Achilles Tendon Contracture Repair

[shveddy]

Or at least that's what I think it's called.

So I'm six months post now and my left foot dorsiflexion is pretty bad. I suspect that I have enough muscle strength to lift my foot however I also suspect that the tightness in my achilles tendon/calf is keeping me from lifting it up all the way.

I thought that bracing it at 90 degrees while I slept was enough, but it seems that so much time with my foot stuck at a right angle has allowed the achilles tendon to contract to the point where it starts exerting resistance that opposes my dorsiflexion a couple of inches before I can lift it up to 90 degrees.

When I feel my calf, I can feel a few large lumps of super-tight muscle and that is a bit concerning to me.

Now I know I could deal with this surgically, but I think that that is premature at this time so I'm looking for non-surgical solutions.

I spend like half an hour a day stretching it, and I massage it a lot (though I'm not sure if massage really does anything).

Any ideas? Have any of you guys dealt with the same problems?

[graybeard]

Dealt with this exact problem......and I got a load of info to share with ya.
TAL-SPLAT procedure done to help my left foot.

mj23 has a thread on this procedure.

The surgery can accomplish relief, but bear in mind that there will also be drawbacks.

Bottom line- you will gain range of motion (ROM) for the ankle, you will lose some strength in your calf muscle, and you will deal with some pain from the procedure.

Some tricks to try before deciding on surgery? Stretching that you mentioned, use a standing frame with the feet pads pointed upward to stretch the achilles tendon, use a Dyna-splint ($2800) at night to keep the tendon stretched, Try a Lidicaine injection in the calf muscle, this simulates a TAL procedure. Thats jus off the top of my head...will add to the list if I can think of anything else.