Daily Mobility Exercises by Dr. Kelly Starrett › Forums › Foot/Ankle › Achilles ROM after rupture surgery

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    • 07/18/2015 at 11:22 am #71414
      AvatarSimon Molyneux
      Participant

      Hi
      I had Achilles surgery 5 years ago
      I’m convinced they have overlapped the tendon as it’s definitely shorter than other Achilles, ( there is a distinctive lump on Achilles where the sewing of tendon took place)
      I’ve been trying to mobilize the Achilles and the calf and I get some good range, but it’s when I try to do a pistol things don’t seem to transfer as well, I’m considering getting tendon lengthening surgery to give me more range .. Is that something worth considering or can other parts of my soleus/ Achilles compensate by being over flexible ?

      Another thing to mention is that my motor patterns have been inhibited on my injured Achilles .. I found that my vertical jump and skipping is inhibited in the sense that I don’t feel that elastic recoil when I get ready to jump , I only feel the elastic recoil and stored energy in my non-injured Achilles before a vertical jump

      So I’m convinced along with the ROM being reduced , the elastic-power harnessing-recoil abilities of my Achilles seems to be a downside too , both are ramifications of choosing surgery option 🙁 .. I was 19 years old when I tore it ( it was 2cm tear, no complete rupture ) if only I knew about Kelly starrett back then I wouldn’t have had the surgery, and probably not have torn it .

      So generally I’ve lost lots of performance potential in that limb from lack of ROM & elastic recoil … and I’m not sure which execises to really go for.. Or if it’s worth seeing a physio for if all they do is massage it….

      Also what’s the difference when smashing a tensed Achilles as appossed to a relaxed Achilles ?
      Because I hear K.Starrett say to relax muscle when smashing , but I fell more pain when heel cord is tensed under barbell smash …

      Sorry for long paragraphs thanks for reading 🙂

    • 07/19/2015 at 4:59 pm #76106
      AvatarAnonymous
      Guest

      Have you worked up/down stream of where you are seeing the issue?
      Feeding as much slack to the area as possible.
      Sounds like something you’d want to get another opinion on.

      You don’t want pain when smashing.

    • 07/22/2015 at 1:35 pm #76111
      AvatarSimon Molyneux
      Participant

      Up/down stream , you mean my upper calf and the heel cord below the surgery ?
      I’ve been working on those areas more recently , especially whole calf complex which was quite tight .. If you mean my hamstrings, I don’t smash them much but I do plenty Romanian Deadlifts with light weights , they are flexible but not enough to do the “l

    • 07/22/2015 at 1:43 pm #76112
      AvatarSimon Molyneux
      Participant

      ..”long sit test”

      Ok , so no pain when smashing , when I relax my muscles when I smash on the barbell my feet are more plantar flexed ,

      but I use to try to always smash with feet in Doris flexion because I thought it was better to increase dorsi flexion .. But in a dorsi flexed position , the tendon is quite stiff ,

      am I meant to wait until the stiff tendon gives slack or just completely relax foot into plantar flexion ?

      What’s the difference between smashing a tensed and relaxed muscle? I heard about it having a different affect on the nervous system

      Thank you for your help 🙂

    • 07/24/2015 at 10:48 am #76114
      AvatarAnonymous
      Guest

      Where you see the issue isn’t always where the issue originates.

      When you’re stressed for an extensive period of time, your muscles never
      leave the contraction phase. Eventually, this tension causes pain,
      discomfort, and trouble with mobility.
      You can do PNF with has tension and relaxation phases.

    • 07/27/2015 at 9:20 am #76118
      AvatarSimon Molyneux
      Participant

      Yes thank you, I smashed my whole calf properly and my dorsi flexion range has improved, I’m thinking hopefully I could be so flexible in my calf complex it could compensate for my Achilles overlapping from surgery

      As for my Achilles’ elastic properties being not as able to generate as much power ( most notably in a vertical/lateral jump ) I’m thinking to skip with a rope , as mentioned in Kelly Starretts “ready to run” book, hopefully that will help

      Haha yes I’m always stressed out because of the injury , so it’s very counter intuitive but I’ll try to be more calm

      Yes PNF works very well, but no matter how much I mobilize it, it still feels like something isn’t right , but anyhow I’ll try to sort it out
      .. And I’ll see a doctor/ physio too
      Cheers thanks for help 🙂

    • 08/05/2015 at 7:53 pm #76134
      AvatarSimon Garland
      Participant

      You did not mention if you limp while you run or walk. Forward progression while walking or running is the most important movement  to work on before jumping. This uses the plantar fascia in a organized manner with the Achilles tendon to build usable control of the ankle at it’s end range in plantar flexion. Dorsiflexion range is important but power in plantar flexion is your goal. Sometimes these repairs stretch out over time and the elastic properties, the fast twitch fibers, do not come back. I have seen quite a few repairs of this nature and about half made it back to full scale workouts. Be sure to check the mobility of the ankle joint itself to make sure you are not missing the sliding of the talus to the rear in max dorsiflexion. Loss of mobility of the talus will restrict the pistol and cause the ankle to collapse to the inside. Good luck.

      Tim Daley PT

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