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Sport · Post-injury
Athlete after Achilles or ankle repair
Runners, footballers, weekend hikers. The brief: rebuild the tendon, reload it properly, get back without re-injury.
Runners, footballers, weekend hikers. The brief: rebuild the tendon, reload it properly, get back without re-injury.
Most patients here arrive part-way through a recovery that has stalled — the rehab is plateauing, the calf has not come back, the ankle is still “not right” six months in. The job is to work out what is still healing, what is no longer healing, and what needs different load — surgical, non-surgical, or a different kind of programme.
A careful look at the original injury, the imaging done since, the rehab programme actually followed, and the deficit that remains. Often a calf-circumference measurement, a heel-raise test, a hop battery if appropriate.
Where the gap is — tendon length, calf strength, proprioception, mechanical instability — we write the rehab plan that targets it. Surgery is sometimes the right tool (re-rupture, mechanical instability, large cartilage defect); often it is not.
If surgery is needed, the post-op rehab is sequenced to your sport — not generic. If it is not, you get the loading programme and the milestones to keep you honest. Either way we re-test at the deficit you care about.
Depends on the injury and where you are in recovery. After Achilles repair, a structured return-to-run typically starts in the 3–4 month window with clear strength gates; reaching pre-injury performance is usually 9–12 months. We write the milestones down on day one.
Often, but not always. The decision depends on the gap between tendon ends, your sport, your age and your goals. Some re-ruptures rehab successfully without re-operation; some absolutely need fixing. We talk the trade-offs through, not the marketing.
We see this regularly. A repeat operation is often technically different from the first — ligament reconstruction with tendon graft rather than direct repair, or an osteotomy to fix the alignment that was driving the instability. The plan starts from why the first didn’t hold.
Honestly, sometimes — the goal is to get as close as the biology allows, with a clear-eyed view of what is realistic. We don’t promise full restoration of performance we cannot deliver; we set the target where it should sit.
An unhurried first consultation, a written diagnostic letter within 48 hours, and a clear sense of options — with no obligation to choose surgery on the day.
Last reviewed: by Professor Nima Heidari.
