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hello everyone name is mike i have a partially torn achillies tendon and am truely concearn i tore it back in dec 21 and have been going through therapy since now the 2nd mri shows no change and now i have to go in for surgery what should i know ahead of time and what about this ultra sound surgery i hear about
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Rob9700 michael_90637
Posted
Hi Mike,
Sorry to hear about your injury. It is a slow process. I honestly am not familiar with an unltrsound surgerical procedure, but I am not a doc either! I did have a minimally invasive procedure called "percutaneous achilles repair system" or PARS. You can google that and probably watch one on you tube. Outomce so far (I am about 8 months after surgery) is pretty good, although I am not 100% yet. Still some stiffness in ankle, and weakness in calf muscle on surgical side. Surgeon says advantage of PARS is small transverse incision (about an inch). Apparently this reduces risk of infection.
If the ultrasound is non-invasive that would be an AWESOME procedure. You might ask about recovery protocols, how long, what restrictions, etc. Also might ask about outcomes and how many YOUR Doc and health facility have done.
For the PARS procedure I was in a cast for a week, then a boot about 8 weeks, the first five non-weight bearing. This means crutches and perhaps a knee scooter around the house. Very handy.
Last couple weeks of boot, we removed wedges that are meant to keep the heel raised relative to the toe to keep the tendon in relaxed position to avoid stressing the achilles or sutures. After 8 weeks or so, kept boot but was full weight bearing for a couple more weeks until finally boot was gone. Even then, because of residual swelling which lasted for a considerable time, my pre-injury shoes did not fit the injured foot!
Icing the area a few times a day was very helpful as were some good compression socks, These really helped with the residual swelling. A good physical therapist with knowledge and experience working these kinds of injuries was really most helpful, especially when issues ro setbacks occurred. She was able to put them in perspective and give some counsel whether it was something to see the Doc about or was within the normal range of experience during recovery.
This is a frustrating injury and very debilitating in the early phases. But for most folks it seems that it does get better even though full recovery may take up to a year.
Hang in there, be patient, and you will heal. You made me very curious about the ultrasound surgery; I am going to seewhat I can find on the internet...
Best wishes for a smooth surgery and a speedy recovery.
michael_90637 Rob9700
Posted
Thanks,Rob it's just fact well I getcreal,nervous I work for uses post office so you can,imagine my me cousin tenting the ultrasound look up in Detroit medical,hospital if u want text me 734 347 8217,
Rob9700 michael_90637
Posted
So you must be on your feet a LOT at work! I haven't done an exhaustive search, but on first blush it looks like there is some suggestion that ultrasound facilitates or accelerates tendon healing. Turns out my PT used ultrasound in the early days after my surgery. It was painless, but my tendon was pretty tender for a while.
Good luck, Michael.
michael_90637 Rob9700
Posted
Rob9700 michael_90637
Posted
I ruptured tendon on a Friday evening. Tried to walk it off all day Saturday. Turned out to be a bad choice. Lots of swelling pain Saturday night. Took some ibubtofen. Helped a little. Went to urgent care Sunday morning. They did X-ray, ruled out fracture, and referred me to ortho surgeon on Monday. Also put me in stiff splint to immobilize foot and ankle and told me to not put weight on it. When it was immobilized and unweighted, did not feel much pain, frankly.
Saw an surgeon on Monday, he confirmed Achilles rupture diagnosis, did MRI in prep for surgery. He had removed splint for exam, so he put me in another with non WB instructions, and he did surgery next afternoon.
As long as foot/ankle were immobilized ant I wasn't bearing weight, I did not have significant pain that ibuprofen could not handle. After surgery I had Rx for more potent pain drug and used them for a couple days-- pain from surgery, incision, sutures, but was able to get off those after a couple days and back on ibuprofen.
Experienced different levels of pain and discomfort during the recovery period, including heel, ankle, foot pain as well as numbness and shooters. Most of that is behind me now, unless I overdue walking or running-then I get stiffness and pain mostly in heel and ankle. Body telling me, "back off, Rob"!
You hear about Achilles injuries all the time--athletes, friends. Did NOT appreciate what a lousy injury it is, how debilitating it can be, and how slow recovery is. BUT, seems like just about everyone gets over it and is back to normal activities.
Good luck with surgery and treatment. Hope it all goes smoothly. You'll be back to your old self.