Achilles Tendon Update
This post might be a bit graphic for some viewers, viewer’s discretion is advised!
Today I went for my appointment with the surgeon who operated on my Achilles tendon. Now what I thought was to happen was that my cast was to come off and my aluminum or steel stitches were to be removed. But what happened was they cut an access area into the back of my cast slightly larger than my incision, like the top to a box. It felt nice while they were cutting that part of my cast off because at that moment it was really itchy and the cutting helped tickle the itch away.
Once they got it open and removed the padding and bandages there was my incision in all its glory! I couldn’t see it for myself but my brother was there and was able to take pictures with his Sony-Ericsson phone for me to look at while the surgeon inspected his work.
So what is the verdict from the surgeon about how much longer I will be in a cast for? Well he said that I would be in this same cast for 2 more weeks where then I would have to make another appointment so that he can remove the cast and put me into some sort of brace. Which I am hoping I will be able to start walking with because I am tired of crutches and hopping around. I do have greater respect for those who have to be in crutches longer than me or have lost limbs etc, it definitely is not fun!
Even with the warning….GROSS!
Yea it is a bit gross isn’t it? It looks worse than the one I had for my appendix when I have it removed. It wasn’t healing properly and they had to leave the drainage tube in.. UCK!
Hey, I don’t remember giving you writing permission to use my photographs. I think I’m entitled to some money or beer
ouch! my roomie busted his achilles playing baseball and my other friend busted his on the dance floor. sorry dude, best of luck to you recovering!
Thanks! 2 more weeks and I get rid of the fiberglass cast.
I just threw up in mouth a little bit.
It wasn’t that bad was it? I must of been desensitized as a child hehe
i also felt a little nauseous for a split second. but it’s those moments of uncomfortable queasiness that makes us human. that’s why i kept looking at it over and over again LOL
I keep looking at it too! I wonder how it will scar.
I’m with Derrich. I hope that doesn’t hurt as bad as it looks like it hurts. I just did a search to find out about the original injury. You should pop a link to the original post in this one.
i just barfed again
Oops sorry about that, I added the link into the main part of the post. I guess I forgot to link to each article!
When the tendon tore the only thing it felt like was someone threw the softball at my foot. I didn’t have any pain until _after_ they operated on it. But now I’m into my 5th week and its feeling better.
I meant to ask you how this went and now I know. Doesn’t look bad to me but hey I’m use to seeing stuff that most people hope they never see. All I can tell you is recovery from this type of surgery takes time, and I’m sure you are sick of it. When the cast does come off they you’ll start physical therapy most likely. Hang in there Tyler.
PS about the scar…will fade to white eventually like all scars, will look mean and rest for the first several months.
Tyler,
wondering how the healing process is going, i ruptured mine last week of July and going stir crazy sitting around. When could you put weight on it?
Hi Rob, I didn’t start putting full weight on it until they took the stitches out I don’t think. (which I guess is the date of the above photos lol)
So far healing is good. I’m jogging now and still ensuring im careful with it. I continue doing my exercises to help keep it strong or make it stronger. I kind of do them subconsciously too.
When I am not walking around, like lying down for periods of time, sitting etc, the tendon still seems to be a big tight so when I get up and move around, its pretty stiff. Then it loosens up a bit and it feels fine.
I still get some comfortableness with it too on long periods of use. Nothing like shooting pains, but just sore. I tend to massage my Achilles from time to time to help loosen it up too.
Hope you have a speedy recovery, definitely not fun when you do it during summer though. How did you rupture yours?
Tyler,
Ruptured it kicking around a soccer ball. Basically the leg that I twisted and pushed off with is the one that popped. You’d think i was warmed up enough it was a hot day and 20 mins into kicking the ball around….but i guess when you are 40 you need to stretch more.
The thing with this injury (at least in my mind) is the fact that people have heard about it but hardly know anyone or anything about it. Broken bones would have been easier.
The biggest thing that bugs me is all the doctors say is “looks good”, “looks like its health nicely”…my response is i wish i was in the states and they would do an MRI and show me that its healing nicely like the xray shows for broken bones.
The doc tells me i don;t need an MRI because he operated on it and it looks good on the outside…my response is well that other guy with the broken ankle looked good on the outside too but you still did an xray to see how the bone was healing….20 years from now they’ll be doing MRI’s just like they do xrays all over the place.
rob
I wonder how well my Achilles healed too and according to the doctor, and physiotherapist it looks good. I find that my left tendon (the injured one) is larger than my right tendon. I guess due to scar tissue?
not sure about that..the tendon is larger or the ankle/tendon area looks fatter? I think maybe a bunch of fat forms in the area…not sure.
You should go to youtube there is this australian guys videos with his injury to recovery journey.
search on ruptured achilles tendon rehab.
Hey Tyler,
Long time no talk hope all is going well with the leg. I just started back at work this week (been working from home the last three months) and got a question about the leg. Did yours swell up everytime you got back home from work. My ankle gets really swollen and if i wear tight socks well the circulation gets cut off the then my calf gets swollen. I think the swelling is normal, how long does it go on for…..my foot is in a bucket of ice water as i type.
robf.
Heya Rob. My ankle slowly got back to normal but it helped doing my physio excersices as instructed. The swelling does go down. I took 2 months off work, well I worked from home for 2 months and kept it elevated as much as possible (above the heart). A laptop on my stomach allowed me to continue working like that lol.
I find that if I don’t move my ankle around now it does still get stiff and a bit achy but I just try to walk around every so often when I am at the office to keep the circulation up.
I’ve been jogging, rollerblading, hiking and my ankle feels great. No pains, no soreness etc. I can’t wait for the snowboard season!
Just take care of it! The Achilles is the largest tendon in the body!