#7 WEEK 12-13 - Achilles Tendon Rupture (ATR) - Non Surgical Treatment 

how long was your cast? Mine goes up to my lower thigh. I also tore my achilles 3 weeks ago.

Don Draper . Frankly speaking I kept my cast for 4 weeks. After removing the cast by the end of 4th week my Doc said that your tendon bone has healed and he suggested to put cast for another e weeks which I refused. Doc said that now it's all my reponsibility if something went wrong I was not agreed. As my safety I used a soft brace like half shoe to grip my ankle and to ristrict ankle movement to some resonable extend. Now it's 7th week after tendon injury I am also puting casual shoes with heal lifting wedges which are very useful. Now I have resumed my office but I avoide to stand not more than half hour. My friendly advice to be patient and try to say out from any work. Take good rest. You can find the brace and wedges on net easily. Thank you

Thanks for the tips. Check this out achillesblog.com/cecilia/protocols/

Good luck with you recovery as well!

Week 8. I feel the same pull and swelling...

That is so sad. How r u doing now? Have u gone thru surgical treatment ?

@@charopa Hi Yes for the second rupture I had surgery.

@@charopa Doing good now thank you. I do a lot of cardio legs feels good but I never push it to its limits. Ive completely stopped playing football as this caused my initial injury.

@@kamyjay4507 glad for you, ya maybe we shudnt push especially after 30s. I had ACL 5 years back, and now Achilles ruptured, post op 12 weeks. All bcoz of football :(

I am now 2 years after the rupture and do not think about the achilles when doing sports. As of about year after rupture I had no issues with sports, meaning did not feel achilles during or after. Saying that, I am more aware of smaller sensations/tightness in the achilles and am now more diligent in massaging calves after activities, which relieves tension from achilles. I am pretty sure I felt the same sensations before my rupture, but was ignoring it then and probably that caused the rupture... I am back to skiing, running (trail and road), hiking, biking, racket sports and work outs. So, it is possible to get back to everything, but mind you, I worked my butt off during rehab daily to get back and worked with physio guy who was good with non-op recovery. I have some later vids of some p90x agility 9 months post rupture: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-OO5GbWJxGYc.html

Ri731 - I never had pain doing single calf raises. The limiting factor was the weakness of the calf. When doing bent knee calf raises, I felt stiffness in the achilles because of lack of dorsi flexion. After doing lots of calf raises, I would feel sore in the calf and because of it the achilles would hurt. Rolling on foam roller and massaging calf always helped with it. Also, in this video, I still have small gel heel inserts in the shoes and the shoes have slight incline, so I am not totally flat yet at that point. Sorry about your injury as well... It's a very long recovery, but it gets better with time! I am 8 months now and almost back to normal. You will get there as well.

Hi Ibraa... Now my condition is same with your condition on last year... I still have pain on my injured Leg while walking or doing exercise. How's your Leg now? Thanks

Jose, it is different for everyone. As far as tip toes, do not compare weeks with others. The strength in different parts of the calf comes back at different rate for everybody. Just be diligent with your PT and discuss with your physical therapist directly any improvements you might need. There are ups and downs during this recovery, but as long as you are progressing in comparison to yourself, that is good. Work is different for everyone as well. The driving/amount of walking needed, etc. Some return to desk job immediately when still in the boot, but it depends on commute they have and ability to get back. You can wear a boot during commute, if that is the fear, and change into shoes when you arrive. I was getting up while working on computer and doing PT and stretches throughout the day as my breaks. It is all personal, but you should do what you feel comfortable with. Can you get a handicap decal if that helps with closer parking spot? I had one for few months.

Indeed, my leg feels good sometimes and not so good at other times. Hoping I can progress to normal walking speed soon. Thanks for your advice and encouragement!

No set backs. It has been 2 years and no issues with the achilles. Still going strong, so I have been lucky with my recovery.

Yes, ruptured achilles can recover without operation, but with following an appropriate non-operative protocol. Also, one's rupture need to be approved for the non-op protocol (dependent on the gap size and damage done to the tendon). I am close to 2 years post rupture and really do not think about my achilles and am 100% back to all my activities. I am more aware about taking care of my calves and conditioning them, however. The only thing is that I do have a small bump on the achilles, where the rupture happened and the calf is a bit smaller. I do not feel any different in my legs as far as sports/activities go (and I am a pretty active person).

thank you, and great job!

When I first went to the hospital I finally got to see a consultant after a 9 hour wait. He then gave me about 10 seconds to decide whether I wanted an operation or not. I opted for the operation because he said non operative had a 21% chance of rerupture and operative only a 4%. He did not mention anything about the size of the rupture gap.