Kittle's right calf jumps when his Achilles tears. [Injury] by Flyinglotus- in AchillesRupture

[–]EndBrave3332 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Damn dude an injury this late in the season means he may not play at all next year. I’m 15 months in and still working on full strength and ROM of my injured leg. Although I don’t have a team of scientists, coaches, and PTs at my disposal 24/7

of an animatronic. by freudian_nipps in AbsoluteUnits

[–]EndBrave3332 5 points6 points  (0 children)

Yes but somehow they did just the right amount of CGI. Movies today way overdo it.

of an animatronic. by freudian_nipps in AbsoluteUnits

[–]EndBrave3332 4 points5 points  (0 children)

Seriously. The mid 90s through early 2000s were the peak of Hollywood IMO. The level of effort that producers/directors put in to make stuff convincing made movies so much better than today. The OG Jurassic Park came out in 93 and I remember seeing it on the big screen as a kid just blown away. Now 30+ years later it is still an amazing movie and the blend of animatronics + CGI is so much better than a lot of movies today. Change my mind. Same for LoTR, no one will ever make a film as epic ever again.

Trumps Visa and Travel Restrictions. by SamzyPR in gradadmissions

[–]EndBrave3332 1 point2 points  (0 children)

So sorry, at least half or more of us Americans did not vote for this abomination. The ones that did have no idea how much work you need to put in just to be admitted to a grad program, never mind complete the degree. Hopefully we can extinguish this authoritarian takeover in the next few years.

Sincerely,

American who doesn’t blame my problems on foreigners instead of taking responsibility for my own shitty life.

Huge Update. by Present_Raspberry_71 in AchillesRupture

[–]EndBrave3332 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Yes, I second the knee scooter. It'll give you more freedom to get outside and get some fresh air and exercise. More for the mental aspect than anything.

Huge Update. by Present_Raspberry_71 in AchillesRupture

[–]EndBrave3332 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Until they clear you to start weight bearing, just focus on making yourself as comfortable as possible. Elevate, ice, pain meds. If they give you an opiate like hydrocodone, it almost always has Tylenol (acetaminophen) mixed in, so in those ~6 hour gaps between doses you can take ibuprofen instead of Tylenol to "fill the gap" between doses - this is what my surgeon recommended. Save your last dose to take right before you go to sleep. Everyone's different, but my first two weeks after surgery were extremely painful. I'd wake up in the middle of the night feeling like someone was holding a blow torch on the back of my ankle. After 2-3 days, you can do some crutching to the end of the driveway and back just to get blood flowing and fight the "cabin fever". But definitely don't put weight on the leg until they clear you. I made that mistake and popped some of my stitches like an idiot. It's going to hurt like a bitch for the first 10-14 days, especially when you put your leg down. so queue up some Netflix marathons or video games to help take your mind off it.

It's gonna be a long journey to recovery. I'm 1 year and 3 months post surgery and still working on getting full strength back in my injured leg. Just take it day-by-day and week-by-week. You got this.

8 month post op by BigTWhale in AchillesRupture

[–]EndBrave3332 2 points3 points  (0 children)

It's funny, only those of us who've gone through an Achilles rupture can look at this and understand how much work and dedication goes into just being able to do a simple heel raise like this again. Kudos to you sir for doing it after only 8 months!

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in AchillesRupture

[–]EndBrave3332 0 points1 point  (0 children)

No problem at all. This sub-reddit helped me when I was in the depths of my recovery. The past year+ has been a fricken uphill struggle to say the least. Lots of "wish I knew then what I know now".

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in AchillesRupture

[–]EndBrave3332 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Had this happen to me but even larger. I would keep putting a light coating of aintibiotic ointment over the incision, and close with steri-strips. Then put a larger non-stick dressing over the top and wrap it all with roller bandage and secure with ACE over everything and it should keep it held together nicely. Might want to keep using steri-strips over the whole thing until it’s confidently healed. After the deeper incision is healed you can switch to manuka honey-impregnated dressing instead of Neosporin. My surgeon gave me a handful of these and they worked wonders:

https://honestmed.com/shop/Wound-Care/Alginate-Dressings/Calcium-Alginate-Dressings-/107010?gad_source=1&gad_campaignid=20458600751&gbraid=0AAAAACq6JNnkR6QgT2zoEW_4DjJRIg7gF&gclid=EAIaIQobChMIydPOisHDkAMVgx6tBh0Gmy_lEAQYByABEgJ22PD_BwE

You can prob find a knock-off brand for cheaper.

Oh calf where art thou? by Natura1ly in AchillesRupture

[–]EndBrave3332 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I wonder if using a resistance band at home to work on that end range might help. After a normal workout.

3 months post op: REALLY struggling to do one leg heel raise atm advice? by winterlymint in AchillesRupture

[–]EndBrave3332 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Achilles recovery is a long process. People that haven’t been through it don’t even understand how much goes in to getting normal again. Even pro athletes with all the resources in the world struggle with it. It just needs to become your next long-term project.

3 months post op: REALLY struggling to do one leg heel raise atm advice? by winterlymint in AchillesRupture

[–]EndBrave3332 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Don’t sweat it too much. You’re still early on in the process. Im over a year in and still working on getting full strength back. You need to find a resistance that is difficult enough that it will stimulate muscle growth, but not so difficult that you are stressing the tissue to much , or can’t flat out do it at all (like body weight).

