Oops...

[LOL!]

OTOH, I know folks who have made full recoveries for completely ruptured Achilles tendons. They are back to running marathon s. My ankle surgery about a year ago was cast, then boot, then recovery. I didn't even have formal physical therapy, but started with walking in stiff boots with a brace, then no brace, then lighter weight shoes, then cycling, then hiking, then backpacking with all the weight, then running and a year later I'm good to go.

A danger is deep vein thrombosis, too.

One can tell they are on the road to recovery when everything else hurts more than the repaired ankle.

Pro tip: Next time make the appointment with the orthopedist while waiting for your examination in the E.R. You can always cancel later.

 

[Winemaker]

Prolly waiting for swelling to go down before they do any thing. Speedy recovery to you.

 

[bigcmagor]

ugh.

Sorry if my post depressed you. It's great to get past the surgery and get on with the recovery. I too know many who had complete tendon separations and went on to do marathons, cross country cycling, etc. If you haven't dealt with trying to do things with one foot unable to carry weight before, it's a real eye opener. At least your situation is temporary.


Good luck with your recovery.

 

[HadEnuff]

Sorry if my post depressed you. It's great to get past the surgery and get on with the recovery. I too know many who had complete tendon separations and went on to do marathons, cross country cycling, etc. If you haven't dealt with trying to do things with one foot unable to carry weight before, it's a real eye opener. At least your situation is temporary.


Good luck with your recovery.

No worries, and thanks for the encouragement. I will likely know in about 30 minutes what happens next.
Due to the long weekend, nobody was answering phones to make appointments. Hoping to at least be seen today. I live about 90 minutes from where my treatment is likely to be done, so I expect a long day today of travel, and waiting. My poor wife: a sick mom, a sick aunt, and now me.

 

[erkevin]

Up until my rupture, I had been running an average of a halfthon or marathon every month for several years. I had a complete rupture in March (racquetball), surgery a week later, several months of casts and boot. By August 1, I was boot-free. Began running again later that month and was back to hour+ runs in October. I ran a halfthon the following February.
However, this happened in my late 30s and I was in tremendous condition, so recovery was fast Now, nearly 20 years later, I wouldnt expect that same result!

 

[madsquopper]

My spouse partially tore hers in a weird spot (up high instead of down near the ankle). No surgery and recovery was slow but finally got there.

Get one of those knee scooters. Makes getting around much easier than crutches.

 

[Pellice]

Oh, HadEnuff, so sorry about this. I hope you get a good prognosis after the examination today.

 

[Tractor guy]

I tore mine 4 years ago in the middle of a bike ride. I had a case of tendonitis I was ignoring, let the thing tighten up, and then stepped out of dark room and didn't see a step down. Caught myself on the ball of my left foot and heard it snap and felt the pain. It was also torn high in the calf. My advice is:
1) Get the knee scooter. I tore mine 2 weeks before my daughter's wedding and we have pictures of me rolling down the aisle with her after we "walked" 2 blocks from the hotel to the church. No way I could have done that on crutches.
2) I ended up getting the surgery after I got home and saw the MRI. If you are going to do surgery, do it ASAP. The wedding (and accident) occured 1000 miles from my hometown. I waited until I got home to make appointments and then had surgery. I wasted about 2 months between the accident and surgery. During this time, my leg and particularly my calf muscle just kept getting weaker.
3) As soon as you are allowed, exercise you legs as much as you are allowed. The faster you start the exercise, the sooner you will prevent your muscles from getting weaker and tighter. Four years later, my leg is still weaker than the other one but it is still improving as I exercise it.

The good news is I was only on pain killers for 2-3 days after the surgery. The biggest irritant was having to climb up and down our stairs on my rear for the week after surgery because I wasn't allowed to put weight on it the first week.

Good luck.

 

[HadEnuff]

I tore mine 4 years ago in the middle of a bike ride. I had a case of tendonitis I was ignoring, let the thing tighten up, and then stepped out of dark room and didn't see a step down. Caught myself on the ball of my left foot and heard it snap and felt the pain. It was also torn high in the calf. My advice is:
1) Get the knee scooter. I tore mine 2 weeks before my daughter's wedding and we have pictures of me rolling down the aisle with her after we "walked" 2 blocks from the hotel to the church. No way I could have done that on crutches.
2) I ended up getting the surgery after I got home and saw the MRI. If you are going to do surgery, do it ASAP. The wedding (and accident) occured 1000 miles from my hometown. I waited until I got home to make appointments and then had surgery. I wasted about 2 months between the accident and surgery. During this time, my leg and particularly my calf muscle just kept getting weaker.
3) As soon as you are allowed, exercise you legs as much as you are allowed. The faster you start the exercise, the sooner you will prevent your muscles from getting weaker and tighter. Four years later, my leg is still weaker than the other one but it is still improving as I exercise it.

The good news is I was only on pain killers for 2-3 days after the surgery. The biggest irritant was having to climb up and down our stairs on my rear for the week after surgery because I wasn't allowed to put weight on it the first week.

Good luck.

Thanks TG, I've been sliding up and down the stairs on my butt. I have an appointment Thursday, which will be 6 days post-rupture. It is with a very highly regarded foot-ankle orthopedic surgeon. I have no idea yet what his approach is vis-a-vis surgical vs. non-surgical treatment. When I first did this I assumed a complete tear would be a definite indication for surgical, but the more I read, the more I think maybe I'll have a choice, based upon his more expert input. I'll know more in 48 hours.

