Previous Achilles tendon post

At the end of eight weeks I had to attend the Hospital for a check up. I was hoping I could finally do without the Aircast boot. I had been increasing the amount of weight I was putting on my foot after the sixth week.

I was concerned that when I took the boot off in the evenings my foot and ankle were still very swollen. The doctor checked the scar and the area around ankle and I asked about the swelling. He told me the swelling was normal and not to worry about it. I then had to kneel on a chair so he could squeeze my calf muscle, this should cause my foot to twitch. This is apparently the way to test for tendon rupture. If the tendon has snapped then the foot will not twitch.

Unfortunately my foot did not twitch. The Doctor was concerned that it had not knitted together properly so the boot had to go back on until an ultra sound scan could be booked.

Just over a week later I finally got my scan. It showed that due to the tendon rupturing for the second time it was healing abnormally. It was this that was causing the swelling at the back of my ankle.  I had to take things easy for a further two weeks then start gentle physiotherapy. The Doctors decided the lack of foot twitching was due to the tendon being stiff.

The physio was difficult at first and made my tendon and calf ache. I supplemented the exercises with ever-longer walks. Slowly things returned to normal.

I was finally given the all clear by the hospital Doctors last week so I don’t have to attend any further clinics. (Hooray!)

I do still have to continue with physiotherapy until there is sufficient strength in my tendon for me to stand on one foot and raise myself up onto my toes (I cannot do that yet).

I find that after eight months I am nearly back to normal (How often do you stand on one leg and raise up on your toes?) The only adverse effect is I have a limp for the first few hundred yards or so when I walk. Once the tendon warms up I can walk without a limp. I am also paranoid about it going again so I am very careful.

One moral from my sorry tale? If you feel as though you have been kicked in the ankle, it is very painful and  comes up in a bruise. Don’t assume you were kicked and leave it to get better on it’s own. Go to the Doctor immediately. The sooner treatment starts the easier it will be.