6 weeks post op Achilles tendon surgery.. experiencing a lot of pain.
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Hello. As stated above, I'm 6 weeks post op. I'm a 30yr Old male. I was playing basketball, made a quick dash and next thing I know my entire leg went numb.
I went a week later in for surgery. My initial pain was not too bad. I was taking pain medal as ordered but decided to wean myself off.. they were making me feel sick.
I am now 6 weeks post op and the pain seems to have no relieve. The site itself does not work.. it's the calf and the shin that have excruciating pain. I still have a lot of swelling to my foot and simply rubbing my hand on my foot hurts the top layer of my skin on my foot. I have no clue what's normal, or what's not.. I've tried to look for symptoms online but to no avail. I mentioned the symptoms to my MD at 5 weeks and feel like he just shrugged it off. Is this normal? And if so how soon can I expect this pain to go away??.. there's been nights when I have spent the entire night suffering in pain.
0 likes, 33 replies
Rob9700 Luis125
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Luis125 Rob9700
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There's no puss or drainage coming out of the wound site. The leg temp is not abnormal and I haven't been spiking any Temps myself. So I didn't think that would be a possibility. No redness or discoloration. Just pain. Sometimes a good 7/8 out of 10. (If I try to be brave and not take my meds.)
Rob9700 Luis125
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Ageee. Doesn't sound like an infection. How about possible dep vein thrombosis? Don't want to be alarmist; just going through list of things my surgeon cautioned me to look for...Geez, I hope you feel a lot better and soon!
Luis125 Rob9700
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Heck630 Luis125
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Luis125 Heck630
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That's what my wife said as well..she's also a nurse
Rob9700 Luis125
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karen_04673 Luis125
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I can relate to the top of the foot tingling feeling. Seems to be normal, as I have read lots of people who are struggling in the same way. So sorry you are still having a lot of pain. I'm almost 2.5 months post op and will have the other achilles repaired (not a rupture, a suture bridge) I cry a little almost every day because I'm frustrated but I do see things slowly getting better.
Luis125 karen_04673
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Wow, sorry to hear that... I just hope your experience isn't as bad as mine. Best wishes.
frank48335 Luis125
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Hi - been reading all the posts regarding the Achilles recovery after surgery with great interest, but your post caught my eye due to the pain you are experiencing.
I am 38 and I popped mine playing badminton, and a week later had surgery on the 8th of Dec, and went straight into a vacocast boot, and with partial weight bearing. 2 weeks later in Physio given exercises without the boot, and could put full weight bearing on foot with the boot on.
On the 5th of Jan was told to wean off the boot, and Physio started me on standing on my toes and said if sharp pain starts pull back and rest the foot. The process has generally seemed really quick to getting me mobile, where others have seemed to be months in fixed casts.
Have followed the advice, but today out of nowhere it's been extremely painful when doing any movement on my foot.
Was curious what the outcome of your pain diagnosis has been?
Luis125 frank48335
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Hey frank, sorry to hear. As a nurse I know that sharp pain is usually related to an acute situation. Maybe too much stress to the foot. I myself have a powerful dull kind of pain on my calf. At times it radiates up my leg and to my nerve. I had a doppler done to rule out DVT. It came back negative. I'm at my doctors now to see what he says. His response before was to give me more pain medicine. But at this point I'm 7 weeks and whether I exercise or not the pain still wakes me up at night. Even the slightest touch causes me pain. But a sharp pain like yours is usually related to stress to the site or injury
val38137 Luis125
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Sorry to hear a out your bad pain.
I have had a FDL tendon transfer, so different operation, but I can identify with your pain.
I am 5 weeks post op , much less than you, but I have had terrible unrelenting pain at times, not helped by pain killers. I have had se sensitivity caused by the cast wbi h has over sensitised the nerve endings. This had give me shin pain and other nerve pains on places that were not operated on. Also the dull aches you duscribe in your leg and back I have also had. I noticed that while keeping your leg up fie long periods you tend to obstruct the groin area. One night I got up, I am also non weight baring, and walked with my walking frame to try to relieve this. I lifted my leg up and down and lowered the leg a bit for a while making sure the groin area was straight.
From what I know about Achilles tendon injuries, they have variable levels of severity depending on where the tendon is damaged. So treatment and times non weight baring and whether boot or plaster will vary from patient to patient. It does sound as if you may have sensitised nerves. Perhaps ask your MD if this could be the problem. Good luck.
Luis125 val38137
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Hello val. Thank you for the suggestion. I did go back and speak with my doctor. After a few tests, he determined the muscle was pulled too tightly and kept getting spasms which were so frequent it made the calf and shin extremely sensitive to touch and very sore. He continued my pain medications but added a muscle relaxer and I have finally been able to sleep so much better. I'm even able to walk a little without the boot and I've been going to the gym and doing exercises in the pool. Of course I get heel pain and swelling from the workouts, but the pain is nowhere near as bad as before.
val38137 Luis125
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Hi Luis,
I am so glad you have improved and can get some sleep. Sleep is so important for healing & destressing.
I have had a few muscle spasms. I am out of plaster into a boot in a weeks time so if that persists I will ask for muscle relaxants. Best wishes for your future recovery.
Luis125 val38137
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