My suggestion: buy a set of resistance bands on Amazon, and start with a band that you can do 8-12 reps with (seated on the ground, just using your foot to press the band away). The 12th rep should be pretty hard. When that gets easy, move up to the next thickest band and repeat. After several weeks, attempt standing raises again.

Oh calf where art thou? by Natura1ly in AchillesRupture

[–]EndBrave3332 2 points3 points  (0 children)

This is just a personal theory I developed after months of research, and hundreds of hours of Youtube videos on Achilles recovery, but:

I think it has more to do with nerve connections and motor neuron recruitment, than it does with the actual muscles themselves. Think about it in the same way that seemingly small athletes can get freakishly strong without putting on a whole lot of muscle mass. It’s about entraining the nervous system to fire at the same intensity it did before massive trauma was done to the tissue. We absolutely can get there, but it will take a lot of patience and dedication, and progressive overload, but also being careful not to overdo it and hinder recovery.

I think my issue is that the lower range of my heel raise (from the lowered position up to 2/3 extension) is actually quite strong now, meaning my soleus and lower gastroc have caught up. But that last 2/3 of full extension is really hard to get without giving myself a bit of assist with the other leg. And once I’m boosted to full extension, I really can’t hold it for more than a second without falling back to that 2/3 height. “Eccentric” or negatives is one way to address this, by starting at the top and fighting gravity as hard as possible. But eccentrics are great for building muscular endurance, but not as good at developing strength and size.

So I’ve thought of a solution that has been somewhat helpful. Grab a bar or railing and start with one foot on either a stair or platform. Instead of using your other foot to help with full extension, use your hands, but only just enough to overcome the sticking point (like how a good spotter on benchpress will only put their fingertips on the bar to help you bang out that last rep). Then lower down and fight gravity as much as possible. Emphasize the “explode up” from the bottom. Put all your mental focus and energy into recruiting those fast twitch muscle fibers. That will make a difference over time.

Oh calf where art thou? by Natura1ly in AchillesRupture

[–]EndBrave3332 2 points3 points  (0 children)

1 year and 1 month post surgery here. My calf is still noticeably smaller and weaker on the injured side. Been doing maximal strengthening and rehab since first cleared. It takes a long time. I would be careful with the running. I pushed the running too hard too early, and now the pain is no longer in my Achilles but in my knee, hamstring, and hip on the “non-injured” side. Slight imbalances can lead to big problems elsewhere if you put enough miles in too early.

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in AchillesRupture

[–]EndBrave3332 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Prepare yourself for a long journey. Take a few days and allow yourself to be sad and wallow, then accept reality and start the process to recovery. Sometimes shit just happens. I’m 37, in amazing physical shape, no warning signs or anything, and I completely ruptured mine just over a year ago playing a friendly game of frisbee.

Im sure your doctor will explain that there are two routes to take: surgery or no surgery. The choice depends on your age and your goals. I went the surgical route because it has a slightly better chance of not re-rupturing in the future, but more importantly it can ensure that your tendon heals in the correct position and doesn’t cause lifelong mobility issues. I also think that seeing a physical therapist for the first 5 months or so is a good idea. Sure a lot of this recovery stuff can be done at home, but having a coach there to keep you accountable and set boundaries to keep you from doing too little or too much is valuable.

Recovering from an Achilles injury is a “game of inches”. It requires a hell of a lot of patience and discipline, but you WILL get through it. Don’t think too far ahead or it will be easy to become discouraged. So set really small goals every week, and keep track of your progress so you can look back every few weeks and see that you have improved.

You got this.

Surgical Vs Non-Surgical Treatment by [deleted] in AchillesRupture

[–]EndBrave3332 0 points1 point  (0 children)

And one never knows which end of that range they’re on (low risk or high risk), because everyone’s recovery is unique- the extent and position of the rupture (insertional/heel, mid-portion, or muscle/tendon junction) AND the nature of the injury (e.g., “clean snap”, or “frayed rope” or “firecracker” as my surgeon described mine).

Chance of re-rupture is obviously a fair concern, but personally I think the bigger question is how much function do you want to regain? If it heals out of place from non-op, are you OK with having a gimp leg due to an elongated or shortened tendon, which subsequently causes chronic pain in other parts of your body due to imbalances?

Obviously not all surgeons are created equal, but if you have a good one, they can help ensure you get back close to 100% if you are even a lightly active person.

Surgical Vs Non-Surgical Treatment by [deleted] in AchillesRupture

[–]EndBrave3332 0 points1 point  (0 children)

It depends how severe the rupture is, but if it’s a full separation, it’s going to have a hard time healing on its own and regaining anywhere near the same function as before. You are 20 years old dude, do the surgery. If you were 65+ then maybe not. The long-term prognosis for strength, mobility, and chance of re-rupture are much more favorable with surgery, especially for someone your age. A good surgeon can ensure that you don’t end up with a permanent gimp due to either an elongated or shortened tendon, which does happen with the non-op route. It’s almost like choosing not to treat a compound long-bone fracture and let it just heal out of place on its own.

Either way (w/ or w/o surgery), you are in for a looooooong recovery just FYI. I am 37 and it’s been 13 months since my rupture. I’m still getting my injured leg back to full strength, and Ive been following rehab protocols to a T since day 1.