Ruptured Achilles Recovery

[Garn]

Has anyone experienced a ruptured achilles? I ruptured my left one last Saturday. Its a complete tear. I go in for surgery tomorrow to have it reattached. Any idea on the recovery time? Will I be skiing at all this year? I was told to obey the doctor and not rush it if I want it to heal properly. But it looks like my Summer is over before it even began. I'm pretty down in the dumps at the moment.

 

Garn

[SMITTY]

I tore mine about a little over a year ago, i was sking in 6 months and 100% in about a year. really work at the rehab and explore different options, i did a lot of accupuncture to get the blood to flow to the tendon.

[ForrestGump]

Rehab, rehab, rehab. Plan on being off the water 6-8 months. Do exactly as the doctors and PT's say and use this time as an excuse to get in really good shape in preparation for next season.

[jefflyman]

Garn what do you think caused the tear?

 

I rehabed two knees last summer and with a goal of being better than before. It worked, keep with it and drive for that goal.

[RichardDoane]

@garn - @eddierobertsjr has had both of his fixed, and still skis like a mad man

[SkiJay]

Consider Platelet-Rich Plasma theropy. It's ideal for speeding up tendon and ligament healing because of their inherently bad circulation. If its good enough for a VERY long list of pro athletes, including Tiger Woods, it's good enough for us. I had a very positive experience with it.

[skierjp]

Eugene Fry from Palm Bay blew both of his at the same time a few years ago when his Fogmans didn't release as he got dumped out the front at the buoy. He's back to skiing 38. He was actually in a wheel chair for a while!! I think it took a full year.

[Marco]

@garn- Really sorry to hear about your injury. I snapped mine a few years back after hitting a buoy. Expect no weight bearing for 6-8 weeks, then a slow, gradual recovery. I was back snow skiing after 5 months, but the stiff ski boot was like a cast, so I wouldn't expect to water ski for 6-7 months. Even though it is a real bummer, it is nowhere near as bad of a recovery as a full shoulder rebuild, believe me. Good info can be found at http://achillesblog.com/

 

Good luck. You'll recover 100%, but it will take some time and effort. Get some good crutches. These are the ones I used, and they are awesome.

 

http://www.maxiaids.com/products/5713/Millennial-Crutch-Set-of-2-Large.html?utm_source=Froogle&utm_medium=organic&utm_campaign=Froogle&idAff=15225&gclid=CPnYloqWvLACFQYKKgodiWLhqA

[Razorskier1]

Don't ever think you are "ahead of schedule". Even if it feels pretty good, tendons have lousy blood flow and only heal as fast as they heal. Do the rehab right, don't push your timing.

[Garn]

@SkiJay, My surgeon told me about Platelet-Rich Plasma therapy and said it has shown to work wonders but many insurances don't cover it because it so so new and considered experimental. But we checked and my insurance does cover it. So I'll be getting that.

 

What caused the tear was I was going around one ball, the ski slipped out on me and then skipped/bounced - I almost thought I had hit the ball cause it was that same kind of fall. When the ski hit the water again I just instantly compressed into the ski snapping my archilles. It wouldn't have mattered what type of boot I was in since I compressed straigt down into the ski. But, having said that, I am on HO EXOs. When I came to a stop, I found that I did release. My ski was about 15 feet away from me. Makes me wonder how much worse I would have been if I hadn't have come out.

 

Garn

[eddie_roberts_jr]

Garn, I've torn both of mine. I 'skied' 11 weeks after the first one and 8 weeks after the second one but when I say 'ski' I mean that I got up behind the boat and crossed the wake very carefully. I don't recommend doing that and neither did my surgeon, who was driving for me, but it didn't set me back any and it was kind of fun. Definitely do the re-hab and get the strength back in your calf.

[6balls]

Pretty sure I came close to the same last year hitting the 3 ball early on a 38 pass. Ski hopped off the ball and then the tip dug into the water. Sprained the hell out of my ankle, but had nasty bruising all the way up the calf muscle to the knee and the most painful area in recovery was my achilles which was ridiculously wide/swollen...lucky not to have torn it.

Agree w/the others, take it easy, give it time. It's tough to lose a season, but worth it to spare many more.

[cotton]

So sorry about that Garn! I ruptured mine in March of 2010 at 3 ball. It tore in two places; a partial tear at the heel and complete tear at the ankle. Surgery 5 days later; a cast for 4 weeks and a boot for another 8 weeks. I was skiing in 6 months but it took about a year before I could ride my elliptical machine for 20 minutes.

 

You've already gotten the best advice: obey the doctor and don't rush it. Good luck with the surgery!