Medications

You can use medicine to relieve pain from Achilles tendinopathy or an Achilles tendon rupture. The medicine may be prescription or nonprescription.

• Acetaminophen can relieve pain. One example is Tylenol.
• Nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) are also often used to treat pain from Achilles tendinopathy or rupture. But because most tendon problems do not involve inflammation, NSAIDs are not usually needed. NSAIDS include ibuprofen (Advil, Motrin) and aspirin. Do not give aspirin to anyone younger than 20 because of the risk of Reye syndrome.
• Corticosteroid injections, which sometimes are injected around tendons or into joints to reduce pain and inflammation, are not used to treat Achilles tendinopathy, because they may increase the risk of a tendon rupture.

Surgery

Achilles tendinopathy

Surgery usually is not needed to treat Achilles tendinopathy. But in rare cases, someone might consider surgery when rubbing between the tendon and the tissue covering the tendon (tendon sheath) causes the sheath to become thick and fibrous. Surgery can be done to remove the fibrous tissue and repair any small tendon tears. This may also help prevent an Achilles tendon rupture.

Achilles tendon rupture

Surgery is often used to reattach the ends of a ruptured Achilles tendon. It provides a better chance of preventing the tendon from rupturing again compared to using a cast, splint, brace, walking boot, or other device that will keep your lower leg from moving (immobilization).³

The results of surgery for an Achilles tendon rupture are best when you have the surgery soon after your injury. Recovering from surgery may take months, and it requires a rehabilitation (rehab) program to help heal and strengthen the tendon.

Surgery Choices

Surgery for an Achilles tendon rupture can be open or percutaneous.

• In open surgery, the surgeon makes a single large incision in the back of the leg and stitches the torn tendon back together.
• In percutaneous surgery, the surgeon makes several small incisions (rather than one large incision) and stitches the torn tendon back together.

What To Think About

The differences in age and activity levels of participants can make it difficult to determine if Achilles tendon surgery is effective. The success of your surgery can depend on your surgeon's experience, the type of surgical procedure used, the extent of tendon damage, how soon after rupture the surgery is done, how soon your rehab program starts after surgery, and how well you follow your rehab program.

Talk to your surgeon about his or her surgical experience and success rate with the technique that would best treat your condition.

Achilles Tendon Rupture: Should I Have Surgery?