Looking for advice. Visit to doc’s yesterday diagnosed with partial? achilles tear. Never had any type of injury like this before (I’m 50). Anyone any idea how long this will take to heal? doc said no cycling or running for a while. Any help much appreciated.
Dude, it’s serious business. I hope he put you in a boot??? 6 months man.
I’ve been suffering from Achilles Tendinosis for about 19 months now, but have never had a tear (either partial or complete).
That said, find yourself a really good orthopedic doc…and one who understands an active lifestyle. Even better if you can find one who specializes in running injuries, etc. Too many orhos want to cut first and ask questions later. Based on what I found out during my rehabilitation, you need to take any suggestions for surgery as an absolute, last option. The sucess rate for Achilles surgery is somewhere around 75-80% and some recent research says that while it may help short-term, you end up with more problems 3-5 years down the road.
Once you have a good ortho, then find a good physical therapist, again looking for one who specializes in active lifestyles. Just because they say “sports medicine / therapy” on their sign doesn’t mean they actually “get it.”
Depending on how your healing process goes, you may want to look into PRP (Platelet Rich Plama) treatments. However, most insurance companies don’t cover PRP, so expect to have to lay out some $$ if you go that route. My treatment cost about $500.
Patience is key when dealing with Achilles injuries. They take a long time to heal because they are a low blood flow area. There is another thread a few pages back with some advice re: running shoes and exercises, but those mostly pertain to tendinosis / tendinitis injuries. Check with your ortho before embarking on any rehab exercies when dealing with a tear.
Good luck!!
Depends a lot on the size and location of the tear, acute or chronic, your planned level of stress post-injury etc. Frequently, if the tear is both acute and not very big, your immobilization period will only be a matter of 6-10 weeks. Were you my patient, I’d have you fitted for a polypropylene ankle - foot orthosis so that you could still swim and water run some. These heal more slowly than, say a fracture, and the person who can give you the best advice is your treating physician. Good thing this is December! Good luck.
John
I had a partial tear. Probably ~30+%. ( a titanium screw in my ankle from a previous injury made that determination a bit difficult. I was in a boot for ~5 weeks and then in a shoe with a really high heel (to take the stress off the achilles) for another couple of months. I water jogged and swam and was able to ride on the flats after about 6 weeks, and in the mountains after about 3 months. Running was a different matter.
I don’t know if this will help you since I had surgery but here is what I’m going through right now.
I’m currently recovering from a full rupture. I blew it out on Sept. 15th. Surgery on the 17th. I told my Ortho Doc that I was two months out from my last IM and I had 7 1/2 months until IM Australia and she said, “no problem”, without hesitating.
I was in a cast for two weeks and a boot for a month. During the second two weeks in a boot I was able to swim, pull only, and ride a stationary bike and my trainer with my boot on. Once the boot came off I was green-lighted to kick while I swim and ride without the boot as long as there was no discomfort or swelling. I’m 3 1/2 months out and I’m currently in a walk run program and am running 3 min/walking 3 min. I’m only allowed to walk run for 30-50 minutes but I feel good after I warm up and get going.
Thanks for your replies.
I do not know the extent of the injury yet. I don’t think it’s a rupture as I can walk on my tip toes with no pain. I take it if it had ruptured I would be in severe pain with bruising/swelling I have none of these. Just to rewind I cycled an hour on the turbo and felt a little discomfort when running the next day. I then took 5 full days off the cycled no pain what so ever so ran the following day this is where the pain happened about two hours after the run I found it difficult to put full weight on the front of my right foot. Today after 6 days of rest/aqua jogging/swimm it feels a lot better. I saw my chiro last week who said it was a mild tear? not sure what that means - would I need any xray/mri to determine a tear? - Thanks again to all.
If it’s the achilles, it should hurt a lot when you stand on tip toe, even if it’s a partial tear.
Yes, advanced imaging modalities (MRI, ultrasound) are necessary to evaluate the extent of achilles tendinosis (or “partial tear”) and are often used to guide treatment/therapy if you feel that you are beyond/more than simple tendonitis. Best of luck.