12 or so years ago. If I remember it was around 6 weeks. I think people are coming back within a couple of weeks now. All depends on what shape your in before and how well you take care of it after the surgery. I think they had me in PT just a couple of days after working on flexibility.

I am the king of surgeries, unfortunately. Best advice I can give is to strictly follow your doctors orders. No matter how good you think you feel, do what they say. There's a reason they have that diploma on the wall. And why go to the trouble to find a good doctor if you're not going to listen to them.

 
Mine was the same sort of time frame. Had it back in 1997/98 I think, I guess it was 'cutting edge' at the time as went through British Olympic Medical centre - Arthroscopy so minimally invasive, I was back on my bike about 3 weeks later but very light work, was training within the month I seem to remember.

I'm sure the whole procedure and recovery is faster these days though?

Never, unless I want a knee replacement.

The "back to full training in 4-6 weeks" was all nice and good pre-surgery, but once the doc got inside the knee, that changed.

So, it depends. 4-6 weeks was best case.

---

clm
Nashville, TN
https://twitter.com/ironclm | http://ironclm.typepad.com

Thanks for the heads up.

---

________________
Adrian in Vancouver

My meniscus in my right knee were removed in '98. I was on a cane for about a week, and running when the stitches came out. Prior to that, several repairs, all back to full activity by the time the stitches were out - the first 2-3 days suck, but if you just push through the "suck", and keep your joint moving, you'll be good quicker.

---

---

Coach TJ Tryon - Open Water Swim Clinics | Facebook | @tjtryon

Ask me about: T3 Multisport | Gu Energy | Torhans | Xterra Wetsuits (discount code) | Karbon Speed - discount code: COACHTJ | Uvex Helmets

I had my meniscus operation in late October last year. I used one of the Iceman boxes that kept the swelling down and I was back doing stuff reasonably fast.

My doc was Dr David Martin who deals with the Wake Forest basket ball players etc but is an avid cyclist and does triathlons too. Surprisingly he wanted me to stay away from swimming for longer versus running and biking. He called that open contact (swimming) versus closed contact (running and biking.)

In early April that left knee started to flare up again but not where it hurt before and I have now been back to rehab.

Which is something I should have done in the first place right after the operation

Can you explain further the rationale behind holding off the swimming for longer? That is the one sport I thought would be better due to the lack of pounding.

---

________________
Adrian in Vancouver

He said that the motion of your knee is in control (kind of on a track) during running and biking and obviously he told me to take it easy there.

But he made me wait 2 more weeks before I could swim because you can theoretically move your leg / knee any which way while swimming.

Does that make sense?

H

it depends on what they are doing. I think "repair" is sort of a little misnome they like to use, it's really "take stuff out that will never grow back" so make sure you need the operation. My "clean up" (see prior sentence for translation) healed up enough to allow training in a few days, though I avoided running for a while and just biked and roller skied. All considered, the knee still gives me some trouble when I do certain activities.

Had the surgery last year. Part of the inner meniscus was removed in an arthroscopy.

I was back swimming as soon as the small scar had healed enough not to be in danger of inflammation due to all the nice things swimming in the pool... 10 days i guess. Start out with a pull buoy and be careful pushing off.

I also worked the trainer on my healthy leg, because I felt it was a little weaker at that time and this was a nice chance to have it catch up with the other one. When I gradually started normal cycling again (after ~3 Weeks, I guess) I was told to keep it low cadence first because all the "grease" in the joint had to rebuild gradually and to high a cadence would not be good without it.

Running came last (4-6 weeks), but man - you can't describe the feeling you get from your first long run without any pain, which is when you realize: The surgery was a success!

---

if you can read this
YOU'RE DRAFTING!

I agree that a clarification on a mensical repair vs. removal is necessary. My guess is that most people who reported a 2-6 week recovery had a partical meniscectomy (removal of a part of the meniscus) rather than a true repair, where they attempt to stitch it back together. Ironically removing the meniscus, or part of, has a much faster and easier healing time. The complications are usually well down the road, as the knee is now missing some of its cushioning.

I had a meniscus repair 4 years ago. I was on crutches for 4 weeks, in a brace for probably 6 weeks, and not really running for almost 6 months. I think my run took longer than normal, but I wouldn't expect to have much of a season this year with a meniscus repair. The sutures have to heal thoroughly before you can do much with the knee. Repairs are a bit riskier in that they don't always take since there's no blood flow to the area. I was young (24) so the doc wanted to save my meniscus and thought I would have a better shot at healing than someone older. So while it took forever, I've had no problems since and still have my full meniscus.

However, this was 4 years ago and I'm no doc, so take with a grain of salt. I may have misremembered some of this.

I had meniscus surgery in the summer of 2007 (age 45). I was back to swimming in about 2 weeks. Biking another 2 weeks later and running (with some pain) 6 weeks after surgery. Since then I have done Eagleman twice, 6 Olympic distance and a handful of sprints. Mostly pain free now with some occasional arthritis pain. The arthritis is because the doc, once he got in there, needed to scrape a little more torn stuff off than it looked like he would from the MRI.

