Ruptured achilles

[Freefall]

Feeling very sorry for myself after rupturing my achilles 2 weeks ago. I am interested to hear from orienteers who have gone through this life changing experience. I was actually climbing and fell off - thinking back over events it is not impossible that my achilles went causing me to fall rather than falling causing my achilles to rupture. It was all over in a flash. Initial reaction was "I've broken my ankle" but when I hobbled out from the crag I assumed it was a sprain. Didn't bother with A&E as I thought I was just being soft. Extensive swelling on Sunday persuaded me that on Monday I better get it checked out and then I was given the bad news.

They refused me an operation on the basis of infection, nerve damage etc. and elected to set me in plaster. First week was a temporary thigh-to-knee affair waiting for swelling to go down. Next effort was a solid plaster but unfortunately they introduced a twist or torsion on my knee. Tuesday night was agony as my knee twisted and ground away and my thigh muscles fought to straighten my leg (I have an old knee injury anyway). I was back first thing on Wednesday after the worst 20 hrs of my life and had the plaster removed and re-set. It's not much fun but is bearable. Bad news is that this stays on till 1 Aug then I have 2 months in a short plaster before I even start on recuperation.

Makes my job as Controller on Day 1 of the Lakes Event difficult! Fortunately I have a stand-in assistant for the day and I will try and get there. I wil be the glum one in a wheelchair or on crutches.

[johnloguk]

This is a big coincidence as I was talking to a mate on Saturday about his ruptured achilles. I don't know all the gory details of his injury or treatment, but I do know that he did it playing tennis, rather than football or orienteering which are his preferred sports! The bad news is that on Saturday her took his first steps in three and a half months, and has a long period of recovery ahead.

I had always been told that "a ruptured achilles was a more serious injury than a broken leg", though no doubt someome will know a lot more than me about it. I suppose the whole point of this post is to offer my symapthy for your injury and prepare you for a long haul, but then I guess you are aware of that.

Might be a good time to get to grips with Trail-O

[DIDSCO]

The swedish high jumpers Kajsa Bergvist achilles totally went during a competition in the summer of 2004, an absolutly horrific injury especially for a jumper. By summer 2005 she was jumping higher than ever before and became world champion.

If you want to make a good fast recovery you probably need to see the experts and be willing to pay for it....

[Freefall]

Jumping higher than before would be good. Realistically I guess I will be even slower than before. It has always been my other achilles that has caused problems (it still hurts from the 2005 Harvester after runningin the middle of the night without warm ups) so I will be extra careful in future. I had never even contemplated the idea of rupturing an achilles before and had never realised what a serious injury it could be. Not a lot of pain surprisingly. At least the wetaher is fine to rest and relax..

[Freefall]

Nice! I guess I had heard about achilles ruptures through squash (I used to play all the time once) and I too thought that once a rupture happened your foot would be left dangling. Looking more into the subject and on the basis of my own experience it seems that even with a total rupture there are various muscles in the ankle and foot that can give you some sort of control. That's why I managed to hobble out on the belief it was a sprain and I was just being a wimp.

Hot weather (even here in Northumberland) to be encased in plaster no matter how hi-tech Scotchguard is.

[Oldman]

Freefall, my sympathies.

I learned of the choice of surgical or non-surgical treatment some time ago (non-surgical was much to my susprise as I always had thought the tendon needed to be sewn together again).

You may find

http://www.emedicinehealth.com/achilles ... ge8_em.htm

of interest, where they contrast the two approaches and the pros and cons of each.

I hope you recover well and get back to orienteering again.

[Freefall]

No choice on treatment - if only I had kept private instead of NHS!

[Whitesand]

I ruptured my Achilles tendon on Aug. 12th....I jumped up celebrating after getting a strike while bowling. Had surgery on Aug. 18th. to repair the tendon...had a temp. cast on for 12 days to allow the swelling to go down, have had a hard cast on since Aug.30th. As of right now, I will have the cast changed every 3 weeks until Nov. 22nd. At that time I will be placed in a walking boot and begin physical therapy for aprox. 8-12 more weeks! Wow..that's a total of 6 months of my life! My calf is no larger than the bottom of my arm at this point...and I have been told the physical therapy will be very hard and intense. I have had very little pain after the initial "snap" and after the 3rd. day of surgery. My doctor continues to tell me that the key to a full recovery is rest, rest, rest! That's pretty hard to swallow when you are a wife, mother of 3 and work in the world of real estate...but so far I have followed his orders and all is going well. I do experience swelling if I leave my leg down for too long...that can become VERY uncomfortable when trapped in a hard cast...I describe it best when by saying that I now know how a can of bisquits feel! Good luck and keep us posted!

[Freefall]

Everybody seems to do their achilles doing something daft! Good news is I cam out of my plaster last week and immediately drove off to a conference in Manchester. next night when I drove home my calf was huge and the ankle swollen. Rested it up and things are under control.

I saw the physio this week and she was excellent. She sympathised with me not orienteering, climbing etc but cautioned me to be really really patient. She doesn't want me to swim or cycle yet (I did the former with my cast on and a protective cover!) and the main task is to slowly reduce swelling, gain flexibility. Not even doing heel raises yet. They reckon another 3 months and then I go to an assessment centre.

It is really frustrating but I think another few months in plaster would be about the worst thing I could ever face so I will be a good boy!

[HOCOLITE]

My mum did hers getting off a coach, she was a trifle older than you two, and although she had hers in plaster for a while about six weeks she didn't have all the physio and getting her to rest was impossible. Her sport then was bowls and she was back to that pretty promptly.I know it's not quite O but she was 70.

[Whitesand]

My mum did hers getting off a coach, she was a trifle older than you two, and although she had hers in plaster for a while about six weeks she didn't have all the physio and getting her to rest was impossible. Her sport then was bowls and she was back to that pretty promptly.I know it's not quite O but she was 70.

Wow...off the couch! Just goes to show no matter how physically fit a person is, this injury can occur at any time and place! Do you know if her injury was a complete rupture or not?

[HOCOLITE]

I think it was probably a severe tear rather than a complete rupture. She certainly had surgery, eventually. Unfortunately I can't ask her.

[Whitesand]

I think it was probably a severe tear rather than a complete rupture. She certainly had surgery, eventually. Unfortunately I can't ask her.

Oh..I'm sorry. Glad to know that she was able to make a recovery from the injury.