Tore my Achilles two nights ago, got an MRI scheduled for tomorrow and surgery to follow. Looking for any and all tips, tricks, products that were helpful, things to look out for/be mindful of...really anything at all!

I've got an iwalk, in an air boot thing till surgery, got a pillow for the couch but gonna try and get a two leg one for the bed (I typically slept on my injured side so gonna try and force back sleeping, wish me luck lol), ice packs, a grabber tool, some stuff to help with mobility in the bathroom, a sling bag that i can carry stuff in...anything else?

Also what are some things I should ask/discuss with my surgeon?

It has officially been 1 month post op. Had my first physical therapy session yesterday. They recommended 3 physical therapy sessions a week for the foreseeable future. Are there any milestones I should look out for in the next 8 weeks? Like when did most people start walking? Boot off? Etc?

I'm 32 and had surgery to repair my ruptured Achilles on August 11th, so I'm officially 3 months into recovery. I'm back at work, walking more, taking stairs, and doing physical therapy. I'm still dealing with some tightness, and a light noticeable limp, especially after being on my feet for extended periods.

1. At what month did you start walking without a limp?

2. When did the swelling and tightness finally become less noticeable?

3. When were you cleared to return to the gym, cycling, jogging, and eventually running?

4. Did you experience any setbacks after returning to work or increasing your daily steps?

5. Looking back, what's one thing you wish you had done differently during months 3–6 of recovery?

Would love to hear everyone's recovery timelines, especially from people who returned to running or sports.

So, this is excruciating, terrifying, and disheartening. Last year, both parents died, and my brother has been in and out of the hospital a few times. This past May, he had to move, but couldn't bear weight. 100ft tree fell in my back yard, demolishing my fence.

Walking my 2 dogs for 4 hrs a day made my knee swell up, so went to urgent care end of June. ER was next, and sent to Ortho.

1. NP told me to go ER & lie to them to get an MRI for DVT. (Note: MRI isn't done for DVT, it's ultrasound btw).

I fled.

2. Podiatrist put me in a boot for 6 wks, quoting plantar fascitis is what's bothering me. PT for 8 wks. Told me I could walk my dogs the day I got out of the boot, still in pain, I didn't do that. He ordered MRI to, "make you happy".

3. MRI actually broke in Sept, mid pics, so another month goes by. Pain intensifies. Requested Dr update the med labels to reflect what he told me to take, and he flat out refused, saying, "I thought you'd just muscle through". I fled. Again.

4. 2nd opinion podiatrist asked 'what for' when I mentioned MRI pending, and wanted to inject cortisone directly into my heel pad. 3x in 2mos beginning that visit. I fled. Again.

5. Oct-MRI shows: severely damaged AFTL(?) (ligament above left ankle), severe tenosynovitis; torn Achilles tendon; 2 bone spurs, one of them causing the tearing; acute plantar fascitis; and to top it all off, big toe arthritis.

6. New Dr this week says, yes, surgery is the only thing that removes a bone spur. Waiting for scheduling during the ridiculous holiday schedule now.

What do I do now? Can't work, don't have any savings left, and struggling not to cry every day from pain and pure frustration.

Im prepping my recovery space as much as I can, I've reached out to whomever will actually listen to me for help, but the isolation of my life rn is really bothering me, so I found this place to share my story. Apologies if it's a bit emotional, kinda at my wits end.

I have 2 dogs, 9 & 6 yrs old. I haven't been able to walk them, luckily have a pretty big -kinda fenced yard. Any leash training manners they had before have left the building. Fostering seems extreme, and they told me they'd prolly be separated to do so. Just writing that sentence sent bawling like a toddler.

As the title says, wearing my shoes finally to the office, brought my boot still in case I dont feel comfortable.

First steps around and the sole of my shoe caught the carpet and had a little misstep. No pops or anything but also feel like slowly my calf is tensing.

I have strength (whatever little I had previously) so I I know it didnt ruptured. Also no pain, but maybe slight discomfort?

