Here’s a cleaned-up version that keeps your voice and the humor:

Sooooo… I got heat rash from wearing my boot in the heat. It started around mid-calf where my crew socks ended and the boot material began. My surgeon wasn’t concerned since it was nowhere near the incision site. He told me to air it out and use antiseptic soap leading up to surgery.

Okay, cool.

Fast forward to about Day 4 post-op. The burning sensation inside the splint was getting pretty noticeable. It constantly felt sweaty. Any time I went outside, my leg would swell up, get hot, and I’d end up back inside with multiple ice packs and fans pointed directly at the splint.

Then came the 💡 moment.

At the same time, I had developed an itchy red rash all over my body after a couple of showers, and I couldn’t figure out why. Then it hit me…

I have a documented allergy to chlorhexidine, the surgical scrub used to sterilize skin before surgery. I had specifically told them about it.

So I checked the antiseptic soap I’d been told to use.

Active ingredient? Chlorhexidine.

Turns out I’d been fighting fire with gasoline. And before surgery, I had enthusiastically scrubbed the hell out of my entire leg with it. 😂

By Day 10, I finally called the office and said, “Okay doc, I need you to take a look. It feels like fire ants are throwing a rave under this splint.”

They cut the splint open and found blisters, oozing, redness… the whole production. Honestly, it looked way worse than it felt, but man, that first blast of fresh air hitting my leg was incredible.

The surgeon wasn’t worried because the incision itself looked great. The nurse started me on prednisone, told me to air it out at home, and even let me transition into my boot four days early, which I was pretty happy about.

Now, just a day later, it already looks and feels about 100 times better as everything dries out and calms down.

Just a bizarre chain of events, but thankfully the Achilles repair is doing great and everything seems to be heading in the right direction. 👍

Well, well, well… I knew I’d be back in this subreddit. It was just a matter of when.

Turns out that “when” was 2 years, 6 months, and 24 days (937 days) after my first rupture.

After my first tear, which honestly went about as well as an Achilles rupture can go from surgery through recovery, I always suspected I’d eventually tear the other one. My left Achilles had always felt weaker and would occasionally flare up with tendinitis.

Looking back, I also had a habit of training almost exclusively with linear movements (running, jogging, lifting) and then randomly jumping into explosive sports activities with my kids involving cutting, jumping, and sudden changes of direction without much of a warmup.

Previous Rupture: Right Achilles (November 2023)
Current Rupture: Left Achilles (May 2026)

My First Achilles Rupture Log:
I felt normal and cleared for full activity around 10-12 weeks post-op.
https://www.reddit.com/r/AchillesRupture/s/XiD0d7uIBf

About Me 👦🏻
Age: 35
Height: 5’11
Weight: 218lbs
Lifestyle: Recreationally Active
Occupation: Finance
Tear: Full
Activity: Soccer (negative step)
Treatment: Surgical (PARs)
Location: USA

Recovery log

Gives you an idea of what my recovery is like as the first one helped a few people! I’ll update as things progress.

Last Update: June 4, 2026

5/13 - Rupture Day 💥

Kids vs. Parents soccer game at my son’s final practice of the season. Parents scrimmaging 7-year-olds. What could possibly go wrong?

- Settled a soccer ball with my left foot
- Took two steps backward
- Took a negative step to drive forward to make a pass
- Felt and heard the familiar po

My immediate thought was that I ran into a kid behind me who was bending down to pick up a ball. I turned around expecting to see a crying child.

No kid.

I looked at my wife and said, “Nooo… I’m so sorry.”

We both immediately knew what had happened.

I hobbled off while letting out a few explicative words not because of pain but because right before that my wife and I did one of our Husband-Wife check-ins (her and I make time each week to talk about family, activities, plans, how we are feeling, life, etc.) and i told her I’m going to make this summer special for our family and had some big plans. 

I was more disappointed than anything. Throw frustrated in there too because I knew that one little step I took 30 seconds prior drastically changed what the next 2 months looked like.

We’re still making the best of it, though.

5/14 - Scheduling Time⏰

Called my orthopedic surgeon, who performed my first Achilles repair.

Honestly, I was ready to have surgery that day and get the recovery clock started, but I had to go through the normal process first.

