Rerupture of Achilles Tendon after 4 months of healing

Hi Diane,

i ruptured my achilles almost 2 years ago and opted for surgery.

Ive heard that non-surgical can sometimes result in weak scar tissue reforming and thus leading to rerupture later down the line.

Having said tthat, my achilles still isnt great and always feels weak nearly 2 years on.

I hope your husband gets it sorted.

thanks

HI diane,

sorry to hear this. my specialist went down the non surgical route when mine ruptured 10 montus ago, unfortunately mine re-ruptured a month later which was devastating. When i had scans i only had 10/20% attached and always been advised that the odds are stacked against me but im still progressing and in the last 2 months my strength has increased by 100-200% on different testing so its not impossible. Ive always been advised that if it re-ruptures or strength doesnt greatly improve i will go for surgical route. In the UK this involves rupturing a muscle in my big toe and this is stitched to my achilles. This i presume is an option in your husbands situation.

regards

Craig

A surgical repair is totally different to a non-surgical repair. The archilies tendon is literally held in place by pins, screws etc. He'll be ok.

I was told to do non-surgical and was placed in a boot, however after researching the Web, i noticed the percentage of a re-rupture was a lot higher in comparison to no surgery. So i told the doctor to complete surgery on my leg, he said we had to do non-surgical. I disregarded his advice because of the percentage of a re-rupture. I got a second doctor to allow the surgery after i told him i wanted the surgery, no disagreement...... (which i'll never understand the first doctors problem to perform surgery)

Finally this was booked in, 3 months later i had the surgery, 3/4 years later its very strong, the scar tissue is tender, but this is normal.

I would opt to get the surgery for him.

Good luck.

Sorry I didn't read your message properly. A non surgical repair literally means that the repair is reliant on natural scar tissue build up to repair and mend it. As tendons don't have as much blood supply compared to ligaments, this process is very slow. I tore one of the major tendons that lift your leg, broke a little off the bone (avulsion fracture) and had a bleed (hematoma) 5 days after sciatic nerve surgery at the back of my hip. It was beyond excruciating. My surgeon refused to fix it and refused to evacuate the hematoma which was sitting in my groin. The tendon was only being held by a 2mm string of tendon that was still attached, so it was a rupture, really. It never fully healed. My new hip surgeon was disgusted. He said I needed pins and screws and to have the hematoma removed but it's too late. I now have permanent damage.

I would get the repair done surgically. Non- surgical approach for obvious reasons has a far higher chance of re-rupture due to issues such as weakness and length of time it will take get a decent amount of scar built up to have the strength in it. Non surgical has a far higher chance of re-rupture.