Achilles Tendon Surgury

Discussion in 'Injuries' started by tjbarber, May 12, 2010.

  1. tjbarber

    tjbarber New Member

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    Hello,i was just wondering if anyone on the forum has had achilles tendon repair surgery.I just had surgery yesterday and im an in PAIN!!!! The doctor gave me percusets which help somewhat but not nearly enough..i still feel quite a bit of pain.Anyone out there can give me a bit of insight on this? thanks in advance!!

    Serge
    TJBarber
     
  2. druss

    druss Regular Member

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    I had this surgery about 4 years ago, I had an 80% tear in my left Achilles. I actually had very little pain before or after surgery. Some discomfort of course but not actually pain. Felt more like the ache you get from sore muscles than anything.

    Right after the surgery they actually had me on morphine which helped while I was there for the day under observation but once I got home there was very little pain.

    I'm assuming you're in a cast right now?
     
  3. tjbarber

    tjbarber New Member

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    hey

    yeah cast..i wouldnt go back to badminton anytime soon even if i was permitted but think i should be good to next spring? im not sure if it was a complete rupture or partial as the doctor didnt tell me a whole lot. i was watching some rupture vids on youtube and i was surprised at how easily this can happen.
     
  4. Cheung

    Cheung Moderator

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    Take an extra medicine such as "arcoxia" OR "celebrex" OR "Voltaren SR" if you are not alredy taking them.
     
  5. tjbarber

    tjbarber New Member

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    is it pain meds? i just got in contact with the surgeon and told me id be in discomfort for the 1st few days..very normal to have pain so i guess il cringe and bear it.
     
  6. raceto21

    raceto21 Regular Member

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    pain usually is more noticeable a day or 2 after surgery (specially when the anesthesia wears off after several hours) and gradually declines after day 3-5. fortunately i have not had surgery for a tendon rupture.
    percocet can be taken 1-2 tabs every 6 hrs- if you havent then i would suggest you consider the above schedule of every 6 hrs. i assume you mean "percocet" when you wrote your post.
    the maximum amount of tabs of percocet you can take is more dependent on the total acetaminophen (which is in the drug percocet) dose you ingest in 24 hrs. this should not be more than 4 gms total of acetaminophen or 2 gms if you have alcohol or liver problems.
    sometimes complete pain relief is not obtained but the more important goal is to "take the edge off" and not be in excruciating pain. if pain is not "controlled" then you should communicate this AGAIN with your doctor.
    may you have a speedy recovery.
     
  7. druss

    druss Regular Member

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    It took me almost 8 months before I could run normally again, this is still with some discomfort though. 2 months in a cast, 2 more months in a brace, 2 months of active physiotherapy and 2 months on my own.

    Take it slow but make sure you do the physio.
     
  8. Ricky26

    Ricky26 New Member

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    i ruptured mine about 4 years ago

    i ruptured about 40-50% of mine when i was 18... i was on morphine also. however i was actually on court again after three months! i was very lucky that it repaired so quickly and was training in no time. the surgery worked out ok and i've had no problems since. i hope you have a speedy recovery. i found strengthening the calf difficult and very tedious though.
     
  9. mindbodyheart09

    mindbodyheart09 Regular Member

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    I tore my Achilles tendon 2 years ago. Felt very little pain before or after surgery (Some discomfort of course)

    Right after the surgery they actually had me on morphine which helped while I was there for the day under observation but once I got home there was very little pain.
     
  10. ct3833

    ct3833 Regular Member

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    Thanks TS for starting this thread.

    I hope you guys are back to court by now enjoying your game. I ruptured mine last month. The doc did a surgery for me on the following day. I have since been on cast for the last 25 days, 16 more days and I will have my cast removed. Now feeling the muscle shrinking and weakening.

    Achilles Ruptures in itself is not that painful but the process of recovery is a painfully long one after reading from all the past experience.

    I will have to settle everything "out of court" for the time being and look forward to that slow and lengthy road to recovery.
     
  11. johnlowe88

    johnlowe88 Regular Member

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    Hi people,

    I hope everyone is getting better and back to badminton. I ruptured my Achilles in Oct 2009 during the Sydney World Masters Games. In my case, part of the bone at the heel was torn off, but it was too small to screw back in, so they put in two screws and sutured the bone to the screws. There is some pain after surgery - I used Panadeine Forte which is a paracetamol with codeine for a few days, then after that it is just more of an aching pain. Essentially 6 months off until the physio and surgeon says that you can go back to sport. The Achilles is still a bit tight - and still plenty of scar tissue as it is much thicker than my other undamaged Achilles - but that will take time, now 2 years, but still a way to go. I have more or less full mobility - still doing what I was doing before. I lost weight, about 10kg which really helps - and yes, the calf muscle is still noticeably smaller than the other good one, so this also takes time and effort.

    -John
     
  12. coachgary

    coachgary Regular Member

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    Hi,

    I really feel for you! I'm 14 months post 100% rupture, and used the conservative treatment at the recommendation of a very good surgeon.

    I followed this link which helped me tremendously.

    Stay focussed, its a long road back to recovery, you'll be tempted to rush it, please don't!

    Feel free to PM.

    Regards
    Gary
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LwQA9HcnLMU
     
  13. Cheung

    Cheung Moderator

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    How interesting you used conservative treatment.

    http://jbjs.org/article.aspx?articleid=26746
     
  14. coachgary

    coachgary Regular Member

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    Thanks for the link Cheung. I had a lengthy discussion with the consultant who was quite relaxed about either way of treatment. My achilles ruptured aprox 25mm above the heal connection. This he explained was a good thing as the gap between the ends was very small thus with immobilisation in plantarflexion for 3 weeks would be sufficient for the tendon to connect. After the 3 weeks it was time for a new cast with my foot pressed into dorsiflexion as far as was physically bearable in terms of pain! I think my foot moved all of 5 degrees! Same thing happened again, every week for 3 weeks. After six weeks I went into an Air Cast with 2 heel wedges and this is when the physio began. After 8 weeks no wedges, and another 2 weeks I was into my shoes at last. Physio and strenghtening exercises carried on. I changed from NHS physio to private practitioner to have deeper frictional therapy about 6 months post injury. This was due in the main that the calf muscles, soleus and Gastroc were complaining from the strengthening exercises and needed to be freed up to reduce the stress on the achilles. I got back to gentle running around the athletics track after 8 months and now I'm back playing badminton to 70% pre injury performance although I reckon the other 30% is split between pychological and fitness.

    The achilles is healed (excuse the pun), I still have minor aches n pains and I'm told by a doctor friend that the scarring can take upto two years to dissipate.

    Another reason for the conservative method is that I had only recovered 8 weeks previously from a serious infection in my other leg after a fall from a ladder. High doses of two different anti-biotics were prescribed. I had been visiting my mother in hospital for a number of weeks and probably should have been tested for MRSA at the time, however I suspect my GP kept quiet about the type of infection. One of the anti-biotics was Ciprofloxacin which was probably the cause of my achilles rupture. See here. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ciprofloxacin#Adverse_effects
     

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