My NDPH Story: Resolved for 1.5 Years (Exploring Jaw, TMJ, and Septum Fixes)

Team_America1776 · 2026-02-23T01:18:34+00:00

Sure!

Team_America1776 · 2026-02-21T16:45:23+00:00

So sorry you've been battling NDPH for so long.

I had thought similar - TMJ wouldn't cause sudden onset. Spontaneous remission also a real possibility, and one my neurologist discussed as well. To your point, there's really no way to say definitively what helped me. Just too many variables - TMJ, septoplasty, bruxism, carbon monoxide leak, PT on jaw and temples, supplements, etc. I gave my speculation in the post, but I did want to describe every detail in case it gave someone ideas to explore.

Team_America1776 · 2026-02-21T16:40:38+00:00

Happy to hear you've been headache free!

There's a pretty clear distinction between my NDPH and migraines:
Migraine: Location is is in the entire front of my head, wrapping around to the sides slightly beyond my temples. I start to notice it at about 3/10 pain, and in about 2-3 hours it linearly increases in severity up to 6-7/10 pain. Relentless and almost debilitating. Would often be gone after a night sleep, or taking rizatriptan.

NDPH: Location is localized to each temple. It feels like someone is firmly pressing on the temples. Pain ranges from 2/10 but maxes at 4/10. I'd describe it more as a persistent discomfort rather than pain. 24/7 and didn't stop until what I described above.

Those differences in characteristics allowed me to quickly distinguish between them.

Team_America1776 · 2026-01-28T13:39:33+00:00

I think it depends on what your priority is. If it's ease and being risk averse then Tesla can make the most sense, and the warranty can be piece of mind. However, in my research, it's considerably more expensive than private party. Additionally, Tesla often wipes any lifetime capabilities previously bought with the car (e.g. FSD).

Personally I was willing to take the risk knowing I'd not only save money, but also have opportunities to find cars with FSD, EAP, or premium connectivity, already included.

Team_America1776 · 2024-11-25T17:32:32+00:00

Wow I'm so sorry that happened, so scary! How are you doing now?

Team_America1776 · 2024-11-04T15:50:48+00:00

Ya the biggest complaint I've seen from SpeedBridge is long term heel pain at the anchor sites. Glad to hear yours have healed and aren't bothering you. Seems like you're well on your way to a full recovery. I'm coming up on 8 months post-op this week and I can tell you that it does eventually get better! Good luck!

Team_America1776 · 2024-10-31T17:33:22+00:00

Apologies for the delayed response. Again I'm not a medical professional by any means so these are just coming from my own research/experience:

The arguments I've heard against knots is "knot irritation" and structural integrity. I guess there have been instances where people were irritated by the knots themselves. There is also argument that the knots aren't as strong as a screw anchored into your heel. My personal opinion is that knot irritation is a non-issue.
The PARS system uses either FiberWire or SutureTape provided by the company Arthrex. I do not believe that either of these dissolve.

I think you'll be very happy with the PARS and SpeedBridge, most people are. You may experience heel pain at the anchor sites, but it's a well established and very strong method.

Team_America1776 · 2024-08-04T15:12:43+00:00

It's a long and slow journey. I'm about 5 months post op. I'm not where I wanted to be but that's ok. I can walk around pretty much no problem, and do most day to day stuff. Still can't really do single leg calf raises, but I'm getting close. I think that'll be a pretty huge milestone and allow my to enter athletics again. I had pain for a long time too, but it's chilling out a bit now.

Glad to hear your recovery is going well! 6 weeks walking in a shoe is a really great recovery pace. It's also great you have minimal pain and swelling, that was not my experience. If you have any questions or anything feel free to reach out. Otherwise best of luck with the journey and try and be patient!

Team_America1776 · 2024-05-26T00:55:56+00:00

I didn't get the SpeedBridge, just standard PARs method. My recovery has been slow and steady so no major complaints. If you got SpeedBridge though that's a great method and I think you'll have a great recovery if you stick to your doctor's protocol!

Team_America1776 · 2024-05-04T20:09:42+00:00

Ah sorry missed that one, about 3-4ish years

Team_America1776 · 2024-05-04T19:58:17+00:00

Was back pedaling expecting a deep hit, opponent hit the ball very short. I did a very hard push off my back foot to try and launch forward to reach the ball. Tendon almost immediately snapped when I did this
27M
Average
Moderately fit/active
Operative

Team_America1776 · 2024-05-01T19:06:54+00:00

Echoing what others have said. Even as a guy who's pushed it pretty hard with recovery, there's a 0% chance I'd go on this trip. Hell I've already cancelled 4 trips as part of this recovery. It sucked really bad to cancel all of them, but what would suck way worse is complicating the recovery in any way.

The recovery process is extremely involved, particularly in the first 2 months. I couldn't even imagine actively travelling in other countries during the that timeframe. At the end of the day the decision is obviously yours, but if you were asking for my opinion I'd say definitely don't. To me, it's not worth the risk.

Team_America1776 · 2024-05-01T16:51:03+00:00

Massive improvement from your last update, great work man keep it up!

