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Writer's pictureMaryke Louw

Best shoes for Achilles rupture recovery – With or without surgery

Updated: 3 days ago

When you're healing from an Achilles tear or rupture, the right shoes make a difference. Here’s our guide to choosing the best shoes to support your recovery. And remember, if you need help with an Achilles injury, you're welcome to consult one of our team via video call.


Learn what shoes work best when you've torn your Achilles tendon.

In this article:


We've also made a video about this:



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Shoes for recovery from partial Achilles tears


Most minor to moderate partial Achilles tears can usually be managed without having to incarcerate your foot in one of those unwieldy orthopaedic boots.


If you have been able to avoid the boot, you are looking for shoes with two attributes:

  • your heel must be higher than the front of your foot (heel-to-toe-drop),

  • and the shoe must provide your foot with good stability.


Heel-to-toe drop

Why do we want the heel higher than the front of the foot? The lower your heel is in relation to your toes, the more it stretches and compresses your Achilles tendon against the heel bone.


The heel-to-toe drop on a running shoe.

This is not a problem for healthy tendons, but stretching it unnecessarily when it has been torn might slow down the process of knitting the injured bits together again and cause you more pain. This is also why it’s not a good idea to walk barefoot or in flip-flops when your Achilles tendon is recovering from a tear.


Most running shoes and some casual-wear trainers (sneakers for our North American readers) have a heel-to-toe drop. You’re looking for a drop of at least 10 millimetres, but 12 millimetres would be even better.


Some men's runnning shoes with a good heel-to-toe drop


Some women's running shoes with a good heel-to-toe drop


💡 If you already have running shoes or trainers/sneakers and their heel-to-toe drop isn’t sufficient, you could consider inserting heel-raising inserts in the back of your shoes instead of forking out for a new pair.


These inserts can be gel inserts, harder inserts, and/or adjustable inserts.



These are not permanent measures – when your tendon has healed, you should be able to take out the inserts and once again wear whatever footwear you prefer.


Stability

In addition to having a certain heel-to-toe drop, your shoes should provide your feet with good stability. It can irritate your injury if your feet wobble or move side-to-side when you walk.


Running shoe brands that generally provide good stability are Asics and Brooks – see the examples above.


I find that many Nike models do not provide good stability. The same goes for those “super shoes” with the carbon plate midsoles. It feels like you’re walking on marshmallows when you’ve got them on.


Shoes for recovery from complete Achilles ruptures


If you’ve had a complete rupture or a large partial tear of your Achilles tendon, your foot would probably have been put in an orthopaedic boot (regardless of whether you opted for surgery) for something like six to eight weeks.


This situation calls for some additional requirements when you’re looking at the best shoes for recovery from this type of injury.


A person with a ruptured Achilles tendon wearing an orthopedic boot.
It can be difficult to find shoes that are high enough to even you out when you walk with an orthopeadic boot.

While wearing your orthopaedic boot

The sole of the orthopaedic boot will be quite thick, so it’s best to wear a shoe with a similarly thick sole on your uninjured foot to avoid limping when you walk.


Having to limp while you walk with the orthopaedic boot might cause you back trouble, and it might take you some time to “unlearn” the limp once you’re free of the boot.


Most models of Hoka running shoes have quite thick soles. (But bear in mind that their heel-to-toe drop is usually not very big, so don’t rely on wearing them after the orthopaedic boot has come off, or get some heel-raising inserts for them at that stage.)


If you don’t have a shoe with a thick enough sole to match the orthopaedic boot, there’s a nifty device called EVENup for solving this problem. You strap it to the shoe on the uninjured foot to even out the height difference between your feet.


Here are examples of thick-soled Hokas, as well as the EVENup shoe leveller:



After the orthopaedic boot

Once your foot is out of the boot, the advice on shoes is pretty much the same as for people with minor Achilles tears who have not been in a boot (heel-to-toe drop and stability – see above), with one important addition: your foot will also need good arch support.


Your foot muscles will have lost quite a bit of strength during those six to eight weeks in the boot, because they wouldn’t have had to work much. If you now go about your normal business before those muscles have had time to strengthen back up, you might end up straining them and/or with plantar fasciitis.


Off-the-shelf orthotics can help support your foot arch when you first come out of the boot.
Off-the-shelf orthotics can help support your foot arch when you first come out of the boot.

Most models of Asics, Brooks, and Hoka provide some arch support. But you could also get some off-the-shelf orthotics to support your foot arch (both feet) if you feel that the shoes on their own don’t do the trick.


Now, foot arches can vary a lot – some people have very high foot arches and others have flatter ones. If the orthotics are too high for your arch, it will force your foot outwards when you walk, and this could cause other problems. So, err on the flatter side – you usually require only a bit of arch support.



As with the heel-raising shoe inserts, this is only temporary. The rehab exercises your physio gives you for the Achilles will also help to strengthen your feet. So, as your foot gets stronger, you’ll need the arch supports less and less until, finally, you can ditch them.


How we can help


Need help with your Achilles injury? You’re welcome to consult one of the team at TMA online via video call for an assessment of your injury and a tailored treatment plan.

Meet the TMA physios

We're all UK Chartered Physiotherapists with Master’s Degrees related to Sports & Exercise Medicine or at least 10 years' experience in the field. All of us have a wealth of experience working with athletes across a broad variety of sports and ranging from recreationally active people to professional athletes. You can meet the team here.

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Maryke Louw

About the Author

Maryke Louw is a chartered physiotherapist with more than 20 years' experience and a Master’s Degree in Sports Injury Management. Follow her on LinkedIn and ResearchGate.





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