Tearing your Achilles tendon is a major injury that may require surgery. While some people can recover from an Achilles rupture without surgery, some will require surgery in order to return to highly ballistic and plyometric sports like gymnastics and olympic weightlifting.
Stacie Barber, PT is a physical therapist, nationally competitive weightlifter, recreational gymnastics, and PT practice owner of The Physio Fix sustained a full rupture of her Achilles tendon at her first annual holiday party. While this injury was devastating emotionally and physically, it did not happen during her chosen sport, but rather during a Ninja Warrior holiday party!
After the shock of the injury wore off, Stacie connected with an orthopedic surgeon regarding her options for recovery. Just three days after the injury Stacie underwent surgery and returned to work two days later. The main factor in deciding to go the surgical route for the Achilles rupture was that there was a 9 cm gap between both ends of the torn tendon and no overlap when she was put in full plantar flexion. This meant that there was little opportunity for the tendon to heal itself.
In this episode of the PRS Podcast, Dr. Stacie Barbell shares the story of her recovery after the surgery, how she continued to train and maintain her strength the whole time, and the process by which she returned to olympic weightlifting and gymnastics after the Achilles rupture with surgery.
In this episode we discuss:
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What clinical factors lead to the decision to have Achilles rupture repair surgery
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How her post-op protocol for Achilles surgery varied from the typical protocol and why
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Footwear and assistive devices for Achillies repairs and how they helped/hindered
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Complications she experienced after the surgery and the process to address them
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How she continued to train without interruption post injury
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How long it took and how she progressed to get back to full ROM, heavy power and olympic lifts
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The timeline and progression for reintroducing gymnastics
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The importance of asking for help
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Insurance processes for covering the pre-surgical imaging, surgery, and assistive devices post-op
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The benefits of going out-of-pocket for post surgical return to sport physical therapy
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How this surgery changed Stacie as a clinician
Dr. Stacie Barber is the founder and owner of The Physio Fix, which was established in 2017. Stacie received her B.S. in Exercise Science from Illinois State University in 2011 where she was also an NCAA student-athlete, earning several honors in the sport of gymnastics. After undergrad, Stacie went on to become a strength and performance coach, furthering her knowledge of exercise prescription and implementation before pursuing her Doctor of Physical Therapy degree which she obtained from Duke University in 2015.
As a former collegiate gymnast and current Olympic Weightlifter, Dr. Stacie has had her fair share of orthopedic injuries and surgeries (11 surgeries to be exact!), so she understands how detrimental an injury can be for an athlete at any level. Therefore, she spends a lot of time with patients analyzing their movement patterns, identifying deficits, and improving body mechanics to not only fix the current problem but to also prevent further compensations and degeneration.
Get in Touch with Stacie!
Resources Mentioned in this Episode:
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#52 - Functional Anatomy of the Foot & Ankle in Barbell Training with Dr. John Petrizzo, PT, PRSCC, CSCS, SSC
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How to Train with one leg
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The Physio Fix Achilles Protocol Program (for purchase from The PhysioFix)
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Stacie's Achilles Rupture & Repair Blog (1 full year on Youtube)
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