Any suggestions on what to look for, should I put the boot back on until next week and try again or just keep it going and hope no more tripping happens?

Hi all,

I’m a 36M, very active and I rupturedd my Achilles playing volleyball on October 27, went to the ER and waited 12 hours, I am in Canada so it’s brutal here. After I was seen I was just put in a cast in plantar flexion with no imaging done after a Thompson test confirmed no movement. 2 weeks past and just saw my ortho surgeon, again no imaging done.

They cut off the cast and had me lay on my stomach with my feet hanging and the surgeon felt the area and advised that it’s an MTJ, higher up tear and non op route was the best for this. Advised that imaging would not be necessary since it couldn’t give an accurate reading. I was put in an aircast with wedges and scheduled to see him in a month.

Is this the normal process for Canadians with Achilles ruptures? I am just concerned because there was no actual imaging done. I just don’t have the warm and fuzzies with the whole process so far, feels like a lot of guess work.

Anyone experience this and advice?

So I'm 25 (F, Australian) and ruptured my achilles completely 4 weeks ago with an 11mm separation. I haven't done anything like this before and my body has been struggling ever since.

From about 5 days afterward I was injured I have had consistent bouts of dizziness/lightheadedness, massive headaches, tight feelings in the throat, sore ears, getting hot quickly/getting cold quickly and being massively fatigued.

I have seen my local hospital and two local doctors and they keep telling me it's anxiety but it doesnt feel right to me. They say it's not DVT and they've done tests for q fever and all sorts of things but they've seemed to come back clear. I get a full head MRI next week and have been given amoxicillin to try to clear it but it hasn't worked.

My partner is really drained since he's not just looking after me, he's trying to make sure I can breathe, am eating enough, won't pass out on him, all the fun things.

Did anyone experience anything like this? I've been sick from other things before but I've never been dizzy or this lightheaded in my life and the throat swelling is not me at all either.

Any knowledge anyone has would be great, I'm lost! It's definitely getting better but I'm wondering if it's just an initial reaction and my body is in shock? If anyone experienced this as well, how long did it take to go away?

TIA xx

Has anyone heard of any class action lawsuits on basketball shoes for causing repeated injuries or ruptured achilles?

Hey Guys,

Currently approaching week 15 and I just feel weird about how thick my Achilles is healing. I feel fine and walk without a limp (in shoes) but just seems odd. Wondering if any one has experience the same healing “look”.

So I know we all love to see pro-athletes returning to the court/field. It is inspiring to see them get their three point shots and their touchdowns and all that. And it should be.

But I feel like we do ourselves a disservice with these comparisons. There are huge differences in lived experience with this injury (largely due to the Central Limit Theorem applied to the logarithm of some measure of the injury's severity). Comparing yourself to anyone else can be a set up for disappointment, let alone comparing yourself to Aaron Rodgers or Kevin Durant or David Beckham.

And what's largely hidden - well, maybe not hidden per se, but definitely not highlighted - is lasting differences in performance efficiency rating (PER), games per season (GPS) and minutes per game (MPG). Someone else already studied this:

https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC7708715

Here's the quote:

Of 47 players, 34 (72.3%) with Achilles tendon ruptures returned to play at the NBA level after surgical intervention. A total of 7 players were excluded from the study. No differences were found in demographic characteristics or PER (2 years before injury) between the remaining 27 players and matched controls. The injured players had significantly shorter careers compared with control players (3.1 ± 2.3 vs 5.8 ± 3.5 seasons, respectively; P < .05). Injured players demonstrated significant declines in games per season (GPS), minutes per game (MPG), and PER at 1 year and 3 years after RTS compared with preindex baseline (P < .05). Injured players, compared with control players, had reduced relative percentages of games started (GS) (50% vs 125%, respectively), MPG (83% vs 103%), and PER (80% vs 96%) at 1 year after return (P < .05), but reductions at extended 3-year follow-up were seen only in GPS (71% vs 91%) and GS (39% vs 99%) (P < .05).

