Achille Tendon Surgery Post Op proceedure?

[glorybee]

I had achilles tendon repair surgery (not a total rupture, but a reasonably big tear) Nov/06
After 3 weeks in a cast, I went into a boot....which I am still wearing. I can walk fine and can put full weight on the foot so long as I am wearing the boot. I am due to get out of the boot at the end of the month (3 months exactly from date of surgery). I have also been having physical therapy 2x a week. I have been given the o.k. by my doctor to try walking gently without the boot (around the house only). However, it is so stiff and I am absolutely scared to death to put weight on the foot without the boot! Does anyone know how long it takes for an achilles tendon to really be healed and strong? I feel so tentative!
Thanks for anyone's experience with this.
glorybee

[dougdigital]

glorybee,

I joined the club on June '05 and doing fine now. I know how you feel, I was really timid to walk without the boot. It will take at least 2-4 weeks before you can walk with a normal stride. When I first had the walking boot removed my achilles was very stiff but doctor told me that this is perfectly normal. You will probably have to walk very slow with small steps. When you take a step you will feel a tug at times if you try to take too large of a step. Over time your achilles with stretch and it will become easier to walk. Also, you will not want to walk that much per day. Your achilles will be very tight when you wake up in the morning so you might want to use your boot when you first wake up to move around until it warms up. Take it very slow and be very patient. For me, I was able to walk normal around the 4th week after getting rid of the boot. Make sure that you're wearing a comfortable shoe or sneaker. Don't wear any footwear that is tight on the heel, don't walk around barefoot you'll need as much cushion as possible. Infact, I couldn't even wear a shoe for the first month of walking so I had to wear sneakers with my work clothes which consist of shirts and pants.

Hope that this helps out. Ask your doctor as well, these are all tips that the doctor gave me during my recovery. Feel free to reply if have anymore questions.

Doug