week 2 · last reviewed 2026-06-08
Achilles surgery recovery: week 2
Clinical procedure: Achilles tendon repair.
what's typical at week 2
Is pain at week 2 of achilles surgery recovery normal?
typical pain · week 2
Across published cohorts, typical pain around week 2 of achilles surgery recovery sits at 0.9/10 (range 0.3–1.8). This week was measured directly in the cited cohort. Typical, evidence-anchored estimate only. It is not medical advice, not a prediction for your body, and not a substitute for your surgeon or clinician.
Measured week · 1 study · Open vs minimally invasive Achilles repair, stratified by immobilization duration (prospective cohort)
weeks 0–2
Weeks 0-2 · boot, heel wedges, early weight-bearing
Most modern protocols use a CAM boot with heel wedges from day one, with immediate partial-to-full weight-bearing under accelerated protocols. Older protocols used a cast for the first two weeks; this is increasingly uncommon.
Pain in this window is measured rather than interpolated. The PMC12255024 cohort reported immediate post-op VAS of 2.4/10 (minimally invasive arms) to 4.8/10 (open repair). By the end of week one the mean had fallen to about 2/10 (range 0.7-3/10). By week two the mean was about 1.8/10 with a wider range driven by the no-immobilization subgroup.
Sleep is the dominant complaint of the first week — the boot is uncomfortable for sleep and most people lose two to three weeks of sleep quality before adjusting.
documented at this week
This week
Weight goes on early, in the boot
Accelerated protocols start partial-to-full weight bearing in a CAM boot with heel wedges from day 0 to week 2 — early load is part of the plan, not a risk being taken.
Back to work
Work returns in tiers
The NHS pathway puts office work as possible from ~2 weeks (more comfortable from ~8), on-your-feet work around 8 weeks, and manual labour at 12-16.
milestones around now
- wk 5 ·Full weight-bearing in boot (About 4-6 weeks in a CAM boot, protocol-dependent)
- wk 8 ·Return to work (Desk ~2-4 weeks (from the boot); on-feet ~8 weeks; manual labour ~12-16 weeks)
sources
What this page is built from
- Open vs minimally invasive Achilles repair, stratified by immobilization duration prospective cohort · reliability 8/10
- Immobilisation duration after open Achilles repair (prospective cohort, n=1088) prospective cohort · reliability 8/10
- Return to play after Achilles rupture: systematic review and meta-analysis (108 studies) meta-analysis · reliability 8.5/10
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