View Full Version : Anyone had knee surgery for a torn meniscus?
A buddy of mine invited me to play basketball at the gym today. Im in sore need of some cardio so I joined. At the end of the game I grabbed a rebound and as I pivoted out I felt a pop in my right knee and it immediately went out. After that the outside part of my knee was in a decent amount of pain and my knee felt very unstable. Whenever I try to bend my knee all the way back it feels as if something is blocking my knee from fully flexing and it wont fully bend back.
My family doctor thinks I tore my meniscus and is sending me out for a MRI to see what all is wrong in my knee. From the way she was talking it appears as if she believes Im going to need surgery.
Anyone had this before? What kind of recovery time am I looking at?
A few times. Looking towards complete replacement now. First scope was in 84. Three small cuts a couple stitches each.
Subsequent ones in later years were better. Had one done after getting off a graveyard shift and went back on duty on the fourth day. Maybe shouldn't have but did. Not a serious procedure and is an out patient thing.
If I can offer advise on the mistakes I made. Don't cheat on foot wear. Buy good stuff. Replace often. Use wear marks to indicate positive or negative camber soles. Bone on bone wear sucks and arthritis is a killer.
about 30 years ago and since then also completely destroyed mine that they had to recreate
my recovery was if I remember about a week or so being careful and some swelling and soreness and was back on my bicycle racing training schedule within a few weeks putting about 400-500 miles a week on it so really was way quicker than I thought to be back in full swing
and I also walked out of the hospital OK pushed then allowed to walk after the door :)
I tore mine playing basketball too. Outpatient surgery and began rehab the following day. I followed all the post-op instructions and worked the pt/rehab according to my instructions. I'm not sure of the exact rehab time but I think it was just a few weeks. That was probably 8-10 years ago and no problems.
Bone on bone wear sucks and arthritis is a killer.
That's for damn sure. I'm 23 and already have arthritis in one knee and two ankles among other places thanks to sports and me not treating my body as well as I should have when playing those sports.
I tore my ACL and messed up some other stuff so I'm not 100% on just a meniscus repair but from what I have heard it is a very simple procedure it's just a few weeks recovery time.
No matter what it is, take plenty of time to recover. I think a lot of my problems now stem from me not letting my body properly heal before I jumped back in, which lead to re injuring myself and making it even worse.
Yes I have been there a few times. They scoped my knee about thirty years ago, it was new then. They did not make any repairs, did not see any issues. About ten years ago I tore my meniscus and had it repaired. They thought I tore the ACL but when he got in there it was the PCL and I made the decision with the Doc as I was on the table to let it be, it sped up the recovery time big time. I was still on light duty about 12 weeks and was pressured to get back to full duty. I am a cop. My boss told me they only had to hold my job for 12 weeks. I told the Doc that and he assured me he could get me back to work in that time frame even if it was with a knee brace. My best advice is when they say elevate your knee you need to lay flat on your back and get it above your heart. Sitting in the recliner did not cut it. The SWELLING was very painful until I laid flat and got it above the heart. I now need double knee replacement. I have OA in both knees, not enough to repair anymore. Have any of you had the lubrication shots?
I had my knee scoped 30 years ago. Removed the torn cartilage. Life was immediately better for about 15 years. Then, the inevitability of anatomy, physiology, and gravity physics catches up with you. I am just know recovering from my third bilateral knee replacement, and I have one more to go, I am virtually certain. My situation was a little unusual and definitely not the typical course. In the OP's case, theres' a good chance of effective alternate therapies by the time he gets there.
The knee work the OP has coming up will be effective, whether the injury is cruciates, collaterals, or cartilage.
Anyone had this before? What kind of recovery time am I looking at?
Mine was outpatient last year. I stayed home the next day, I think if I was going to lose a day's pay I would have gone in, it wasn't uncomfortable. I follow the rehab instructions diligently, I'd guess within a month, it was as if it had never happen. My job involves week long range cycles, I skipped the one immediately after and stayed in the office. Recovery to work would be longer, I think, if you were a mail man, or a patrol officer.
JMO
I am a patrol officer. This is my first official knee injury and have had no treatments or anything similar before. I did complain about knee pain to the VA after I got out of the Army but they did an x-ray (thats all) and determined I was perfectly fine.
Tore my medial meniscus in several places 25 years ago. The knee would, from time to time, not extend fully without pulling on the tendons which caused pain. The doctor thought I had "bone mites" which are pieces of torn cartilidge that wedged themselves in the joint causing it to seperate. I had arthoscopic surgery where he shaved the damaged area and removed cartilidge floating around. The doctor told me to use an Ace Bandage for future athletic events but did I listen? No, during a racketball game several years later I felt the joint seperate slightly. I have been very careful since then and usually take Ibuprophen from time to time for joint pain.
1) How old are you?
2) Wait for MRI results to describe possible location if a tear is present.
3) Based on your age and the location & degree of the tear, your doc will say....
- minor tear - wait and let it heal (which is what I did at 30)
- major tear, not likely to heal > "pie-wedge menisectomy" or variant thereof
- MAJOR tear, not likely to heal > full menisectomy
MANY variables impacting all of this - which your doc will discuss with you.
Be sure they assess the status of the lateral collateral (fibular) ligament - as that is often damaged along with the meniscus.
GOOD LUCK!!!!!
john
If it's just a meniscus tear and you need surgery it's pretty non-invasive and has a quick recovery time from what I hear. I tore my meniscus in 3 places, ACL, MCL, and PCL all at once :rolleyes: It was the worst experience ever, felt like a shotgun blast to my knee cap and put me out of work just shy of a year, and had to wear a hefty leg brace while working or doing any physical activity for a year afterwards. Wouldn't wish it upon my worst enemy and still deal with pain to this day. This was back in 2006, i know they makes advances every year in the procedures. You have athletes coming back from these injuries in record time now a days.
Yes. I was in crutches for 4 weeks after a lateral miniscule repair and removal. I am about 95% of where I was, but my right knwe feels less stable than my left, I have pain and arthritis in my right after walking about 5-7 miles, and I wake up with a creek knee every morning. It also pops about 50x more than my left, but is better than it locking in a flexed position every time I squat down to pick up a penny.
Update:
I had a MRI and went to a sports medicine orthopedic surgeon today. Meniscus is actually good. However it appears that I dislocated my knee while playing basketball. This caused me to crack the top of my tibia. The bad part is my ACL is sitting wrong for some reason. Its not as vertical as it should be. The Doctor cant see anything obvious on the MRI and said it could be torn or had torn and scarred over causing it to be in the wrong position. He also said my right knee is a good bit looser than the left. We are going to do a month of physical therapy to try and solidify the knee up and check back. However if that doesnt work Im probably going to have surgery. YAY!!!
Update:
I had a MRI and went to a sports medicine orthopedic surgeon today. Meniscus is actually good. However it appears that I dislocated my knee while playing basketball. This caused me to crack the top of my tibia. The bad part is my ACL is sitting wrong for some reason. Its not as vertical as it should be. The Doctor cant see anything obvious on the MRI and said it could be torn or had torn and scarred over causing it to be in the wrong position. He also said my right knee is a good bit looser than the left. We are going to do a month of physical therapy to try and solidify the knee up and check back. However if that doesnt work Im probably going to have surgery. YAY!!!
I'm a big believer in specialty medicine. Right guy for the right job. Theses days, new developments in tools and techniques makes seeing the right Fellowship-trained specialist for the right procedure. If I was going to see an orthopod for a joint problem, I'd see a Joint surgeon, not a Sports Medicine surgeon. Just my take.
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