Some of you will recall that when I returned from Minorca on 4th July I had a burnt foot, despite having worn Factor 50.
Ever since then, I have been telling the professionals that I had badly hurt the back of my calf on the same holiday.
My (usually very good) rheumatologist dismissed it. The pain management consultant told me off saying 'why are you walking like that'?. Last week I was in the hospital physio department and they signed me up for 8 weeks in the physio gym (to get me walking properly).
All the while, the pain was horrible.
On Thursday evening I finally had the ultrasound on my leg that my podiatrist told me I should be demanding. Result - straight to urgent care. I had a full rupture of my achilles tendon. I am now wearing a huge boot while I wait to see the orthopaedic surgeon on Wednesday.
No wonder I was in pain!
The good news is that my PMR hasn't flared again (still on 15mg pred) and my spinal pain is being well managed with pregabalin (and tramadol in extremis).
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Oxford8
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Oh you poor thing! I wish you had been taken seriously from the start. What lazy doctors. I hope the prognosis is good now they’ve identified the significant injury. X
Ouch! I sympathise - I did similar when I was in my 30s - carrying a basket full of washing, stepped off the back door step at a funny angle and yeowch!
I avoided the full monty by recognising my achilles hurt after starting a quinolone antibiotic and looking it up! I hopped to the GP who sent me to A&E - as I was alone it wasn't easy! They said yes, achilles tendinitis and whatever you do don't fall or twist or you will have a rupture for us to sort out.
And as for doctors who ignore pain and think they can see through skin ...
I went to my local hospital on the day I flew home. They were very concerned about my burnt foot but I couldn't get anyone to listen re my ankle/calf injury.
It wasn't until I got to the Physio that the torn Achilles I had was noticed in the Summer , even though I was being treated for a minor fracture in the same area , with the big boot!!
I'd even explained the pain to an Orthopaedic Surgeon and they'd still missed it.
Luckily the boot had helped the Achilles heel without the need for Surgery but I still have to use the wedged boot occasionally now.
Has you boot got a raised heel in it?
Have they discussed the possibility of you having the cast changed to slowly lower the heel through its recovery as part of your treatment ?
I wish you lots of luck , the boot is really heavy and you need to take it off occasionally during the day to rest your leg while it is removable .
I am impressed that you haven't had a Flare .
You must have been Pacing yourself really well , so hopefully , if you do have surgery , the routine you have at the moment will help keep off a future Flare too.
You are one tough lady too. My Achilles has been tweaking for a couple if weeks and I was wimping. Those swat type police boots were recommended after my bil had his surgery and rehab. So far with mine I am RICE. Of course it's my so called good foot.
That's hilarious , that was exactly what I said when I went to the Surgeon , I was really annoyed because it was my good leg!
Keeping your leg raised when you sit down, heel slightly elevated in your shoe and doing very gently slow toe pointing exercises help to start strengthening it and getting the flexibility back again.
The boot has a raised heel. I have been told that I must treat it as if it were a plaster cast and not take it off at all, day or night, until I have seen the orthopaedic surgeon on Wednesday.
It has become my friend because the pain is very much more manageable with it on.
Nasty about your Achilles - I can sympathise ! Mine never actually 'ruptured' but I strained it badly at some point and had terrible nocturnal cramps in it for severalweeks following - & even the strongest painkillers didn't help at all and I got NO sleep!!
Just a couple of things for you to ignore or probably 'discard' as not relevant for you - but I found the 'exercises' a physio gave me exacerbated the pain and made everything worse. This is because they were treating me rather like an 'athlete' who had a 'sports' injury and not like someone in my late 60s on Prednisone which is known to affect the structure of tendons and make them more susceptible to injury. Secondly, I met a woman by chance when I was still hobbling with this injury who was given a boot for a similar injury and she ended up with Deep Vein Thrombosis (DVT) as her foot/leg was so immobilised. While this may not be the case for most people I decided to avoid using a boot and just gradually improved the movement and recovered pretty well. I know yours is ruptured however and so may require different approaches - good luck with all of that !!
That's why it's so hit and miss at the Physio and you do need to remind them what's wrong with you , not push it and tell them when you want to stop and if you know something they ask you to do triggers pain , explain that and say that you don't want to try it yet.
Many of them forget that people with Chronic Pain issues are different to people with injuries or Arthritis and that all exercise needs to be built up slowly within your comfort zone.
I'm lucky now , and have a Physio whom actually evicts people from the therapy room before they think they've done enough as he is all about trying to reeducate people to stop exercising to a point that gives them pain .
Good point about the boot too.
That's why I was told to keep my leg raised and take it off for a while if I was sitting still for some time . DVT precautions while using a boot or cast are important with injuries.
They wanted me to have injections to thin the blood to avoid DVT. I 'm already bleeding under the skin after the slightest scratch/bruise due to the pred so I refused.
I' ve been told to keep hydrated and to tell them immediately if I get any 'strange' sensations in my leg!?!
Dame Judi Dench was talking about when she ruptured her Achilles tendon while rehearsing for the original musical Cats. She accused Wayne Sleep of kicking her in the leg! She said it was agony and was never able to actually perform in Cats. Elaine Page took over and made her name.
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