Good on you. The fact that they repaired it probably saved your sporting life and quality of life in the long run. How long did you wait to get the operation ?
I am 43 and normally they don't repair tear at my age specially after 4 months from injury. I am worry that I have to go through this painful ACL op to have to do it again
in the future for TKA probably because of the medial meniscus tear.
How big was your tear ? Was it in the red / red area ?

Similar injury playing volleyball on 2003. ACL, MCL, torn meniscus and a hairline fracture in the bone. Jag off came under the net, pinned my foot and rolled up into the knee.

Repaired the ACL with a hamstring graft and were able to put the meniscus back together as well. I was on crutches for what seemed forever as the doc waited more than a month to do the surgery and rehabbed like a demon.

Since then I've done loads of of running and tri up to 50 m and 140.6. No problems with the knee to speak of. I don't play volleyball anymore though.

I jumped right on the operating table after my injury. Like 10 days later I was operated on. Not sure that was optimal, but I was motivated to get the repair done ASAP. I know the medical community likes to have your swelling down considerably to do the repair. I was still swollen at the time of surgery, but they were able to get right after the meniscus before I did further damage. Not sure the extent of the bucket tear, but I seem to have gotten lucky with that aspect. There were other complications like the need for a lateral ligament release and a broken bone in the tibia that required a 25mm titanium screw etc. Key is, get back to rehab and be smart about not too much, not too little. A good Physical therapist will make a huge difference. Go with someone that has a lot of experience returning athletes to full activity. But, just keep in mind, you are in for a LONG haul to get back to full activity and confidence. Take it steady and disciplined. 2 years is a basic guideline.

Indeed best decision you made was to get it done quickly. I waited too long trying to find the right surgeon. Big mistake as know I am contemplating the prospect of an knee reco and meniscus trim on both meniscus which is a sure receipe for OA in few years.

The key to your recovery is that they fixed your meniscus . How old where you ?

32. I also had an excellent surgeon.

Your age and surgeon would have helped . Send him a present to thank him to save your meniscus as this is a HUGE deal :-)
Contact me in 10 years time and you will see what it is like to make the wrong decision about this :-(

I am wondering did you have any meniscus tear trimmed as this is the key to longer term good health after knee reconstruction

I had a meniscus tear repaired and ACL repaired as two seperate procedures about 20 years ago. Took up triathlon 5 years ago after mostly softball and some basketball activities in the years in between - no running or cycling. I have completed 3 marathons, 1 IM and will be completing my second IM in 10 days. I have no issues at all related to my ACL repair or knees in general.

John,

I'm sure your confidence is high after reading of so many successful run/tri experiences after ACL repair. I had mine replaced in 1989 - I had an alpine skiing career before triathlon and the injury timed with with my ski burnout. I'm 46 now and have put lots of GREAT run miles on my knees. The one that was fixed (patella graft) is perfect.

I would say that run technique (primarily) and strength maintenance (secondarily) has a lot to do with longevity for human running - for those sans surgery and especially for those post op. I don't think wise for anyone to run with poor form or run with imbalance (or weakness in stabilizers) and think they won't get hurt. So stay on those issues as best you can.

All the best, Ian

---

Ian Murray
http://www.TriathlonTrainingSeries.com
I like the pursuit of mastery
Twitter - @TriCoachIan

John ,

Indeed it is reconforting to see so many people recovering well from ACL surgery. The key points I have noticed is that if it is only a knee reconstruction with no meniscus trim they most people have no real long term effect and the younger the better with regards for the surgeon to be able to stich the possible meniscus tear.
My issue is that I am 43 and I had 3 meniscus tear 2 small one in the lateral meniscus and 1 larger one 1.2 cm on the posterior horn of the medial meniscus. All 3 were left untouched and can't be repaired because of my age. The medial meniscus one is a worry as it is reseaonably large and is giving me some mild symptoms at the moment and might propagate if I don't get it fixed at a later stage. I was told by my physio that there might be a possibility to treat it in a conservative manner.
At my age I am happy to take it easy and stick to cycling and strengthening and if possible do some skiing 2 weeks a year and stick to blue runs.

My big worry is early onset of OA and with 3 meniscus tears this is a real possibility from what I understand. I am wondering if there are people out there who have kept active with knee reco and partil menisectomy after few years (10 +) and don't have any OA.

Did you get any meniscus trimming on your knee ? If yes, how much did they trim and when ?

I severed my ACL in my right knee more than 29 years ago (playing field hockey when I was 13) and up until about 2 years ago, I didnt even know it.

Sure I knew knee was somewhat unstable under some conditions (no more rugby league for me for instance), but that never stopped me completing tri's
No IM's as yet, but plenty of half. Only issue Ive ever really had was when ramping up my run volume to quickly. Knee tended to get pretty sore after a run, but soon settled down.

Id say take it easy till the repair heals and then stay away from sports that require you to suddenly change directions and you'll be fine.

Just out of curiosity, how do you know that that's when it happened? I mean this isn't like you were 4 months pregnant and could count back.

For the OP, I've had my ACL repaired and since then done a Half IM, and several marathons. My interest in finishing an Ironman waned, post-surgery, for reasons nothing to do with my knee. This is w/ a quarter of my meniscus removed.

I felt a "pop" after I had a stick jammed between my legs and went down hard.
Went to stand up and my knee buckled in.

Rather obvious injury, but being young and dumb, never did anything about it.
In fact it didn't even hurt when I did it. Three days later I went to play hockey again and thats when I dislocated my knee for the first time and my God did that hurt!

uhm... sounds traumatic but that doesn't usually result in an ACL injury...

but anyway, makes sense. thanks.
if 'Andrew69" means you were born in 69, as I was, I don't think I'd ever heard of the ACL back then.
By the time I tore mine in '05 everyone had heard of them. The whole field heard mine pop.not a lot of mystery.

Yeah, the physio that eventually found that I had severed the ACL was also surprised.
I dont think it was so much the stick that did it, rather the heavy landing.
Anyway, it is what it is. Ive thought about getting it repaired, but Ive been advised against it as it doesn't really affect me at all and there is no guarantee that I wouldnt be worse off after any surgery