Foot and Ankle Doctor Blog Space

Achilles Follow Up

Here in our office, we pride ourselves in good patient care, thus proper follow-ups are always a must. With that being said, I feel it is important that we check in with our guy, Mr. Kevin Durant. 

If you have not heard already, he has decided to sign onto the Brooklyn Nets with Kyrie Irving for a shot at the NBA Championship title on their terms. Although much more can be said on the trades, our primary focus is actually on Kevin Durant’s Achilles injury.

As shared before, Kevin Durant suffered an Achilles tear during an intense NBA finals series against the Toronto Raptors. Durant went on to get surgery for this injury. We are pleased to hear that his recovery is going well! However, Kevin Durant is expected to miss this upcoming year’s pre-season, regular season, and maybe even postseason. 

This does not come as a surprise given that it generally takes 9 to 12 months to recover from an Achilles injury–with physical therapy being a crucial component of the process.

Achilles tendon repair surgery comes with risks and physical therapy can help reduce these post-surgery complications. First, it is important to review the risks:

  • Infection at the incision site
  • Average complications of surgery and anesthesia
  • Possible nerve damage
  • Future re-rupture of the tendon
  • Loss or reduced tendon strength
  • Reduced range of motion in plantar flexion of the ankle

The first 3 in this list of risks are minimized with proper surgical technique, which I assure you, is employed with confidence by our surgeons at Foot & Ankle Doctors. The later 3 risks are minimized by adequate follow up physical therapy.

Thinking of Kevin Durant, we imagine and hope his physical therapy to consist of activities such as deep massages, ultrasound heat therapy, stretching and strengthening exercises. We hope that Kevin Durant’s medical professionals are concentrating on aiding his healing with activities that might help increase his blood flow in the lower leg, without overstressing the muscles and tendon. 

We’re sure that he’s being taken care of and there are people to answer all of his anxious questions along the road to recovery. Though if you might have any more questions of your own, try giving our office a call at 1-310-652-3668 to schedule an appointment. We’d be happy to help you!

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