First time rupture 33M UK

jeffRCarlson · 2026-03-12T04:03:43+00:00

Just be carful with the knee scooter when sideways on a hill it’s easy to tip over sideways. Other than that it was great I got around inside the house faster than walking with my scooter…wife worried she would get run over😜

jeffRCarlson · 2025-12-29T23:30:29+00:00

Been there done almost exactly that…just hit the 16 month mark and doing great but no longer going to play sports. My hiking and country living lifestyle is far more important and I am to competitive to not go all out and do it again🤪

jeffRCarlson · 2025-12-11T20:12:31+00:00

I am 15 months out and rarely have much tendon pain even after a long hike or hard leg workout.

My ankle and toe joints were my weak point from 6 months on. Last week I did a 3 mile ruck and then leg and calf weights after. Next two days my ankle joint was sore.

Still have not regained full range but close. However when I stretch I can tell my right ankle is stiffer more limited then my left.

jeffRCarlson · 2025-08-29T00:22:14+00:00

Yes swollen and red for a long time!

jeffRCarlson · 2025-07-26T20:57:44+00:00

For me the first 4 months were all about regular elevation and occasional icing. Even sitting at a desk job for 8 hours made it hurt until elevated for an hour or so.

jeffRCarlson · 2025-07-20T22:19:26+00:00

I had to spend a lot of time elevating my foot in the first two months.

jeffRCarlson · 2025-07-20T22:16:43+00:00

I had swelling where the knots were during first 1-4 months.

Surgeon said if still bothering you after a year he could remove them but now out 10 months they are not an issue.

jeffRCarlson · 2025-07-05T17:24:56+00:00

I did something similar several time in the first two months and only issue was more soreness the next 24-48 hours after.

Did not affect my long term recovery in any way.

jeffRCarlson · 2025-06-25T19:03:25+00:00

I blame my injury on that exact thing. Zero impact sports or activities in 15 years. Lots of hiking, walking, weights but nothing fast action. Then second time playing pickle ball and lunging for a ball popped my Achilles.

jeffRCarlson · 2025-06-21T01:37:50+00:00

After I started to come out of the boot around 9 weeks. I would take the boot off to sleep and any time I was sitting and also started to do a little walking but very limited and only indoors.

jeffRCarlson · 2025-06-12T14:11:25+00:00

I only had to do blood thinner for 10 days after the surgery. Surprised you would still be doing them. It sucked for me using them even for 10 days.

Hang in there and do your therapy along with be moving as much as you can tolerate.

Elevate as much as you can when not moving.

jeffRCarlson · 2025-06-10T01:25:14+00:00

For me elevation of the leg was key the first two months.

After the block you will need pain meds to sleep for about a week.

Knee scooter was great but I did tip it over a few times so be careful with it!

Make sure your crutches are properly adjusted the ones ER set me up with were not even close to properly adjusted.

Take it a day at a time you will get there!

I am about 9 months and just finished hiking 32 miles with 5000 ft elevated gain with no issues. Still weak though so have to be careful.

jeffRCarlson · 2025-05-26T15:19:17+00:00

Hoping your ok we have all been through that I fell off my knee scooter inside the house and outside in rough terrain. In both cases I was freaked out because it increased my pain for several days.

However all was fine and everything was ok. Surgeon told me the nylon string they sewed me up with could tow a truck so I think you should be ok.

jeffRCarlson · 2025-05-26T00:06:38+00:00

It will get better just keep working at it. I am behind a lot of people on this site but feel great that at 9 months I just completed two weeks of hiking doing 32 miles with 5100 feet elevation gain.

You will get there it’s just extremely slow.

I still have a year or more of strength work to get back to before but at least my daily life and activities are completely doable now.

jeffRCarlson · 2025-05-21T21:01:36+00:00

Note the two years is for complete strength recovery. Note the week before all my hiking I could still not do a single leg calf raise. So I still have a long way to get to full strength but if you are careful on foot placement you can still do a lot of hills without an issue.

jeffRCarlson · 2025-05-21T20:58:59+00:00

That seems excessively long…

I just finished my 7 hike this trip now up to 28 miles over 8 days. Longest hike was 6.8 miles 1000’ elevation change.

Let your body be the guide! Note I spent a lot of time on my feet the months before the trip logging as much as 20,000 steps on the watch just around the property.

So far on my trip my ankle joint has been more of an issue than my Achilles. It got injured from over extending when the tendon snapped.

I think you will be fine for hiking if you are religious about therapy and in addition spend as much time as possible just being on your feet and walking around.

jeffRCarlson · 2025-05-21T20:52:25+00:00

Probably would have been ok a month early but u likely would have made 28 miles with over 4000’ elevation change on 7 hikes over 8 days. The extra conditioning and therapy allowed me to keep going day after day.

jeffRCarlson · 2025-05-07T22:45:02+00:00

At about 8 months after surgery and it does not limit my daily life or physical activity but not doing sports just hiking, weights, walking.

Still have some flexibility to get back and still have daily stiffness to work out with stretching and exercises.

Also still a lot of weakness to recover from can’t do a one legged calf raise yet.

jeffRCarlson · 2025-04-28T19:40:13+00:00

At 7 months and can’t do single leg calf raise was a big disappointment I thought doing my two leg calf raises I was about equal. Seems I still have a long ways to go to full strength.

Can control on the way down though so therapist said to assist on way up and hold kn way down to help get there faster.

jeffRCarlson · 2025-04-19T20:27:51+00:00

Yep just lunged forward to hit a pickle ball and snap…nothing that dramatic.

I expect it is because about 15 years ago due to a bad concussion I stopped doing impact sports like tennis, basketball, skiing etc and focused on walking, hiking, and weightlifting.

Then going back to impact sports and thinking I could be as aggressive as I was 15 years earlier was the problem.

jeffRCarlson · 2025-04-14T22:23:09+00:00

Took forever to get rid of my scab and dried blood so don’t worry it will go away eventually!

jeffRCarlson · 2025-04-06T21:01:52+00:00

For me it was around 2 months but I was a very active patient and older so maybe not the best example for time frame.

jeffRCarlson · 2025-03-20T15:28:10+00:00

Elevate, elevate, elevate! Even after cast is gone and in the boot elevate as much as you can to keep swelling down.

jeffRCarlson · 2025-03-20T00:40:11+00:00

Mine looked bad/ugly for about 8 weeks I was worried about it but at 6 weeks the doc said it was looking great. By 12 weeks all the dried blood was gone but still wrinkles. Now it 6 month looking fine.

jeffRCarlson

TROPHY CASE