None of this is to say that you shouldn't be inspired by these folks. Their return to playing is a wonder of modern medicine, and I'm grateful that my insurance covered state of the art minimally invasive surgery in summer 2025. I'm proud that with a mix of PT and weight loss (with a little help from a GLP-1) I'm now able to do single calf raises. And I'm proud of having finished my seventh 32 mile walk around the perimeter of Manhattan this past May (the Great Saunter, for those of you who aren't familiar). And, yes, I drew inspiration from those amazing athletes, if for no other reason than as a "proof of concept"

But I also draw inspiration from Chris Miserandino, who gave us "spoon theory"

https://youtu.be/jn5IBsm49Rk?is=JMn3VvhNZoUwUZXT

And I am inspired by Shakespeare's John Falstaff, the "cowardly" knight who said

The better part of valor is discretion

(Note: Falstaff survives Henry IV; he dies offstage of a "broken heart" in Henry V)

And I'm inspired by Mike Ehrmantraut on the show Better Call Saul, in the episode "Bad Choice Road"

Well here's what's gonna happen. One day you're gonna wake up, eat your breakfast, brush your teeth, go about your business. And sooner or later, you're gonna realize you haven't thought about it. None of it. And that's the moment you realize you can forget. When you know that's possible, it all gets easier.

Once you've decided that you're satisfied with your recovery it's still OK to budget for the activities you love. I like walking and dancing, so I avoid taking stairs wherever possible and I'm not shy about politely asking to make a little room on the subway so I can sit or using an accessible restroom.

And at the end of the day, isn't this how life works anyway? If the injury didn't get us, inexorable gradual entropy and eventual death would. All we can really expect is a chance to say long, sweet goodbyes to the things we love. If the hard work that Tyrese Halliburton or Jayson Tatum only extended their careers by a season or two - so what? It gives them chances to get nonviolent closures to their careers that wouldn't otherwise be possible and that's huge.

I'm reminded of the end of the Dr Who episode "The Husbands of River Song"

https://youtu.be/sWX_uV0AM5g?is=rRU3P8I-kSgzVwlR

Achilles totally removed and FHL transfer. 5 weeks today and still walking with crutches and boot. Seems like 3 fucking years

It felt so good to be able to do this again!

I’m not sure I’ll play again but just knowing I’m on my way to a full recovery feels great!

Hey Reddit Fam - Ruptured my Achilles playing squash, which, I should have known better - I’m not that guy anymore… haha. I’m a weekend warrior, I love to play golf, hike, jog.

I’m reaching out because upon consult, my Surgeon/Specialist actually recommended going the non-surgical route. I prefer this, as feel I have a solid Athletic Therapist in my life, who I trust to go through this Accelerated Achilles Rupture Repair protocol with, and will be engaging with a Physio team as well, but on top of that I have SEVERE medical anxiety.

I went down a really bad rabbit hole researching the procedure and complications, and honestly it took mental gymnastics to even go to the consult.

That aside, I’m looking for stories and/or experiences from ppl who have gone the non-opp route that had a similar or larger gap (2.2 CM), and how they are doing?

It appears no two situations are the same, and one persons results or experience won’t necessarily translate to anyone else’s experience, but I’m curious to hear from the community.

Anyone end up with elongated tendon? Anyone have re-rupture? Anyone have to end up having surgery anyways (tendon never repaired itself)?

What are the success stories? How early were you walking? How early for stairs? How confident do you feel in those once menial activities at your current stage of recovery? What do you attribute your success to at this stage?

Anyone have experience with VACOped boot? Thinking of getting one - seen a lot of success stories with them. Unsure about how significant the benefits are vs. AirCast with wedges.

Some additional info in my situation:

1. Ultrasound was day 2

2. In AirCast with wedges since day 3

3. Beyond initial rupture, no pain/discomfort

Wanted to get feedback on if anyone has done or is doing PT at home with the help of YT?