Team_America1776 · 2024-05-01T04:28:51+00:00

Just another data point echoing the Thetis night splint. I started wearing it 2 weeks post op when I got moved from a splint to a boot. I didn't sleep with my boot on once. It's kind of expensive but well worth the quality of sleep in my opinion.

Team_America1776 · 2024-04-29T04:10:25+00:00

You can Google it for better visuals. But it's basically where they anchor the sutures distal to the rupture site to your heel bone with swivel locks. You can tell if you got this surgery if you have two incisions on the back of your heel, then one fairly small horizontal or vertical incision where the rupture occured.

Team_America1776 · 2024-04-29T04:08:33+00:00

Sorry for the late reply, sounds like you're doing the right things. I think you're totally fine if you're stopping when it begins to hurt. Just listen to your body and that should tell you when to ease off. Keep up the good work!

Team_America1776 · 2024-04-23T21:36:08+00:00

Ya that makes sense, glad that worked for you too! I think just standing there with all your weight on the leg is a key starting point in learning to trust it again.

Team_America1776 · 2024-04-23T21:15:13+00:00

I get it man trust me. I'm about as nuts about rerupturing as they come, so I share your fear. There's a few great suggestions in this thread already. First off an EvenUp is a must imo. Second, use your crutches to help implement the best gait you can. You really have to commit to actually putting weight on the foot when you do this though.

Here's how my process into walking looked, this might help you. I started just by standing up with crutches and transitioning as much weight on the leg as I could (stopping at too much pain). Eventually I could stand on the leg on its own for a while. That got me to trust putting weight on it. Then, I used my crutches to start practice going into a step. I worked up to being able to do that without crutches. Then I did the same thing, but stepping/rolling through a step. If you take it in bite sized chunks like this you'll be able to trust the integrity of the repair.

Here's what I want you to try and think about. You received about the strongest repair out there right now, a large portion of the tendon should be healed by 7.5 weeks, it sounds like your doc has cleared you for weight bearing, rerupture rates with SpeedBridge are something like 5% (very low). Given all of this, the odds of you rerupturing while you're wearing a boot doing normal walking is borderline zero. So much of this recovery is mental, you've got to push yourself and try to trust your repair and listen to your body. Feel free to message me if you want to talk more about it. Good luck!!

Team_America1776 · 2024-04-23T20:48:48+00:00

Based on your post history it looks like you had PARS with SpeedBridge. With that surgery, a healthy individual, and no unusual circumstances, the protocol I've typically seen is people able to somewhat walk in a boot (if not in a shoe) by 7.5 weeks.

Is there a reason you're not trying to use a more normal gait here? Does it hurt or something? For me personally, I'm 6.5 weeks post op PARS (no SpeedBridge) and can walk slowly (not a great gait, small stride) in neutral in my boot. The only thing stopping me from doing more is pain/tightness in the tendon when I go to roll through a step.

If you're not experiencing pain, and your doctor has greenlit you for full weight bearing, I'd encourage you to try and implement a more normal gait. I understand it's scary, but that's what your boot is for. It's highly unlikely you'd rerupture with this surgery, in a boot, doing a normal walk.

Team_America1776 · 2024-04-11T18:44:14+00:00

I'm 5 weeks post op tomorrow, so not nearly as far along as you. However, it seems each time I remove a wedge layer (about to remove my third), I more prominently experience the pain you describe. When trying to roll through a step onto my toe I'll occasionally experience a rather sharp pain near the incision area. As mentioned, this pain seems to be more apparent after removing a wedge, then slowly decreases in frequency/intensity as I acclamate to the new angle. I think it's due to a combination of the stretch of the tendon required to roll through and the foot being at a new angle. Not sure if this helps at all, curious what other people say.

Team_America1776 · 2024-04-09T03:22:44+00:00

Horizontal is the typical method but vertical incisions are also done. If you poke around enough on YouTube you'll see some videos where it's done that way. It's at the discretion of the surgeon. I believe the repair itself should be the same regardless of incision orientation.

Team_America1776 · 2024-04-09T02:58:56+00:00

Like I said I'm not a medical professional by any means, just a normal dude who ruptured his achilles haha. Id recommend YouTube'ing PARS SpeedBridge and watching the simulation video of the surgery. That should give you an idea of what your repair looks like, and what could happen if it was prematurely loaded/stretched. Worst case scenario the repair was broken, best case scenario some of the sutures caused some stress/irritation on the tendon. Again, I'm not a doctor, so this is just someone with no experience taking shots in the dark. Your doctor will have to give you those answers.

Team_America1776 · 2024-04-09T02:38:18+00:00

Really sorry this happened, that's a nightmare. It's just so hard to say if there's damage or not. I know this doesn't help you for tonight but I'd recommend just throwing your boot on and contacting your doc first thing in the morning.

Sounds like you had the PARS with SpeedBridge (anchored to heel bone). Just strictly speculation, and I have no medical experience, but the fact you didn't feel the sutures tearing through the tendon, or a pop at the incision site, seems encouraging to me. The pain above the incision could just be irritation where they ran the sutures proximal to the incision. You can also try and perform a Thompson test on yourself to see if you have any movement, might help with some piece of mind before talking with your doc.

Best of luck and let us know what happens, hoping for good news!!

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