Orthopedic consultation scheduled for 5/20.

5/14 - Orthopedic Urgent Care🏥

I mainly went to urgent care so I could get imaging and referrals started before my Ortho appointment.

Also picked up a brand-new walking boot.

I now own two walking boots. Not exactly a collection I wanted to start but maybe I’ll wear my limited edition Air Cast 1’s someday since I now have a pair.

5/20 - Orthopedic Appointment👩‍⚕️

Met with my surgeon’s nurse practitioner, who remembered me from my first rupture. She was awesome my first time.

She asked if I was okay just reintroducing myself to the surgeon on surgery day.

Absolutely.

At this point we both knew I knew the song and dance.
Surgery scheduled for 5/28.

5/21 - 5/27 - Pre-Op Week📦

I used this week as preparation time and tried to get out and about as much as possible.

Surprisingly, I had almost no pain and was still averaging around 12,000 steps per day.

However, I developed a heat rash from the boot during a stretch of hotter weather.

Thankfully my surgeon cleared me because the rash was above where my crew socks sat under the boot on the upper shin/calf.
Moral of the story: Protect your ENTIRE leg under the boot. An itchy heat rash is annoying. But a delayed surgery at this point would be soul crushing.

Pre-Op Setup🩼

We converted our guest room into recovery headquarters.

This room is much closer to the family than the basement guest room I used during my first rupture.

I also dusted off all the equipment from Round 1.

My post-op essentials:
iWalk 3.0
Knee scooter
Crutches
Mini fridge (if you’re not on the main level)
Shower stool
Shower cast cover
Elevation leg pillow
Lots of pillows
Fans
Multiple ice packs for rotation
Medicine log
Medical urinal for emergencies
Meal prep for at least the first week after surgery
Subscribe to all Streaming services
Physical therapy scheduled in advance

5/28 - Surgery Day 🔪

This day couldn’t get here fast enough.

The schedule:
- Check-in and prep at 12:15 PM
- Meet with the medical team
- Receive the “don’t worry about anything” drugs
- Surgery at 2:15 PM
- Recovery
- Home by 5:00 PM

The procedure itself took roughly 30-45 minutes.

Grabbed food and headed home.

Oddly enough, I was way too awake after surgery. Even the strong pain medication couldn’t knock me out.
Finally fell asleep around 1:00 AM.

5/29 - Day 1️⃣ - Journey Begins!

Honestly… boring.

Stayed mostly in bed with my leg elevated.

Unlike my first surgery, I didn’t experience much throbbing or discomfort when getting up.

Couldn’t even manage a nap, which was disappointing because that was one of the things I was looking forward to.

5/30 - Day 2️⃣ - Escaping the House⚾️

Focused on eating clean:
- Eggs
- Grilled chicken
- Salads
- Plenty of water

Stayed on top of medications.

I was feeling suspiciously good and decided to attend my son’s baseball game that evening. Two days after surgery, I know isn’t the smartest decision, but I felt way to good and but still know I shouldn’t be going out.

I’m also the head coach, so seeing all the players and parents and socializing was nice

I used on the scooter carefully, plopped in a lawn chair and kept my leg elevated, and wore a protective cover over my cast.

No issues.

No exhaustion.

Still felt great.

The team also got my family a nice door dash gift card and paid for a cleaning service to give our house a deep clean  that was nice 🧹🧼

5/31 - Day 3️⃣ - First Family Outing Without Me 🥲

This one was tough.

If you’re in the United States, you’ve probably heard of the Savannah Bananas.

I bought tickets for my family as a Christmas gift and couldn’t go.

I gave my ticket to my son’s best friend because we love their family and wanted someone to enjoy it.

It was tough missing the experience, but honestly I wasn’t as down about it as I expected.

I watched from home and was happy everyone had a great time.

6/1 - Day 4️⃣ - Shower Day 🚿

My wife went back to work, and I definitely missed having her around to keep me occupied.

That evening I took my first post-op shower.

One lesson I learned from my first rupture:
Don’t try to wing shower prep.

Getting the cast cover on, arranging towels, setting up the stool, and making everything accessible is way easier with help.

