Amanda Sobhy Ruptures her Achilles Tendon During a Squash Match
Amanda Sobhy is America’s top female squash player, ranked in the top 10 in the world. Unfortunately, at the age of just 23 years, this past week she ruptured her left achilles tendon during a squash match. Ms. Sobhy has authored a great article on her achilles tendon rupture experience in Colombia.
Interestingly, when she fell down on the floor, her first thought was that her opponent (who was next to her, as is typical during squash games) had kicked her. I had a similar experience when during my achilles tendon rupture, I thought that my badminton doubles partner had kicked me in the calf region.
Young NFL Prospect Sidney Jones Ruptures his Achilles Tendon
Even more surprising, young 21 year old NFL cornerback prospect Sidney Jones recently ruptured his achilles tendon. Subsequently, he had repair surgery with renowned orthopedic surgeon Dr. Robert Anderson (who has also performed the same operation on a number of other professional football players over the years). Sidney Jones is confident that he will come back from this setback in 2017, and remain the best NFL cornerback prospect. More here.
An important new literature review of achilles tendon rupture treatment found that surgical versus nonsurgical treatment produced essentially similar outcomes. The injection of platelet rich plasma (PRP) at the injury site was not found to have any clear benefits. The lead author of this latest report was Dr. Anish Kadakia, associate professor of orthopaedic surgery at Northwestern University-Feinberg School of Medicine in the US.
Some of the other interesting findings:
Recent research has found that there is no difference in re-rupture rates between functional rehabilitation versus minimally invasive surgical repair of achilles tendon ruptures.
In the long term, patients undergoing functional rehabilitation saw similar outcomes in comparison to those opting for surgical treatment when it comes to ankle range of motion; strength; calf circumference; or functional outcome scores.
However, patients undergoing surgery did have a small but statistically significant increase in plantar flexion strength at one and two years after surgical repair. This would make surgery potentially advantageous for high-performance athletes.
I have no idea what to say anymore when it comes to the national football league (NFL) and achilles tendon ruptures this season.
Last week, Atlanta Falcons linebacker Sean Weatherspoon (age 28) ruptured his right achilles tendon last, while the San Francisco 49ers’ linebacker NaVorro Bowman (age 28) ruptured his left achilles tendon.
The unlucky Mr. Weatherspoon already ruptured his left achilles tendon in 2014 and missed the whole season.