Achilles rupture

[Tiger]

Does anyone have any experience with an achilles rupture and any advice on surgery, recovery, etc? I would appreciate any tips, expectations, or anything that helps.

[surferguy]

Expect six months of recovery. A dad at our school is currently going through it. He did it in August and is as of a six weeks ago is walking normally again.

Sorry - it’s a tough one

[RichieRich]

The wife did this many years ago here in Calgary. The medical approach then for “typical” ruptures was no surgery. Instead a cast with the foot in a pointed “ballerina” position and the Achilles magically reattached itself. After about 2 months??? she transitioned to an air cast and then the long rehab started. Recovery and return to activity is all about doing the rehab AND then maintaining.
Hope you get through this as drama free as possible.

[greyshep]

Sorry to hear if this is something you are facing. My close friend tore his last summer and is still on the road to recovery. His was initially misdiagnosed by a doctor in Kelowna so he waited a few weeks before he got re-evaluated which made the non surgical option a non starter for him.

Seems this injury happens a lot, its tough to clear from my mind when I go participate in sports as I get older.

[Doctorfever]

Originally Posted by greyshep

Sorry to hear if this is something you are facing. My close friend tore his last summer and is still on the road to recovery. His was initially misdiagnosed by a doctor in Kelowna so he waited a few weeks before he got re-evaluated which made the non surgical option a non starter for him.

Seems this injury happens a lot, its tough to clear from my mind when I go participate in sports as I get older.

I have heard of quite a few of these injuries as well. Is there anything that can / should be done to help prevent it from happening?

[PaperBagger'14]

Originally Posted by Doctorfever

I have heard of quite a few of these injuries as well. Is there anything that can / should be done to help prevent it from happening?

Stretching, regular exercise, staying at a healthy weight, loosening your calf muscles. If you’re 35+ don’t knock back 6 beers at slow pitch and try to slide into a base.

[CaptainYooh]

I’ve had it 12 years ago playing volleyball. Full rupture. Had it sewn together as recommended by the surgeon. Painful recovery. Lots of physio (expensive!) and lots of exercising to get back to normal. Took me 10-12 months to start walking normally and I still feel it after long walks, especially on vacations when spending a day walking. My best friend had a partial rupture and no operation. Went through the same time and cycle of recovery as me. So, take it fwiw…

Whatever you do, don’t use a knee scooter for moving around. That f…n’ thing likes to tip over a lot…

[secol]

ruptured mine a few years ago. i think the protocol is usually non-surgical unless it's a full tear or nearly a full tear. full recovery probably around a year+

as the other poster mentioned, it'll be hard cast for around a month or two so i'd recommend a bag to keep the cast dry while you maintain your personal hygiene. transition to an air cast boot with heel inserts for another month or two, as you progress you remove the inserts so you go from plantar flexion to flat. definitely do physio when recommended and listen to your body. you want to rehab ASAP, but it's a fine line. too early and you risk rerupture, too late and it's a longer/harder road plus you might be capped out in terms of how much you can recover. once you're in a boot, you can slowly start doing some cardio again by getting on a stationary bike. don't just focus on strength, do stretches and plyometrics if you are at all interested in regaining anything resembling pre-injury

one thing i wished i did was look into using ultrasound to remove/reduce some of the scar tissue in the injured area. obviously wouldn't want to do this too early, but i wished i found a shop that uses ultrasound to remove/reduce some scar tissue. i found with the non-surgical route my injured achilles is literally two/three times as thick as my other foot.

[mac_82]

This also happened to me a few years back.

Get a decent seat for the shower and stock up on tape and garbage bags.

Get the fuzzy covers that go over the tops of your crutches - your arm pits will thank you.

If you live alone, make sure you have a decent backpack around to be able to carry stuff while walking with crutches.

The opposite side of your tear will be overcompensating - not just during the 6 months of recovery, but for years after. Be sure to stretch, get massage, anything you can do to lessen the impacts.

[secol]

Originally Posted by mac_82

This also happened to me a few years back.

Get a decent seat for the shower and stock up on tape and garbage bags.

Get the fuzzy covers that go over the tops of your crutches - your arm pits will thank you.

If you live alone, make sure you have a decent backpack around to be able to carry stuff while walking with crutches.

The opposite side of your tear will be overcompensating - not just during the 6 months of recovery, but for years after. Be sure to stretch, get massage, anything you can do to lessen the impacts.

good points. you can use a cheap plastic chair from an asian store and a tub will be easier to manage than a shower.

if you want to save some $$$, instead of the crutch cover, i used old crew socks and just tied a few around the top of the crutches.