Thanks breh...
The ACL and Achilles are different items.
I knew I was gonna get quoted for this even before I read the reply... I was trying to bold the part about ALL ligaments... where it says they never heal on their own and usually you have to take other ligaments to fix them..........
all the other shyt
Surgery
There are two different types of surgeries; open surgery and percutaneous surgery.
During an open surgery an incision is made in the back of the leg and the Achilles tendon is stitched together. In a complete or serious rupture the tendon of
plantaris or another vestigial muscle is harvested and wrapped around the Achilles tendon, increasing the strength of the repaired tendon.
[21] If the tissue quality is poor, e.g. the injury has been neglected, the surgeon might use a reinforcement mesh (
collagen,
Artelon or other degradable material).
In
percutaneous surgery, the surgeon makes several small incisions, rather than one large incision, and sews the tendon back together through the incision(s). Surgery may be delayed for about a week after the rupture to let the
swelling go down.
[22] For sedentary patients and those who have vasculopathy or risks for poor healing, percutaneous surgical repair may be a better treatment choice than open surgical repair.
[23]
Rehabilitation
Non-surgical treatment used to involve very long periods in a series of casts, and took longer to complete than surgical treatment. But both surgical and non-surgical rehabilitation protocols have recently become quicker, shorter, more aggressive, and more successful. It used to be that patients who underwent surgery would wear a cast for approximately 4 to 8 weeks after surgery and were only allowed to gently move the ankle once out of the cast. Recent studies have shown that patients have quicker and more successful recoveries when they are allowed to move and lightly stretch their ankle immediately after surgery. To keep their ankle safe these patients use a removable boot while walking and doing daily activities. Modern studies including non-surgical patients generally limit non-weight-bearing (NWB) to two weeks, and use modern removable boots, either fixed or hinged, rather than casts. Physiotherapy is often begun as early as two weeks following the start of either kind of treatment.[
citation needed]
There are three things that need to be kept in mind while rehabilitating a ruptured Achilles: range of motion, functional strength, and sometimes orthotic support. Range of motion is important because it takes into mind the tightness of the repaired tendon. When beginning rehab a patient should perform stretches lightly and increase the intensity as time and pain permits. Putting linear stress on the tendon is important because it stimulates connective tissue repair, which can be achieved while performing the “runners stretch,” (putting your toes a couple inches up the wall while your heel is on the ground). Doing stretches to gain functional strength are also important because it improves healing in the tendon, which will in turn lead to a quicker return to activities. These stretches should be more intense and should involve some sort of weight bearing, which helps reorient and strengthen the collagen fibers in the injured ankle. A popular stretch used for this phase of rehabilitation is the toe raise on an elevated surface. The patient is to push up onto the toes and lower his or her self as far down as possible and repeat several times. The other part of the rehab process is orthotic support. This doesn’t have anything to do with stretching or strengthening the tendon, rather it is in place to keep the patient comfortable. These are custom made inserts that fit into the patients shoe and help with proper pronation of the foot, which is otherwise a problem that can lead to problems with the Achilles.[
citation needed]
To briefly summarize the steps of rehabilitating a ruptured Achilles tendon, you should begin with range of motion type stretching. This will allow the ankle to get used to moving again and get ready for weight bearing activities. Then there is functional strength, this is where weight bearing should begin in order to start strengthening the tendon and getting it ready to perform daily activities and eventually in athletic situations.
[24][25]
), Nic Batum (