 

[HadEnuff]

Finally saw the surgeon today. He confirmed it's a complete tear. We discussed surgery vs. non-surgical. His bias of course, was toward surgical intervention but was totally supportive of my decision to go non-surgical. They got me into a cast, and will see me in two weeks. The surgeon will still monitor and direct my treatment.
My kind of surgeon.

 

[Dtail]

Finally saw the surgeon today. He confirmed it's a complete tear. We discussed surgery vs. non-surgical. His bias of course, was toward surgical intervention but was totally supportive of my decision to go non-surgical. They got me into a cast, and will see me in two weeks. The surgeon will still monitor and direct my treatment.
My kind of surgeon.

How does it theoretically heal 100% without surgery?

 

[HadEnuff]

How does it theoretically heal 100% without surgery?

Excellent question! From what I've read, the actual mechanism is not fully understood. However, as I understand it in broad terms, what they think happens is this:

the injury causes bleeding, and an inflammatory response which sends a variety of cells into the injury site. Some of those cells are, or become "mesenchymal stem cells", which differentiate into a glob of stuff referred to as a "tendon callus" that completely encloses the injury site. Immediately or almost immediately, it has some elastic property, and some limited strength due to it's size.

The next job is for this callus to become more "tendon like", by organizing its fibers along the lines of stress,(which is the purpose of careful application of forces during early physical therapy), and eventually as the forces are applied, and cells are stretched and then regain shape, new cells are replacing the old cells, along that callus matrix, and the new cells more resemble the original tendon, and on and on it goes.

That's my interpretation of this explanation:
How do tendons and ligaments heal? | Per Aspenberg

 

[Dtail]

Excellent question! From what I've read, the actual mechanism is not fully understood. However, as I understand it in broad terms, what they think happens is this:

the injury causes bleeding, and an inflammatory response which sends a variety of cells into the injury site. Some of those cells are, or become "mesenchymal stem cells", which differentiate into a glob of stuff referred to as a "tendon callus" that completely encloses the injury site. Immediately or almost immediately, it has some elastic property, and some limited strength due to it's size.

The next job is for this callus to become more "tendon like", by organizing its fibers along the lines of stress,(which is the purpose of careful application of forces during early physical therapy), and eventually as the forces are applied, and cells are stretched and then regain shape, new cells are replacing the old cells, along that callus matrix, and the new cells more resemble the original tendon, and on and on it goes.

That's my interpretation of this explanation:
How do tendons and ligaments heal? | Per Aspenberg

Interesting ideas. Thanks.

 

[HadEnuff]

Achilles update: I am closing in on 4 weeks since I tore it. Surgeon's plan was for a protocol whereby they use a series of 3 successive casts, two weeks in each cast, each cast repositioning the foot slightly less toe-pointed than the previous cast. After 6 weeks of this, a boot, and PT.
A lot of reading on my part on the internet found that a different protocol is being used in many places, whereby instead of all of those casts, a walking boot is used. The boot has heel wedges that put the foot in a position mimicking the casts, and every week or so you remove some portion of the wedges, gradually bringing your foot into a less toe-pointy position.
The big key with this protocol is you are supposed to gradually bear weight on the injured leg, as tolerated, and do some gentle PT exercises with boot off daily. The theory is these actions encourage the newly forming tendon to align its fibers along the long axis of the tendon more favorably.

The studies, although somewhat limited in size, suggest strongly that the re-rupture rates are nearly identical to surgical numbers.
I discussed this with the surgeon and he was very supportive, and put me in a boot rather than a new cast. With a big warning: DO NOT SLIP IN THE SHOWER WITH THE BOOT OFF!

I shower with the boot on, and DW gently wipes my leg later, while I'm sitting down.

It's creepy taking my "exoskeleton" off, and doing my PT, but I'm getting around much much better with the walking boot and crutches than I was with the cast.

Sleeping with something on my foot, that's bulkier than a ski boot, is really awkward.

 

[LOL!]

Thanks for the update.

Last year I tripped 3 weeks after ankle surgery while my ankle was still in a cast. I severely sprained the ankle, but didn't mess up the surgery nor add to my woes. A year later, I am back 100%. Or at least everything else hurts worse than my reconstructed ankle. Good luck! Take it slow though.

 

[HadEnuff]

My brother came by today and set up my bike on his trainer, and he set up my Chuck Norris Total Gym, so I can at least try to keep the rest of my body from turning into a bag of blubber.

 

[Oz investor]

blubber is not my problem (unless i develop diabetes , not impossible )

as a matter of fact i am not encouraged to do much before 2020 ( or maybe 2022 ) when i will be assessed for rehab and maybe an ordinary pension

but enjoy the challenge

 

[bigcmagor]

The advice on being extremely careful when you're out of the boot is good. I was trying the boot path and was four weeks post injury when I got out of my recliner just to let the dogs out - without putting the boot back on. Stepped on a pebble which triggered the tendon and voila, back to ground zero and on to surgery.

 

[HadEnuff]

The advice on being extremely careful when you're out of the boot is good. I was trying the boot path and was four weeks post injury when I got out of my recliner just to let the dogs out - without putting the boot back on. Stepped on a pebble which triggered the tendon and voila, back to ground zero and on to surgery.

Wow, my worst nightmare.

How far along were you when this occurred?