Achilles Tendon Recovery: 9 Week Post-Surgery Follow-up

As I heal from this surgery, my ankle and foot are slowly waking up. There are lots of expected ouchies that I’m dealing with. And, the one issue that I believe to be at the root of the rupture is now in full focus.

February 20, 2025

I had my nine-week follow up visit to the surgeon today. It was initially scheduled for next week. Since I’ve been having the ongoing issue with the front of my ankle, I decided to come a week early. Also, my progress has been pretty fast, so nine weeks for me is like ten or more weeks for others.

Follow-up visits go quickly. These docs have a full schedule and they are trying to stay on time. My appointment was the first of the day. He was fresh and I was ready with my report.

I gave the doctor the quick rundown of my progress. Physical therapy is going well. I’m doing double heel raises with just a little favoring of the good side. I’m starting the single heel raise with lots of support. The real issue now is the pain in the front of my ankle. Since long before the injury, this has been an issue. I told him of my suspicions that it was a factor in why the Achilles ruptured.

I told him that I’ve been using the diclofenac sodium gel (Voltaren) for about a week, per my PT’s recommendation. The jury is still out as to it’s effectiveness. Regardless, I’m still using it regularly.

Impressions

He said the pain could be from a few different things:

• Nerve impingement
• Arthritis (mirrored by my PT as a possibility)
• Bone spur, which is often caused by arthritis. This could be shaved down arthroscopically. This is common in athletes who do a lot of high impact landings. That tracks.

He referred me to the foot and ankle specialist in the practice for a consult in 2-3 weeks. Since I’m still healing from the Achilles surgery, I wouldn’t have another procedure for at least another six weeks. Fair enough. I made the appointment for 2.5 weeks.

Overall, he was impressed by the healing progress from the surgery.

• The scar is doing great. Still a little sensitive, but that’s to be expected.
• He didn’t feel any swelling in the tendon or the front of the ankle.
• Dorsiflexion looked really good.

He said I was on the right side of the bell curve. Meaning, I’m ahead of the curve. Now, I have no future appointments scheduled with him. If there’s an issue, I can always call and make one.

Future progress

I asked him when he thought I might be able to get back on the trampoline for light jumping. He said probably in another six weeks, at the four month mark. That’s the beginning of April. That’s reasonable. It’s actually sooner than I thought. He seems confident both in his surgery and my healing process.

For now, I continue to rehab the Achilles. I am looking forward to getting some answers and hopefully relief for the front of my ankle. I hope the root cause can be addressed. If it is, I will feel less fearful about returning to my gym activities. Time will tell.

Recovering from Achilles Tendon Rupture: A Personal Timeline has the whole timeline from the beginning of my injury. It covers the progress and issues I've dealt with throughout the process. Also, there are links to the longer, more detailed articles about my experience. It's a wealth of information for anyone going through a similar situation.

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