6/2 - Day 5️⃣- Goodbye Pain Meds, Hello Finding Random Things To Do

I only used about half of the prescription pain medication.
Honestly, I just didn’t need it.

I’ve have essentially zero pain.

I do have some sciatic nerve irritation that I think is coming from how I’ve been sitting and elevating my leg.

I also messaged my surgeon because my cast has developed about a quarter-inch gap. They had no concerns as it’s normal as swelling goes down.

Most likely because I’ve been getting around quite a bit with the scooter and iWalk but I didn’t tell them that 😆

Also ventured out with my mom to the DMV to get a handicap parking placard.

The calf and foot actually feel surprisingly strong. It feels like I could flex right through the cast if I wanted to.
(Not going to test that theory.)

My surgeon explained that people can technically walk fairly quickly after surgery. The cast isn’t because the repair can’t handle any load. It’s there because you’re eventually going to make a mistake, lose balance, slip, or do something dumb while learning to use the leg again

The goal is to protect the repair while it heals into something stronger so it can handle a stumble when learning to walk like you’re a toddler again.

Day 5️⃣ - Mental Check-In 🧠

Overall, I’m doing much better mentally and physically than I expected.

My support system, especially my wife, has been incredible.

She’s carrying a lot right now with a 5-year-old and 7-year-old while also picking up many of the school, camp, sports, daycare drop-offs, and pickups that I normally handle.

Couldn’t do this without her.

Physically, it doesn’t even feel like I had surgery, no pain and feel like it’s strong. I know this is I’ll change when the cast comes off and I start PT! The first repair, there was a little discomfort and a tiny bit pain. The first time my foot became very desensitized to touch and would almost scare me if my toe touched a wall. Don’t have that this time.

6/3 Day 6️⃣ - Oh F!*#, CRAMP

Sleep is a struggle, I’m just to wide awake. It’s catching up to me now though just as I plan to work some tomorrow virtually.

Didn’t do much outside of go to the grocery store and ride around on their electric scooter.

All was well UNTIL leaving and walking out. My iWalk briefly transformed from a mobility device into a medieval torture device.

I got a Charlie horse in the back of my thigh. Stopped to stretch it out. Unfortunately, as the cramp tightened, I frantically tried to undo the straps. The straps, sensing weakness, refused because I had them really tight and my the cramp pain making my brain malfunction. There I stood in the parking lot, balancing on one leg, fighting not to fall over and looking crazy for about 45 seconds. Finally got it though.

At one point I genuinely weighed my options and concluded that amputation may be the best solution.

6/4 Day 7️⃣ - ITCH! Gave myself a full body rash from an allergic reaction 🤬

Firstly, the Achilles and calf are great. Doesn’t even feel like I had surgery outside of the annoying splint. 8 more days until it’s off.

Had my wife bring home Coban Wrap to layer it for a tighter fit. It felt pretty loose after the pressure I put on it from the iWalk and scooter.

Okay now… I made such a dumb mistake. So from my first Achilles surgery and blood donations, I’ve discovered I have an allergy to chlorhexidine which is the active ingredient in ChloraPrep that’s used to sterilize the surgical area prior to surgery. I break out in an itchy bumpy rash where it’s applied. Thought I was in the clear of that as I let them know and they used Betadine this time.

Man, I made a mistake.

I was using an antiseptic wash soap to treat my heat rash and also clean my entire body prior to surgery. Going into surgery my body started getting random rashes (waist band, back of thigh, rib cage). Thought it was just my body’s nervous system freaking out due to stress or something.

The rash worsened after my first post surgery shower, then second.

So I had to think about the hell is causing this. Not the surgery, they used betadine, not stress, stopped the opioids, and then it clicked… let me check the soap I’ve been using post surgery to treat my skin for this rash.
OH MOTHER F&@!%#. Chlorhexidine 💀.

There I was dousing my self in this stuff thinking it could only help, but turned out to be the reason why my torso, elbows, armpits, and good leg are currently red with itchy bumps. Funny stuff now that I know. It will take a couple of weeks for my skin to recover though.

‼️Upcoming Milestones‼️
6/12 - Cast Off!
6/18 - First Physical Therapy Appointment!