Doc removed 50 percent of the lateral meniscus in my right knee Aug. 22, and in six weeks I was running 5 miles at a pop. Last week, my log shows 120 miles of biking, 20 miles of running and 5 miles of swimming.

So, in short, you'll be OK. Just do the PT religiously, ice the knee after every workout and cut back on workouts if you feel the knee feels achy.

Once caveat: my surgery and recovery didnt require an immobilizer, so your knee may be worse off than mine was.

One other thing: those few weeks when I couldnt do anything, I started really gettting depressed and feeling like I would never get back to form. That's normal, but just doing the PT helped me mentally too.

Good luck on the recovery.

Drew

The original plan was to have a partial removal and then I wouldn't have had the immobilizer. Would have started PT 1 week post-op and been running 6-8 weeks following surgery, similar to your recovery.
When the doc went in he thought a repair would be better then removal. Meniscal repair involves using special type of sutures to hold the pieces together and allow healing. Because there isn't much blood-flow to the cartilages the knee must be immobilzed for 3-4 weeks.
It has only been 1.5 weeks but I am already going insane, getting fat, and thinking the next season is a wash. Doc told me 3 months till recovery (running a nice distance) and I will have lost all my endurance by them.

Andrew

Andrew:

Meniscal repair is, in the long run, better for your knee in most cases. It is theorized that any removal of meniscus causes some increased risk of osteoarthritis later, which with an active lifestyle is a drag. As you say, there is a risk of it not healing, but if it does it will be worth the wait. The immobiliser is because the extremes of motion and resistance put shearing stress on the meniscus and jeopardize the healing. Stick with your surgeon's advice on activity, since he's the one that knows how solid the repair is. This is definitely one that if you do too much on it too soon, you can mess it up. Good luck, hope it heals well.



Deke

Andrew,
The meniscus has a very very poor blood supply and takes a long time to heal. I tore mine 10 years ago and was lucky to have someone repair it (most surgeons at that time would have just taken the torn peice out). I put no weight on that leg for 2 months and it was 3 months before I was permitted to run on it. 3 ironmans, 4 marathons and 10 years later no problems at all (knock on wood). The bottom line is that this is an injury that you want to give every possible chance to heal. Make sure you talk to your surgeon and follow his advice. He knows how strong the repair is.

Seth

I had major re-constructive knee surgery two years ago. They took out some meniscus, replaced the ACL with a ligament from my hamstring, and whacked away some bone that had been chipped after I dis-located my knee. Recovery was actually much faster than I thought. I did a lot of riding on an indoor trainer. I was on that thing a week after surgery. By the time I got to PT, I had almost fully range of motion, but I had lost a lot of strength and muscle. I focused mainly on swimming and cycling for the first year after the surgery and then the second year I got back fully into triathlon and had a great year. My knee hardly ever hurts, but every now and then, I can feel the meniscus move around and get pinched. It doesn't really hurt, but its a reminder that I need to be careful. I still don't feel like I have full strength in that leg though. I had a lot of muscle atrophy in that leg, its still smaller than my good leg.

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- Steve
http://bailey.sts.winisp.net