|  | Conditions Treatments | Wounds Injuries

How to Heal From an Achilles Tendon Tear or Rupture

The Achilles tendon is a cord of fibers that connects your calf muscles to the heel. If you stretch it too far or too fast, it can break, and it hurts -- doctors compare it to being kicked or even shot. Healing a ruptured Achilles tendon almost always requires surgery and follow-up therapy.

Instructions

  1. Non-Surgical

    • 1

      Go to the doctor. You can recover from lots of injuries on your own, but this isn't one of them.

    • 2

      Get a walking cast. This allows the ends of the torn tendons to reattach themselves on their own.

    • 3

      Wait. Healing an Achilles tendon with non-surgical treatment sometimes takes longer than it would have with surgical repair, according to the Mayo Clinic.

    • 4

      Go to rehabilitation. Non-surgical treatment requires a therapy program where patients exercise their leg muscles and Achilles tendon. Most patients can do the things they used to be able to do within four to six months, according to the Mayo Clinic.

    • 5

      Proceed with caution. Non-surgical treatment makes it more likely that you will re-rupture your Achilles tendon. Surgical repair may be more difficult if the tendon has been ruptured more than once, according to the Mayo Clinic.

    Surgical Repair

    • 6

      Go to the doctor. She will decide whether you need surgery, and, according to the Mayo Clinic, that decision is likely to be "yes."

    • 7

      Have the surgery. According to the Mayo Clinic, the operation to repair a torn Achilles tendon usually requires the surgeon to make an incision in the back of the lower leg, then stitch the torn parts of the tendon back together. Severely torn tissue may require the surgeon to reinforce the repair with other tendons.

    • 8

      Get the boot. Most patients need to walk in a special boot, cast brace or splint for about eight weeks after the surgery, according to the Mayo Clinic.

    • 9

      Go to rehabilitation. This will involve exercises to strengthen your leg muscles and Achilles tendon. According to the Mayo Clinic, most people recover fully within four to six months.

Wounds Injuries - Related Articles