How Long For Diving After Achilles Surgery

[Diver0823]

All,

I had surgery yesterday to repair a blown Achilles tendon. My wife and I had a 15th-anniversary dive trip scheduled for next week, which obviously we have cancelled. Does anyone know how long approximately it takes to be cleared to dive after a surgery like this? I know it varies based on the individual healing time and how hard you hit rehab (I intend to hit it hard). Just looking for some ballpark estimates or prior experiences. Unfortunately, we need to reschedule our trip now to avoid losing money. Will rescheduling to Thanksgiving be too aggressive? Thanks in advance.

 

[DogDiver]

Get info from a diving physician and clearance to dive. DAN may help you find one.

 

[Scott]

I had a friend diving with me in Roatan a few years ago that tore his on an entry on the second day. He dived the rest of the week with some support wraps, being careful on the ladder and dof an doning gear in the water.
He was using fins in a pool about 10 weeks later. I don't know if the continued diving created more damage and that was the reason for the 10 weeks or not. Your surgeon would be best to provide that answer.

 

[RyanT]

You really need some medical advice rather than internet advice here. Ask your physician/PT about it. Diving really isn't any more strenuous than something like brisk walking. Once you are cleared for normal activity, you should be fine. Again, ask your medical professionals though.

 

[tomfcrist]

Probably long enough for it to physically heal...then the real recovery which depends on age/health...so I’d guess 3 months to two years.

 

[Dan]

Sorry to hear your blown Achilles’ tendon. I was in similar situation 6 years ago. 5 month recuperation is more than enough.

I severed my left Achilles’ tendon & had surgery done on 4/18/2012. I supposed to do 20 miles hike on Inka trail to Machu Picchu in May that year (a month later). So obviously that got postponed to October (6 months later).

That didn’t stop me from going diving 3 months after the surgery. My first dive after the surgery was on 7/25/2012. I just made sure to not finning too much with the left leg.

2 years later I hiked up Kilimanjaro with it. Made 400+ dives since then without any problem. In fact its diameter probably twice as big as my right one. It looks pretty beefy & stout. It makes my right Achilles’ tendon looks weak & flimsy.

Here is what it looks now after 6 years.

 

[Youngandfree]

It all depends. My buddy damaged his stepping in a hole heel first. It didn't pop completely after 3 surgeries, one to repair it, one to lower the attachment to his calf to lessen the tightness, and one to scrape away scar tissue, they finally decided to replace it. Over 4 years, a dozen casts and several boots, he's almost back to walking his mail route for a full 8hr day.

Do everything the doc says, wear the boot, don't do crap you shouldn't like my buddy did and wonder why it never healed properly.

 

[JohnnyC]

It's really gonna depend on your prognosis after your first few PT sessions. If you can, go to a sports physio, not just a regular rehab place. Sports medicine (in general) is going to get you back in action faster. It's gonna hurt more, and you're gonna hate it a lot more, but that's the fastest way to get better.

This comes from both my own personal experience with rehab, as well as working with a bunch of physios that run the employment gamut from professional sports teams to Olympics to Cirque du Soleil.

 

[jaybeegee]

Sorry to hear your blown Achilles’ tendon. I was in similar situation 6 years ago. 5 month recuperation is more than enough.

I severed my left Achilles’ tendon & had surgery done on 4/18/2012. I supposed to do 20 miles hike on Inka trail to Machu Picchu in May that year (a month later). So obviously that got postponed to October (6 months later).

That didn’t stop me from going diving 3 months after the surgery. My first dive after the surgery was on 7/25/2012. I just made sure to not finning too much with the left leg.

2 years later I hiked up Kilimanjaro with it. Made 400+ dives since then without any problem. In fact its diameter probably twice as big as my right one. It looks pretty beefy & stout. It makes my right Achilles’ tendon looks weak & flimsy.

Here is what it looks now after 6 years.

View attachment 463123

Hello @Dan and greetings from Malta (Europe).

Thank you for sharing this post which makes interesting reading as I am very much in the same situation having ruptured by achilles tendon in early-Jan23 - a non op recovery and now in aoot (week 5 out of 8) after a week in plaster. I feel I am doing very good progress and able to hobble around without crutches with now practically little to no swelling. I am hopeful that in my next visit to the ortho doc he will remove the last of the wedges and then spend two weeks in the boot with a flat foot to start a rehab.

I miss being in the water big time and concerned about my mental health - I used to dive very regularly pre-injury - typically a shore dive once a week in the winter and twice a week on a boat dive during the summer months.

Appreciate it differs from person/injury to person/injury but 3months must have been a record - good job! Was this in accordance with the docs advice?

Can I just ask if you dont mind was it straight into scuba diving or did you swim in the pool (without any diving equipment) before with or without fins?

I imagine you did a series of strenght training/exercises in the period between when you removed the boot until you go into the water or not? Can you share any insights of what it consisted of if any?

Just wondering did you have a problem carrying the equipment or did you kit up in the water?

What about your fining style - did you have to switch to frog/breast stroke type?

Did you try different types of fins?

thanks so much in advance for taking the time to respond.

jay

 

[noserider]

I snapped mine about 5 years ago and went op route, in hindsight a mistake as found out about loads of horror stories regarding infections, multiple ops, years of issues etc etc when it goes wrong, although I was fine and had a great surgeon, non-op carries far less risks with almost identical outcome.
You are at most risk when the boot comes off and many rupture again during the first 4 weeks after the boot comes off normally due to an overly aggressive exercising (weeks 8-14 or so). My advice is get weight bearing as soon as possible in the boot, get some hydrotherapy as soon as you are allowed (really important to get movement back in), make sure you have a physio who has experience in Achilles ruptures and spend 6-9 months doing exercises (got to love those single leg raises) then you will be back strong again. But be careful on rocky shores until the ankle is stable and strong.

I was diving about 9 months later and have never noticed the achilles under water, surfing was a bit harder but I got there and after 14 months could cycle 100 miles in just over 5 hours. Yoga a couple of times a week has also really helped.

I am back to almost perfect now, still stiff some mornings and if there is a swell may pass my tanks up to the dive boat as I feel a little unstable on a ladder in a swell, however I think this is physiological as I snapped it on a boat in Kenya.

There is a strong facebook group called Achilles Tendon Rupture which is a mine of great info, if you can wade through the normal rubbish