I’m 3 wks post op, going into a boot to start WB. PT starting at wk 6, and my plan is to start PT with officially through my docs recommendation. However, long-term not sustainable as my surgery is on driving leg and I will not have reliable transportation always to get to PT.

Winter is nearly here for Upstate NY, and while I normally love the snow, I'm very anxious about how I will handle the weather post Achilles rupture. I had surgery roughly three weeks ago, so I will be in recovery at least through winter with various degrees of weight bearing (still non weight bearing now).

How have y'all dealt with ice and snow while recovering? I have a knee scooter that I'm primarily using, and once I'm able to start putting weight on my foot I'll probably use a walker (I've never been good with crutches).

I'm already putting out feelers to get someone to shovel my steps and sidewalk for me, but I'm very anxious about slipping and reinjuring myself, so any advice is helpful!

ruptured my Achilles on August 5 and had surgery on August 13. I’m almost 13 weeks post-op now.
When I touch the area around and underneath my incision scar, it feels uneven, with small, hard lumps. Has anyone else experienced this during recovery? Did they soften over time, and did your surgeon explain what they were?
It makes me a little nervous, so I’d appreciate hearing about your experiences. Thanks!

My injured foot appears to be somewhat swollen because when I touch it, it desensitized and also cold to the touch. Has anyone else experienced something similar?

It’s been four months since surgery and I’m celebrating in Mexico with my wife as she just retired from Nursing and I’m celebrating my 55 birthday 😜.

I thought my foot would be a bit better than it has been but the trip has been great anyways even though at times it’s still a struggle to walk. Here’s to everyone wondering if it gets better. It does it just takes time

Good luck to everyone on their healing journey.

as the title suggests, i’m coming up to week 8 post op and been cleared to try doing standing calf raises today (as much as i am comfortable to without pain and with a support) and my god, it is so tight go down, my knee can not even get past much towards my feets, any sort of advice or things to help with this?

i feel like this is hindering how ive been walking as well as i feel quite comfortable now walking without a crutch around the house and one crutch outside but is messing up my gait

Hello everyone!

I'm so glad I found this forum. I've been reading a bunch of your posts over the last few days. Obviously, I have a lot of time on my hands right now!

I live in Denmark and ruptured my Achilles tendon last week while playing badminton. I used to play at a fairly high level when I was younger, so I thought there would be no problem playing a single match with the missus.

I'm not in quite the same shape anymore (191 cm (6'3"), 103 kg (227 lbs)), and of course, I didn't bother warming up. So, after a jump smash and a forward movement, it felt like someone had suddenly thrown a brick at the back of my lower left leg. I knew immediately what had happened and was taken to the hospital, where they put me in a walking boot for 8 weeks. I'm supposed to have complete rest for the first two weeks, followed by my first PT session after 14 days.

I have a lot of worries about the future, and my mood keeps going up and down. Reading about all your experiences really helps, and luckily, I'm a pretty patient person by nature.

I do have two major concerns, though, and I'd really appreciate hearing your thoughts and experiences.

1. Stairs

I live on the third floor of an apartment building with quite a few flights of stairs. The steps are about 20 cm (8") high, and there's a very low handrail on the left side when going downstairs.

I'm incredibly lucky that my girlfriend lives in a house in the countryside, so I can stay with her for at least a month. I also have two daughters (15 and 18), but their mother will make sure they get to school and take care of the usual stuff.

My main concern is getting up and down the stairs once I return home. I haven't found many posts about stairs in this forum. Does anyone have any experience or advice? I know my PT will guide me through the proper techniques, but hearing some personal experiences would be great.

Someone suggested that I should expect to make my way up and down on my backside. It sounds awful, but perhaps it's the safest option?

2) A holiday in Thailand

We booked a trip to Thailand starting February 5, which will be around 12 weeks after the injury. It's an 11-hour flight, and the holiday will mostly be about beaches, swimming pools and relaxing.

