I've got some bad news for you...

I'm 22. I had approximately 60% of my medial meniscus removed when I was 19. Here's the scoop on the past three years:
Bike? No problem. I was fine to ride a bike again as soon as the swelling went down. Physical therapy was helpful, and had me on a bike in about a week.
Swimming? Sure, I can swim. Again, non-impact exercise so it's never given me trouble.
Running? Not so much. The meniscus is your natural padding. You WILL feel things you didn't before surgery. Some things I did before now suck, namely snowboarding (agony!) and running. Three years later I CAN run, but it's not exactly fun. Pain and swelling were a repeated problem.

My situation is a bit unique; the meniscus surgery was the last of five. I went into it with subpar leg strength and visibly mismatched muscle development. I'm guessing you don't have that issue. Still, it's worth doing all the physical therapy your insurance will pay for. Then you should pay attention when you do impact exercise, whether it's running or just spending a lot more time on your feet than usual.

Best of luck! Modern medicine can be a wonderful thing. I hope it all works out for you. Just remember, NFL players are back on the field in weeks, and no 300 pound men want you dead!

One of my IM clients had a trim job done a few weeks ago (4) and he is still in some pain - he is 56. he can bike and swim but is having too much pain running - so he is pool running and doing eliptical both painfree - expect to be off impact type of stuff for about 4-6 weeks.

hope this helps Graham

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Graham Wilson
USAT Level III Elite Coach
http://www.thewilsongroup.biz

I had a trim 5 years ago. Depending on the amount of cartilage removed you will have different results.

One thing I firmly believe in is, though, that you MUST commit to strengthening exercises for your quads, and your core, for that matter, to ensure you maintain the most possible knee stability.

I have no ACL in my left knee, part of medial meniscus is gone, and MCL is loose, but I've done my PT exercises faithfully for the last 15 years and knock wood, no direct issues with the knees.

Ask for more weeks of PT than they want to give you. Do the exercises every day on your own in addition to the PT sessions, and you will recover faster than most. And then keep doing the exercises on your own twice a week forever. You won't regret it.

35 y.o., had ACL and meniscus surgery 6 months ago. around 1/4 of the meniscus removed.
Running doesn't hurt like i thought it would... biking can be kind of sore, surprisingly - it feels like i need to get some lubricant inside my knee, like it's a rusty hinge.

50% medial meniscus removed aged 47 so not exactly 50+ but close. Swimming after about one week (no breast stroke, not pushing-off with my legs on turns), cycling a couple of days earlier. I was running within 2 weeks although then told not to be "stupid" by physio and held-off for about 4 weeks. Came back very slowly but without any problems. No problems since.

Laurant

thanks to all

I have had six knee surgery's and the last was a meniscus tear in my right knee. I was out of running for a long time, biking no big deal.nor swimming, i have gone back to running and run four days a week and seem to be doing ok, But down from long runs of 20 miles to 4-5 miles.also have spent a greet deal of time in the gym and that realy helps.

Cowboy

i'm 52 - had knee scoped 5 1/2 wks ago. part of it was to trim partially torn miniscus (18%) - bike and swim are fine but still limping a bit. find out in 10 days about returning to running - when/how much. the way it feels, i am probably i month away. doc says i should have no problem returning to 5+ miles a day with one long one per week. i am hopeful.

good luck and refuse to accept age as a limiter!

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this is one of those items where there is little black and white and lots of fuzzy in between.

i'm 50 and had mine done a year ago December. it was described as a complex tear whatever the heck that translates into. doc was Pollyanna optimistic, "...back to everything in 2 weeks anyway, three on the outside."

i planned it much differently and took significantly longer to resume. didn't get back on a bike for closer to 6 weeks...and then went short and slow. did lots of treading water, legs only, and asked our Maker for a little extra help to get through. waited closer to 10-12 weeks to resume short slow running. slowly built distances back up to where i was able to grab some AG hardware at sprints come August. no holdbacks at this point.

take it easy and return slowly. it is still an invasive procedure, even though most will say it is minor. any time doc goes past the skin barrier and then cuts, or trims, anything....that's not minor to me.

and by the way...i opted for the general and was very happy with not knowing or seeing a thing. and go real easy on activity for the first couple days. i ended up with lots of swelling since i walked a bit too much and had to go back for ultrasounds for fear i had developed a clot. now that will notably mess up your day. and your doc might not mention you may end up with what appears to be bruising around your ankle or foot. the fluids released find their way somewhere and that is also kind of a rude surprise when not expecting it.

don't hesitate to post or pm if there's anything else i can do to assist.

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Train hard...race well.
www.jimmishler.com
"Jim, I happen to agree with you" DougStern

Mine was done 5 years ago. Took a long time for running to come back. I try to protect my knees as much as I can now. My running form has never gotten back to what it was before the surgery and the pace of my races are very slow compared to what I use to do. But- I am running, which is the most important thing to me. Everyone seems to handle it differently.

At 54 and not in the best shape, I had OATS transplants done. That was in mid Dec. 15 weeks ago today. Much more invasive than a simple MT arthroscopy. 3hrs in surgery instead of the typical hr for a MT.

Could barely walk when I went in for surgery. I could only ride my bike with a high cadence after the injury..

Here is what I learned and my own time frames.

From on the road with the bike to back on the bike trainer was only 2 weeks. It was 6 FULL weeks on crutches and no weight bearing. Made it hard to get on and off the trainer. PT 3 days a week, 2 hrs a day. 2hrs or more a day on my own mostly on the trainer. 8 weeks before I could walk around the block. Runnning/hobbling limited by pain and the a limp at 12 weeks.

Get on a CPM machine the day of surgery. Never, never let the swelling get bad, (big set back potential) ice, elevate and ibuprofin as required (@200# I was doing 3200mg a day for a long time). Another major set back when I tried to get off it too early @ 10 weeks). Get in the pool as soon as the wounds are sealed up. Water jog to get started off your crutches. Use a pull buoy until you loose the majority of the limp and can get off the walks without risking reinjury.

15 weeks today. (800mm of Ibu a day for swelling/workout now) Good deal stronger than when I went for surgery. Had a bit of a limp until last two weeks. Hardly noticeable now. More importantly feels pretty normal now. 9 mile TRAIL runs a couple times a week (I avoid pavement at all costs), 5000 yards no problem in the water (no breast stroke and very EASY off the walls) and up to 100 mile rides once a week. Did a 4000' climb on the bike today in 2.5 hrs.

Get on CPM and ice rehab day of surgery, watch the early swelling like a hawk to avoid a major set back, stay on ibu even when you think it is not needed. Bike a LOT...high cadence, low resistance. Pump the supplements and vitamins as well.

FWIW the first orthopod I talked with said I was done running. Ended up with a surgeon the local pro teams use and his suggested PT guy. Running faster and farther than ever now with no pain. Biking is much better..picked up a couple of MPH and lots of power. I could have been in the water and using a pull buoy much earlier but no one suggested it. Aqua jogging was very effective, much better than ever expected. Ended up buying two new road bikes because of all of this. Nothing makes my knees feel better than riding the bike. It aint been easy or cheap, but I am stronger now than when I was injured 18 weeks ago.

Good luck!