Posted on 02/18/2024 8:54:17 PM PST by ConservativeMind
An Achilles tendon rupture typically means surgery for many patients.
A research team led by Laurence Ge, M.D. looked at the difference in outcomes of those treated with and without surgical procedures for their Achilles tendon ruptures in young adults.
While surgical Achilles tendon repairs reattach the torn tendon to help the torn pieces fuse together again, there is a rehab protocol that can avoid surgery. This protocol involves the patient flexing their foot down to help bring the pieces of the tendon close together during scarring, creating the same effect a surgical procedure would have.
The study looked at patients between the ages of 18 and 30 who are not athletes to assess their outcomes from both types of treatment for ruptured Achilles tendons.
"Patients under 30 years of age will typically receive a surgical repair when their Achilles tendon is ruptured due to being more physically active," said Ge. "However, our research showed that there is little difference between surgical repair and rehabbing the ruptured Achilles tendon when it comes to ability to function."
The findings provide more treatment options for these patients.
"We hope that this will help reassure patients and physicians about the outcomes of non-surgical repairs for ruptured Achilles tendons," said Ge. "Regardless, it is always important to discuss with your physician what is best for you when it comes to these types of injuries."
(Excerpt) Read more at medicalxpress.com ...
PT helped wonderfully well when I was having rotator cuff issues.
I know it doesn’t help in all cases, but mine was not serious enough for surgery by any means so trying it was my only option, and the one I preferred anyways.
Took care of it 100% with NO relapse for years now.
THe body can heal from many things given the opportunity.
Has everybody forgotten about the midnight ritual with the eye of newt mixed with wolfbane on a full moon night?
Ask Aaron Rogers or Dre Greenlaw. Cost em’ both a Super Bowl.
I had a torn one in the 90s
8 weeks didn’t heal it
Another 8 weeks after surgery and a cast and then physical therapy
That summer sucked except for having access to a buddies big fancy pontoon boat whenever I wanted
Seems like a fully ruptured tendon would have trouble fusing back together right without a few stitches to align the torn ends. But i guess these findings show otherwise.
For many young athletes, their Achilles’ heel is their Achilles’ heel.
I would also think younger people with a generally stronger/faster repair system would bemore likely to have this method work too.
that’s an old treatment for achilles heel cord rupture. Wear very high heels for months. (or a cast that keeps your foot in that position for 6 to eight weeks.)
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2684209/
By the way: these ruptures might be getting more common because some antibiotics (e.g. Cipro) weaken the connective tissue.
https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/achilles-tendon-rupture/symptoms-causes/syc-20353234
A ruptured tendon is one thing.
A ruptured tendon, full detachment is a different ballgame altogether.
Okay, I see, so “ruptured” doesn’t necessarily mean fully detached or torn through. It can just be partial detachment from the bone. In that case, the tendon would be aligned and would just need to get into contact with the bone to knit back together. I guess I can see how this less invasive method would work then. The body’s powers of self repair are amazing.
Several years ago I tore my achilles tendon. While it was not a complete rupture it was badly torn. My doctor recommended surgery at the time. After asking a number of questions I found out that re-rupturing the injury was common after surgery. I opted to do the EPAT treatment instead over that summer along with physical therapy. No medications are allowed during this time as it will interfere with the bodys natural healing response. Not fun! It took some time to fully heal but I’m glad I did not have the surgery.
When they say parcel detachment I’m not sure if they go in and suture that partial back into place. Ruptured to me means trauma, Detachment means it’s been pulled away or snapped from its bone attachment. What they do when you have a full detachment (and perhaps a partial detachment) is to suture the tendon back on to the bone. Tendons have blood flow albeit a small amount of nourishment and once sutured in place the tendon will “root” back into its anchoring point.
Ligaments do not have blood flow, when the ACL snaps, a cadaver ligament is screwed into place. The recovery time is much less than a tendon which has to take about 6 weeks to reestablish the rooting. At 6 weeks PT can commence but the affected tendon is far away from prime time.
“PT helped wonderfully well when I was having rotator cuff issues.”
There are many types of “rotator cuff issues” as the term rotator cuff indicates a location of a group of muscles and tendons, sometimes it’s osteoarthritis flare-ups and the tendons not being in good enough condition to stabilize the humerus which rubs against the collar bone and produces the pain experienced.
I thought for sure I had once ripped my tendons and that was the cause of my rotator cuff pain or correctly stated as the pain I was experiencing in the region of the rotator cuff. An x-ray revealed osteoarthritis and it was determined that my tendons needed conditioning, so off to PT I went and strengthened those tendons and muscles that are attached to my shoulder blade and which thread through my collarbone in two different places to attach to the head of the humerus. Once that was done 2X for 8 weeks, with “homework” my movement was much better and another few exercises were added to my daily PT regimen which has developed over the course of several mechanical issues in knees, ankles, wrist and now shoulder.
The way I understand it if your arm is dangling and you are absolutely unable to move it you have a ruptured tendon and it is detached away from either your scapula or the distal end of your humerus which means it has to be reattached surgically.
Luckily and I think for the most part, shoulder injuries at the location of the rotator cuff are caused by weak muscles at the scapula (shoulder blade).
I’m guessing mine was more muscular then as I couldn’t recall doing anything that injured my shoulder.
My next door neighbor had rotator cuff issues and tried PT and it didn’t help her at all. I realize the severity of the condition and type of injury plays a big role in it.
But for some, trying PT before surgery could be beneficial.
That all makes sense to me. I just scanned the article and it never says whether this new therapy is intended for a full or partial rupture. I can’t imagine it working with a full rupture because there would be nothing to align the surfaces that need to make contact. But with a partial rupture everything would still be lined up, so when you flex the foot forward the surfaces would sort of automatically make contact. So my peanut gallery guess is this method is meant for a partial rupture.
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