Jason Saggo

30 Year Old Canadian Jason Saggo Comes Back Into the Cage 1 Year After Rupturing his Achilles Tendon

In March 2015, Candian UFC figherJason Saggo ruptured his left achilles tendon while sparring in the practice ring. The whole unfortunate event was captured on film, including the pop gunshot-like sound. I discussed this event in a post with the video last year.

Luckily, almost 1 year after his injury and subsequent achilles tendon repair surgery, Jason Saggo will return to the UFC cage this week to fight American Justin (J-Bomb) Salas.

From the above linked article, I loved this quote from Mr. Saggo:

“It feels like somebody has a bat and they hit you from behind,” he said. “It sounds like a shotgun going off or like a balloon exploding … At the time I had no idea (what it was), just a surging pain at the back of my leg. You feel your calf muscle kind of rolling up. It was quite painful at the time.”

This type of description is so common among people who go through this terrible experience. Mr. Saggo also added the following, which I am not sure is necessarily true:

“It actually comes from years and years of training before — like box jumps and stuff and putting a lot of stress on the Achilles tendon.”

Good luck in the upcoming fight and in your future Jason Saggo!

Achilles Tendon Re-rupture, Thomas Sirk

Duke Quarterback Thomas Sirk Ruptures his Left Achilles Tendon Three Years After Rupturing his Right One

In April 2013, Duke football quarterback Thomas Sirk ruptured his right achilles tendon at the very young age of 19.  Now comes news that he has ruptured his left achilles tendon at the age of 22.  It is quite unusual for people to rupture their achilles tendons before the age of 30.

In fact most everyday people seem to get the injury after the age of 35.  Professional athletes who suffer from this injury typically do so a bit sooner, usually anywhere from their late 20s to their late 30s.

So the case of Thomas Sirk is very unusual, especially since he got unlucky twice. Similar to the case of Terell Suggs, although at a much earlier age.

In any event, Mr. Sirk’s surgery seem to have gone well per his Tweet from a few days ago:

Achilles Rupture Recovery, Elastography, Karin Silbernagel

Professor Given Grants to Explore Achilles Tendon Rupture Recovery

University of Delaware researcher and assistant professor Karin Silbernagel has been given two grants to explore the recovery process after achilles tendon ruptures. The first grant is from the Foundation for Physical Therapy and the second on is from the Delaware Biotechnology Institute. Her research team is presently recruiting participants for an observational study on tendon rupture or damage recovery. Silbernagel is hoping to figure out the answer to two key question:

  • Why is there such a large variation in final recovery outcomes?
  • What differs between patients who do really well and those who do not do so well?

In Silbernagel’s upcoming study, participants will receive Fitbits to measure their activity levels during the early post-rupture crucial months for recovery. Since protecting the rupture site is so important, the researchers will look at the mechanical properties of the tendon through elastography, which maps the elastic properties of soft tissue. During this procedure, the tendon is vibrated and then studied through ultrasound.

Silbernagel’s work will heavily focus on the first 8 to 12 weeks after an achilles injury, the crucial period for tendon healing. In her own words:

“If we can identify which changes in mechanical properties is an indication of who does well or not, then we don’t have to wait six months to a year [post-injury] to do studies anymore. If the activity level has anything to do with it, then we as physical therapists could be a lot more proactive early on.”

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