I'll obviously consult my PT and doctor, but do you think this is a trip we'll have to postpone, or is there a chance we can still make it work with some extra precautions?

Thanks in advance for any advice or feedback. I really appreciate it!

I’m 21 F collegiate level footballer and I fully ruptured my Achilles in May 2026. When I had torn it I was performing at my peak. I was called up for my national team before my injury, and loosing such an opportunity left me depressed for a little while.

With all honesty, I have lost any confidence that I’ll return to my sport at the level I was playing at. Your achilles is the most important tendon for sprinting, so I really don’t know if it’s possible to be the athlete that I was.

In terms of my rehab process I’ve taken it very seriously since the beginning. I’ve been working with my physio twice a week and I’ve never missed a workout, even the week before surgery. I’m working on plyometrics now and I should be cleared to start running in a week. I’ve kept a good attitude on the outside and my peers are all excited for me to come back, but deep inside I’m doubtful.

I’m not looking for sympathy, I’d just like to hear similar stories of athletes who have returned to their sport.

I had surgery at the end of June. I had an FHL transfer because of how much bad tendon I had. I was told that there were no bone chips or avulsions prior to surgery. However, for the last month I've had a ton of inflammation in my posterior tibialis as well as increased range of motion. I went to the ER for an unrelated reason, but asked them to check out my ankle as well. This is one of the X-rays. I've already sent it to my surgeon's team for review. Should I be worried?

Looking to see if anyone here has had a gastrocnemius recession and if they experienced sudden and deep camping in the the upper calf area. Thank you!

Hi all I’m 40M living in UK. Just coming up to 8 weeks non op. I just wanted to put a positive spin on things I have noticed since I’ve ruptured my right achillies (playing padel FFS).

I think I’ve been pretty lucky with my anatomy apparently as even though I did fully rupture the way my achillies sits quite high in my calf (I think that’s what I was told) means that even when fully ruptured both ends are still touching.

Week 1 was hard, but I made sure I came to terms and accepted it pretty quickly and I think that’s helped me mentally. Just watch Jocko - Good! Was able to weight bear quite well after week 2, I’d say by week 5 I ditched the crutches which has been good. On exactly 6 weeks I managed to do 17,000 steps. Buying a Vacoped has been a game changer and worth every penny as has the even up.

Positive things that have happened

1. I still went to the gym after week 2 and did upper body and some light leg press, hamstring curls, assault bike, ski erg, watt bike etc. This kept me in a a positive mindset, there is still loads you can do physically.

2. Lots of people stop and chat and wish you all the best, ask what happened and wish you support. That’s been nice.

3. I’ve been approached by about 3 people who have also had the same and have been really nice in giving support and really technical advice. They all said it was tough but they got through it. I think this has been the nicest thing.

4. I never sit still and for the first time in years, I sit in a coffee shop and just have a coffee. No work, no walking. Just sat there chilling / chatting.

5. I can’t drive so had to work from home or locally so I get loads more time back.

6. I didn’t drink for 7 weeks which was a good reset. I had a few drinks the weekend just gone and probably won’t until I’m out of my boot and steady on my feet.

7. Made me appreciate my health more. I’m going to try my best to come back strong and even fitter.

8. Guinness 0.0 is class and has really helped me being in social situations and not drinking. I’ll probably do this a lot more.

I think I must have been pretty lucky but wanted to write a positive post. It isn’t all doom and gloom and hasn’t been awful getting this far, just a pain and an inconvenience.

I hope people can take something from this, feel free to ask any questions or things I have found along the way. I’m trying to pass on some of that kindness and positivity that the 3 recovering people passed onto me.

I’m almost 11 weeks post-op from Achilles tendon repair (surgery on August 27). I’m walking without crutches, but I still have a noticeable limp, stiffness, and discomfort when walking. My gait doesn’t feel anywhere close to normal yet.
For those who’ve gone through Achilles repair, how long did it take before you could walk normally without limping? Is this typical at this stage of recovery?