A Bad Achilles Injury, PRP, Recovery, and Climbing Again
About Me. I’ve been rock climbing and mountaineering since the early 2000s, and more seriously since about 2012. I get injured a lot, but my left Achilles is by far the worst injury I’ve ever had. This road eventually led me to purchase the Bottle Roller company. I now sell packable foam rollers that fit around Nalgenes and Hydroflasks.
The Injury. I injured my Achilles tendon back in the spring of 2016, while training for Denali. I had trouble finding a physical therapist, so I did eccentric heel drops on my own and hoped for the best. A year of work-induced rest after Denali did not heal my Achilles. And of course, further mountaineering and running didn’t either. I finally started seeing a physical therapist in January of 2020.
PRP. My second physical therapist suggested I get a PRP injection to jump start the healing process, which I got in October 2020. Every other blog I’ve read about PRP recovery ends about 6 weeks after the injection, begging the question of WHAT HAPPENED? So this blog is intended to tell a longer-term story about injury and the fun climbing adventures that come after recovery.
Disclaimer: I am NOT a doctor. I am writing about my own first-hand experiences. I will occasionally link to medical sites for background, but nothing on this page constitutes medical advice. When I was getting treated, I had a care team: doctor, physical therapist, massage therapist. If you have an Achilles injury, you might need a whole team too!