---

Thoughts Become Things - Choose the good ones!

Hello!

Had arthroscopy surgery on my knee for meniscus repair on the first week of january 2008, 2 months after I was fully recovered and training for my first marathon.

I was biking 2 weeks and running 5-6 weeks after surgery.

The key is to respect the physiotherapy, be patient and do lots of strength training before surgery, if the muscle is strong it heals faster.

Since then I've done 5 marathons, 70.3 Tri and a bunch of 5K, 10K, 21K races and sprints.

I'm talking weeks of 100+Km's training for marathons (3:07 PR).

Hope this helps!

Cheers!

Michele

I just had my right knee scoped to repair a torn meniscus just over 2 weeks ago. At my 10 day follow-up I was given permission to ride indoors a couple of times to see how the knee responded to the activity before heading outside for "flat" rides. I can build from there depending on how the knee responds. I was told to wait until 4 weeks out before starting some light running on a track and at least 6 weeks before I can get out on trails. I am lucky in that PT was not prescribed as I had full range of motion 10 days out without any pain and the cycling will help rebuild any lost strength. It will be nice to ride/run again without any pain.

60% of posterior medial horn removed at age 58; able to use recumbent trainer in 1 week; swimming about 4 weeks, running about 6 weeks...but running too early i guess i favored the bad knee and overcompensated on the other side and developed patellar tendinitis that i fight to this day......if it is on medial side get that vmo working and get and follow good phsio program....think the long haul

Did you go to the UBC sports med centre for the diagnosis?
6 months for me to back to normal-ish

6 months! Damn!!! I was really looking forward to getting in great shape this summer.

I have not gone to the UBC Sports Medicine Centre. Is that covered by BC Medical or do I have to pay private?

---

________________
Adrian in Vancouver

Makes sense to me. Thanks

---

________________
Adrian in Vancouver

Took about 2 months. i had a small tear and the meniscus was just smoothed out, i.e. no attempt at repair. I've been a much better runner since actually, some what paradoxically. Took about a week to be able to walk around, then tried some light jogging about 2-3 weeks after, really couldn't go more than 2-3 miles. about 7 weeks after knocked out a 10-miler, week after that 36 miles one weekend.

if you have it repaired (can only be done in a small # of cases) recovery time is much, much longer.

meniscus surgery on Sept 10, by thanksgiving I ran my traditional turkey trot 10K 2 seconds slower than the year before. the key for me was ice, activity and aggressive PT.

6 months but that was 10 years ago and that was to the point of normal - i think it was about 3 months to start running again
all you need for the clinic is a referral from your doctor and you are good to go - best place to go for athletes since they give the straight goods on rehab times
they get what it means to have an athletic pursuit, most doctors I find don't

Big difference between repair and resection.

Repair is fairly uncommon, and only done with certain types of tears in certain locations, and it doesn't always work. Typically has a much longer rehab period, with a lot of babying (b/c you want to give it the best possible chance to work you can). There's bracing and crutches and the whole nine yards. Figure on 4-6 months to get back to "normal", and then beginning a gradual return to running.

Resection/clip or partial meniscectomy has a shorter recovery time--you generally walk out after the procedure, or are walking within a couple of days. Return to sport can be pretty quick--swimming when the sutures are cleared; light spinning as part of the ROM work fairly soon after as well. Pool running soon, too. Land running could be as soon as 2 weeks, but some folks take longer. And, of course, any other work they might do in there will alter things.

I've hoped for a repair many times, but never been eligible. Have had a bunch of partials, the last one resulting in a complete lateral meniscectomy. My rehab time has varied with each procedure.

Diligence in rehab and taking extra time over trying to rush it are the key points to success.

---

---

mmm-mmm-Momo Charms
Handmade beverage charms, jewelry, and miscellanea
http://momocharms.wordpress.com

This is a very old post but I also had my meniscus repaired and wanted to see what the timeline was like for your recovery. I’m two months post surgery with the same pain I had before surgery. How long did it take for you to start to notice a change in the meniscus pain? Just wanted to see what others experiences were like. Thanks.

I had repair surgery about ten years ago. Had three Vicodin staples inserted to close the tear. My knee was immobilized for four weeks post op. I had no pain specific to the tear immediately after removing the immobilizer, however I had muscular atrophy and had to rebuild a lot of strength around my knee for stability. The PT moved too quickly and I developed bad patellar tendinitis. However, I never experienced pain similar to the pre-op pain. I wonder if your “repair” didn’t hold? The only reason they tried a repair was because I was in my early 30s and they wanted to see if my body would repair itself. Otherwise they would have clipped it. The success rate of repairs, as I understand it, is fairly low because there is such low blood flow to the meniscus.