The bottom line
Joe Castellano was walking four weeks after surgery for a ruptured Achilles, when he wasn't expected to walk until week six or seven. He did his physical therapy with us at Thrive in Monmouth County, NJ. About six weeks in, he expected to leave the walking boot within a week and be fully back before four months.
- Joe Castellano
- Works out daily
- Walking
- Week 4, not 6–7
- Boot off
- In about a week
- Goal
- Back by 4 months
An Achilles rupture at work
Joe ruptured his Achilles, the tendon that connects his calf muscles to his heel bone, on September 3, during a running test at work. He works out every day, so for him, he says, it was devastating.
The older surgery for a rupture meant a seven- to nine-month recovery. Joe had a newer procedure, the SpeedBridge technique, with a four-month recovery.
Four weeks off his foot
For four weeks Joe couldn't put any weight on his foot, walk or drive, and he was stuck in the house.
He followed his doctors' instructions and started an intense post-surgery rehab program with us, with a lot of mobility work.
“Being stuck inside in the house, not being able to drive for four weeks was mentally debilitating.”
How we rebuilt his strength
For a couple of weeks, our physical therapist focused Joe's sessions on single-leg strength and single-leg stability.
Joe still had knots in his calf and along his Achilles tendon, so we also used instrument-assisted soft tissue mobilization. The instrument lets us get deeper into the tissue, to work out the small adhesions that form in the muscle fibers as he exercises. That keeps the tissue pliable, so he can build strength through his whole range of motion and get back to running and jumping.
Joe says we pushed him to his limits. He was doing things he didn't think he could do, and things he'd been afraid to do, because his physical therapist made him believe he was strong enough.
Walking at week four
Joe has been walking since week four, when he wasn't supposed to walk until about week six or seven. He has no pain, he says he's about a month ahead of schedule, and he's back in the sauna for the first time in six weeks.
In about a week the walking boot comes off and he moves into normal shoes. He expects to be fully back before the four-month mark. He credits listening to his doctors, a good diet and all of us at Thrive.
Key takeaways
- Joe Castellano was walking four weeks after surgery for a ruptured Achilles, two to three weeks before he was supposed to start walking at week six or seven.
- Joe had his ruptured Achilles repaired with the SpeedBridge technique, a newer procedure with a four-month recovery instead of the seven to nine months of the older surgery.
- After Joe's Achilles surgery, his physical therapy with us at Thrive covered mobility, single-leg strength and stability, and instrument-assisted soft tissue mobilization to keep his calf and Achilles pliable for running and jumping.
- About six weeks after his injury, Joe expected to be out of his walking boot within a week and fully recovered before the four-month mark.
