Achilles Tendon Recovery: Five Weeks Post-Op Progress

It’s now five weeks after the surgeon repaired my Achilles tendon. Here, I’m sharing what I have found to be my next steps in a long recovery process. Read to the end for some pro-recovery tips.

January 23, 2025

At my four week follow-up last Thursday, the surgeon gave me the okay to hobble a bit without the boot. Since then, I’ve been doing the Frankenstein’s bride walk all over the house.

I even got myself some sweet new orthopedic slippers to help support my plantar fascia as I amble about.

This past Monday, four weeks and five days post surgery, I went to PT. I didn’t know what to expect with regard to progression. I told my therapist what I was doing at home:

Lots of Theraband range of motion exercises
Frankenstein hobble around the house in bare feet and slippers (see pic above)
Stepping on my vibrating massage ball to loosen the plantar fascia
Seated heel raises (no weight)

He did the usual range of motion, isometrics, painful massage of various places on the foot, ankle and leg. Scar tissue mobilization ouchies: check. Plantar fascia pressure torture: check. It seemed he wasn’t comfortable moving me forward quite yet.

Until the end of the session.

As I got off the table, he told me to try standing heel raises on two feet. I held onto the table for balance and slowly cranked out about 15 of them. The back of my ankle was certainly sore and felt weak, and I heavily favored my good leg. But, I was so happy to be cleared to start working on this milestone.

Taking my work on the road

The next day, I had an opportunity to go to my job’s fitness center and do a little rehab:

I spend most of my time at work in a dance studio. You’d think that relevés (dance term for heel raises) would be a piece of cake. Sadly, they are very hard right now. I’m putting a lot more weight on my left side than my right. The next day, my left calf (good leg) was talking to me. Big time. That side needs work too. It’s clear that I haven’t done enough calf strength conditioning in general.

That will change moving forward.

Next steps

For weeks five and six, two goals were set at my doctor visit:

Week 5: Driving. I finally got clearance to drive, and I started taking myself to work this week. I even went out to dinner with friends all by myself. I drive like a grandma right now, staying at or under the speed limit. I’m afraid that my reaction time is a bit slower. I don’t want to have to slam on the break if a deer runs into the road. So, I might annoy a few drivers behind me in the name of safety. So be it.
Week 5: Removing the final boot wedge. I took it out on Tuesday since I had been gingerly walking at home without the boot. It feels much better to walk flat in the boot.
Week 6: Officially transitioning out of the boot into a sneaker. To be honest, I’m already out of the boot at home. Thursday is when I can start wearing the sneaker in the outside world. Soon, I’ll start doing standing work at physical therapy. I’ll keep the boot on at work for a while longer. I tend to move very quickly and sometimes erratically. Best to keep it protected while working. My formal sneaker transition will be very slow-moving anyway.

As slow as this process is, I am definitely seeing steady progress on a daily basis. That’s because I’m being consistent in the work I’m doing every day. I can competently assess my healing and take action or rest accordingly. That’s what keeps my outlook positive. There is a light at the end of a very long tunnel, and I’m in it for the long haul.

In Achilles Tendon Surgery: Four Weeks Post-Op Progress, I talked about making plans and setting goals for recovery. I have some big-picture goals that I’d like to share. I’ll call them my “pro tips”:

Pro tip #1

Stay within the limits. I have to remain very mindful as I start to feel better. Being a “strong woman,” I’m afraid I’ll push a little too hard and re-injure the tendon. I want to keep improving, not backslide.

Pro tip #2

Work my “good” side just as much as the injured side. I think I’ll quickly discover plenty of weaknesses on my left leg. I’m probably lucky both of them didn’t rupture at the same time. It’s time to pay attention to both legs.

Pro tip #3

Maintain the quality of my nutrition and sleep habits. As I continue to work full weeks, I know how exhausted I get. Being injured just makes life more complicated. At 53, there’s no shame in going up to bed at 9 p.m. Or 8 p.m. If it means I wake up somewhat bright and shiny, so be it.

I keep reminding myself that recovering from an Achilles tendon injury is a very long-term process. Though my progress has been great, I can’t take for granted the severity of this injury. Patience must be at the forefront every minute of every day.

In my next post, I’ll be sharing some of the best practices that have greatly helped my recovery.

Thanks for continuing to follow this journey. I’ll continue to keep you up to date as I move through each week! Subscribe (for free!) to get automatic updates whenever I post a new article.