I'm wondering about the diagnosis.
http://www.patient.co.uk/health/achilles-tendon-rupture refers.
shows where the Achilles tendon is placed, and according to that diagram the calf muscle starts just above the ankle. My pain is from considerably higher up - from two or three inches above the ankle and up to the point where the calf muscle swelling begins.
From the same website:
There are two options for treatment. One option is an operation to repair the tendon surgically. The surgeon sews together the torn ends of the Achilles tendon, and perhaps may also use another tendon or a tendon graft to help with the repair. A plaster cast or brace (orthosis) is needed after the operation.
The other option is to allow time for the tendon to heal naturally, resting it in a brace or plaster cast. This is called conservative treatment. If the tendon does not heal on its own, a surgical repair can then be done later.
Both options will involve having a plaster cast or brace for about eight weeks, to protect the tendon while it heals. The plaster cast or brace is positioned so that the foot is pointing slightly downwards, which takes the strain off the tendon.
I would have thought that a tendon rupture would have given a lot of pain. As it is, I have no pain at all as long as I am sitting or lying still. The symptoms the doctor saw - unable to put weight on, can't stand on tiptoe - are those described in the above website. However, surely that would also be true for a torn calf muscle, where the same directional forces apply to the muscle as to the tendon?
As LC says, it's a bit off that the doctor, having diagnosed a rupture, hasn't sent me off to have it plastered or something. He prescribed cocodamol but I haven't needed to take them.