andymetz/
Every recovery is different, and it is all about what is comfortable for you–as you have learned this injury is a bear. Good luck to you!
I’m an old codger at 55 and did mine playing tennis — jumping in the air off left foot when serving. Surgery date was 11/25, splint removed eight days later and then went directly into boot for about five weeks, gradually becoming FWB w/o crutches. Started PT four weeks post-op, mostly range of motion and scar healing. Started two shoes indoors with AchilloTrain (built-in wedge inside of woven fabric with ankle support/compression) at six weeks and a couple of days later started using two shoes all the time. Now at seven weeks post-op and getting around well but haven’t yet rid myself of an annoying limp. Using G-Trainer (anti-gravity treadmill) at PT which allows me to practice walking without limp at about 65% of my body weight. Very cool device. I’m doing the exercise bike daily as well as regular upper body workouts. Also going to start swimming (kicking in the water will be good says my PT)So, I’d say your doctor is following a good protocol if you are comfortable with it. I really think it depends on the person. For me, I’m very happy to take an aggressive approach.
Good luck
xmunch18 ,
what range of motion do you have in your ankle ?
the most important thing is you dont overstretch the tendon at this time thats why they put you in a boot to restrict motion in the ankle to prevent the healing tendon from pulling apart. even at FWB your boot will try to limit the stretching of the tendon .
you can start with partial weight bearing for a few days and slowly add more weigth bearing til you are able to do it .