Ruptured Achilles Tendon. Ouch

I managed to rupture my achilles tendon on holiday and am waiting for an op to repair it. I’ve been put off by the 12 weeks in a cast bit though – which means no bike – which is a very bad thing. Have any of you done something similar and did it take as long as that to get out of the cast??? Was the recovery after that a mare of reasonably quick? I’ve been told 9 months in total which is pretty scary! THX!

its winter chill 😀

having had achillies issues (not a rupture) its not worth trying to rush it … i had persistant issues for near 2 years because i wouldnt get off the bike ….

Total rupture? If so, even with the best medial care on the planet you’re looking at that timescale at least. It’s a big injury to a very important part of your body. Dont rush trying to get back or you could put yourself in a position where you might never get back.

Cannot remember exact time scales but many weeks in plaster after initial rupture then six weeks later another long spell in plaster after operation. All is now well with no problems. Take the time needed to recuperate and ease slowly back into riding.

Hi Guys – thanks for that. It is a total rupture – I watched the ultrasound scan on Monday. The Doctor moved my foot up towards my knee and I watched the two ends separate. He then moved the foot down and they came back together again. Yuk. I’m super keen to get riding again but safely – so will heed the warnings and work on my patience. That turbo trainer will look very sexy by February though 🙂

I stuffed mine last year, not sure what i actually did to it as i STUPIDLY didn’t get medical advice just assumed its a bad sprain etc. Hurt like hell for a good few weeks and swelling went down after a couple of weeks.

However i get regular pain with it if i walk too far especially on inclines and that is more than a year on. I guess i have left it too late to sort now. I suggest you take your medicine as it were and hopefully make a full and complete recovery, don’t rush things .

I would be asking about the benefits or otherwise of surgical versus conservative treatment though.

Me too, very little advantage of surgical repair for your average punter as far as I remember….

According to Kahn et al, there was a consistent finding of an approximately 33% higher rate of complications (other than rerupture) in those treated surgically1 ; nonoperatively treated patients had a rerupture rate approximately 3 times higher than those treated surgically, but these patients had minimal risk for other complications. Listed complications resulting from open surgical repair included deep infections (1%), fistulae (3%), necrosis of the skin or tendon (2%), rerupture (2%), and minor complications (percentage not documented).

Oh yeah, and either way you’ll be off the bike for 6-9 months depending on a variety of factors. Having it ‘repaired’ doesn’t actually fix it, it just stitches the broken ends next to each other so your body can fix it. This explains the decreased re-rupture rate as they are more closely approximated. However with operative and non-operative treatment you still have to wait for your body to actually fix the rupture.

Been there done that and wished I’d gone for the non-surgical option. I ended up with a deep infection in the tendon that erupted several years after the original repair. The whole tendon had to be removed, then I had about a year with no tendon followed by reconstruction with the FHL tendon that normally operates the big toe. It’s rare for this to happen but it is worth considering.

Thats a bad injury. I feel for you.

Speedy recovery.

Sorry to hear of you woes. How did it happen ?

D.

Oh.

Oh well – will see how it goes then! That’s possibly the last time I have a little game of tennis 🙂 There are clear risks to the op – the consultant didn’t explain the risks in quite as much detail with references as Dr Death and JonM! (I googled the research mentioned above – fascinating and yikes!)

I’ll take it easy – am waiting for the op and am aiming to maybe make the bonty 24/12 and the kielder 100 again next year!

I ruptured mine around 6 years ago during a game of badminton.

I went for surgery, quickest route to recovery and I thought it would be the stronger repair as I wasn’t planning on a sedentary lifestyle when I was fixed.

e2a : IIRC conservative repair meant 3 months in a full cast?

Out of hospital within 3 days and in a knee length cast for ~3 months with changes every 2 weeks. Luckily no infections, just a bag full of painkillers!

That was followed by around 2 months with wedges in my shoe to keep the tension off the tendon, slowly skimming them down as it got more comfortable and ditching the crutches.

I wasn’t riding back then so it’s difficult to relate it, but I’d guess you’d be doing well to be riding in anything less than 6 months.

Take your time and look after it, you’ll be back sooner than if you **** around rushing.

Good luck!

Thanks Haze,

Conservative repair does mean 3 months in a full cast at least, with one friend having spent 5 months in one but he’s a little older than me. I’ll just take it easy – it’ll take it’s own time to heal so no riding for me 🙁 Roll on Autumn and Winter then!

There are other issues that suggest conservative repair might be the better option over surgical. Possibly increased chances of osteoarthritis with the surgical option. Make sure you make an informed decision and dont let recovery time be the factor that makes you choose one over the other.

okay – thank you!

I never had the time to make a considered decision, consultant rattled off the options only emphasising the risk of infection if I chose the surgical route.

Left me alone for 5 minutes to think it over, then whisked me up onto the ward and had my op within 24 hours.

I read up a bit on it later out of interest, but came to the conclusion I’d have chosen surgery anyway.

Lots of info here

ATR forums – crikey! Thanks for posting that – really interesting stuff there. Some scary stories too 🙁

Well – had the operation today and am at home starting the long road to recovery. Looking forward to the kielder 100 next year. Seems a long way off 🙂

Good luck Glenn, it won’t seem such a long road when you’re looking back on it… 🙂