14/01/2026
Back in October, a client came to us for a second opinion. A pedestrian wearing heavy boots had accidentally caught the lower part of his back leg, dragging the chunky sole down his achillies & causing immediate excruciating pain.
He initially sought help from his GP, who referred him to a specialist. Here, having been sent for an MRI, he was categorically told rehabilitation would not suffice, & invasive surgery involving re-attachment was the answer.
Our assessment:
Clinic Director & Musculoskeltal Specialist Kelly Marshall examined the injury/movement patterns of the foot to find there was still function in the affected area.
She disagreed there was a full rupture on this basis & was concerned at the very short space of time that had passed between the injury & decision to operate, given the level of plantar flexion function already present.
She suggested rehabilitation was a viable option, knowing that as a last resort the notion of surgery could be revisited (but once done, not undone!) However, she was confident this scenario would not end in invasive intervention.
Our treatment:
We wrote a 6-week bespoke exercise prescription for our client that included a series of functional movements designed to put strength back into the damaged tissues.
This was not a repeat of the same set of exercises each day, rather a series of different progressive exercises across the days/weeks, specifically to target the range of movement & power needed in what is the bodies biggest tendons (one that demands high forces to enable a user to walk, run, jump).
Our clients' progress was monitored via app based programming, where he was able to speak with Kelly along the journey.
The Outcome: Less than 5 wks into the program, our client had a follow up appointment with his Trauma and Orthopaedic Surgeon, who evaluated the evidence in terms of scans & current function of the foot, to state there was no need for surgery!
'Power' was the key factor in deciding whether surgery was needed or not, & it was the improvement made through carefully designed rehabilitation that had focused on addressing exactly this that changed the narrative!
Key takeaway in comments 🙌🏽
