well…playin football last weekend I had the great luck of rupturing my (left) achilles tendon. had sergery and am now in a cast. basically I’m looking for any and all advice on how to fix this as good as possible. AAS? like deca?..how about IGF… I’m willing to do whatever it takes to fix this right, so any advice would be of great help. if anyone has had this happen, how long were you down for?
thanks for any help guys
I suffered a fully ruptured achilles tendon playing basketball in December of 04. I would just advise you to take it slow and not push it. I know this may not be what you want to hear, but there is a danger in re-rupturing the tendon if you push too fast, too soon.
Listen to your doctor. This tendon takes a long time to heal. Do your physical therapy. I was back playing sports in June (7 months after surgery), although it wasn’t until September that I could play hoops weekly without feeling some discomfort or experiencing swelling.
Hang in there. I remember how frustrating it was to be in that cast and out of commission for so long.
I severed mine last August of '05 sparring. You made a good choice by having the surgery, now you just gotta take care of yourself during the healing.
I was never in a hard cast, just a splint and tight wraps. Once I had all the stitches and staples out (10 days or so), I started phys therapy to rebuild ROM. Took me two weeks to get to were my foot could sit flat on the ground and then I was put in a walking boot. Took 2 more months before I could wear normal shoes.
I was cleared to start light leg work in the gym once I had the walking boot off. Cleared to jog about 4-5 months after surgery, and I started BJJ again about 6months later.
A year later I have full ROM back, but still get some swelling and numbness in my foot.
Good luck with getting healed.
I have nothing to offer to this thread except that I wish Good Luck to the OP.
I do have a question though to all of you;
Did you have Achilles problems before rupturing the tendon, or did it just happen?
I’m asking because I have had problems with both Achilles tendons more or less, for many years now…
Thanks
I didn’t have any warning until the thing snapped. Never had any pain or stiffness prior to the injury.
When it went, it made a loud audible popping sound that everyone around me heard. The I felt like I had gotten kicked in the heel and collapsed.
I can only speak from the experience of a completely severed tendon though. No idea what the syptoms would be for something less such as partial tear.
Wow, as a tennis instructer this would kill me money wise! And I love to play bball! Anything special to prevent it from happening to me?
Always warm up well
Stretch afterwards
What else??
It’s been 7 months today!
I sliced my achilles on April 9th, on a piece of metal at the gym. Stepped over an AC unit and clipped the drip pan. Cut right through it! Went under the knife the same day.
4 weeks in a fixed boot, 4 weeks in a walking boot, then I was able to limp in shoes…
It heals slow as hell, tendons don’t have much of a blood supply.
I went to PT everyday over the summer. I ran 1 mile at the 6th month mark. Have built up to 2 miles now. Still not able to sprint or squat heavy. I have better ROM in the injured ankle.
Things that will help with the healing.
Fish oil! Get a few bottles of Flameout, it will reduce the inflamation.
Ice it everyday! I have two huge gel icepacks that I used.
Do you PT! Like I said, I went everyday for 2 months, then twice a week for another month.
Check your ego at the door! Let your body heal. I stopped lifting nearly all together for 4 months. It let my shoulder heal and when I went back to lifting I was stronger than ever after 2 weeks.
I have talked to tons of people who had the same injury. I didn’t know it was so common. Most tore theirs in sports. All made 100% recoveries. It just takes time.
no warning here either…never had even so much as a sore ankle…when it popped…I thought I had been kicked in the back of the ankle…sounded and felt like it. it didn’t even hurt. man is it ever gonna suck be to away from sports and stuff fo a long time…
[quote]iksrtfo28 wrote:
no warning here either…never had even so much as a sore ankle…when it popped…I thought I had been kicked in the back of the ankle…sounded and felt like it. it didn’t even hurt. man is it ever gonna suck be to away from sports and stuff fo a long time…[/quote]
Wow, it is quite scary that none of you had any problems prior to the injury.
I too know from first hand experience what it’s like to be injured and out of the game… I broke my shin and calf bone a little less than 3.5 years ago, playing basketball, also heard a loud snap. It was the hardest thing ever not to be able to do the things I wanted to do.
Just stay up man, in due time you will become healthy again.
Like matt said, make sure you do your PT. It sucks and is painful, but its crucial to a full recovery. I have seen people here at my work that tore theirs years ago and are still messed up because they didnt they needed to do all the PT the doctor prescribed.
The good news is that since you had the surgery, the odds of retearing are pretty low. I think I read somewhere that only something like 1-5% of those who get the surgery retear the same tendon.
Abe, did you get that from subs?
I mean… heel hooks, toe hold could do that.
[quote]Hekk wrote:
Abe, did you get that from subs?
I mean… heel hooks, toe hold could do that.[/quote]
Nope, believe it or not I got it from standup sparring. I was pushing off for a kick when it happened. Doc said its alot more prevalent in sports like tennis and basketball though.
My ground game has had to go through some adjustments to say the least. My right achilles is what tore, and right over left closed guard (and closed guard in general) is still extremely painful. So I am working on building a more agressive open and butterfly guard game.
BJJ was the first activity I did after the injury. 2 months after the slice I was rolling on the mat with people I trust. I just got my blue belt last weekend 
Does the achilles rupture because of a lack of dorsiflexion ROM? My right ankle gets tweaked sometimes from DL’s and these pictures are scaring the shit out of me :-/
Prolonged use of an antibiotic called ciprofloxacin has been shown to increase risk of Achilles ruptures.
There is suspicion this is a class effect(flouroquinolones) and may also result from use of levofloxacin and gatifloxacin among others.
Anybody had an Achilles rupture after taking these? If so, what were you taking and for how long?