Tenex Procedure

 I've been having a lot of pain from my Achilles Tendon, I mean a lot-when I got off work some days, it was a struggle to make it out to my car. Going up and down stairs was just killing me! I had x-rays, and an MRI and then Ultrasound and they all agreed that I needed to do something. The choices pretty much were 1. go have a major invasive surgery that cuts out the Achilles tendon and then reattaches it and maybe use some tendon from somewhere else to fix it, and be out of work for about 6 months or more or 2. go have a Tenex procedure that uses soundwaves to remove the calcification and bone to relieve the pain and be out for about 3-4 weeks.  So, on the 20th I went and had a Tenex procedure to fix my calcified Achilles Tendon and fix my Haglund's deformity.  (That Haglund's thing is a bone that's growing out and poking into the Achilles tendon-it hurts pretty bad.) The U of Iowa department of Sports Medicine has this procedure and I was surprised at how easy it was!

Web MD Tenex Here's a link that kind of explains what the Tenex procedure does. This is day one. They actually only made 3 small incisions to insert the tool in there to remove the calcification and Bone .

I have a little bit of bruising and a little bit of swelling, but honestly it doesn't hurt really at all....well I'm still pretty numb from the local anesthesia, but really not in pain at all.

I can tell you it's hard to take a picture of the back of your foot!

So here's day two. Still no pain really. The worst pain is from the boot.  I don't have a photo of the boot....yet....hang on.

Anyway, day two feels good, looks good-I mean what I can see anyways.

Here's day three, looks the same as the day two to me.

I was put in a boot after the procedure and I'm supposed to keep it on for two weeks. I can take it off the sleep and to shower, so that's good. But that boot is hard to get snugged on tight enough to not slip up and down on my heel. 

Here's day 5. Still looks good and really no pain at all. The boot is actually the painful part.

I can see one of the incisions and it looks good-healing nicely.

And here's the boot. 

I should call it the HAIRY boot-it's pretty much covered with dog hair because my fella thinks he needs to be touching the boot all the time.

Ringo seems to know it doesn't belong here! 

SO that's where we are with the foot fix. I'm feeling pretty confident that this will work out well. I go back on the 9th and then I have physical therapy on the 10th for a week-hopefully less!