Following. Having torn meniscus repaired this coming week.

Good luck with your situation and recovery.

I’m not a doctor but have had 6-7 scopes. The timeline below seems to shrink more and more each time; it was way longer when I first had a knee scope in 1996.

Walking without assistive device ~48 hours post surgery. Rehab exercises as quickly as possible pain permitting. Light biking in a week or two. Light running shortly thereafter although I would often wait a little longer until I got a little muscle mass back. Build as you feel good.

Once they do what they do, there shouldn’t really be anything you need to worry about as far as reinjury. It’s just about pain management/swelling (but don’t make it a contest to see how tough you are).

I’m 64 and had a knee scope last year to repair a slight meniscus tear and plica syndrome. I only walked the first 8 days and did 30 easy minutes on the bike day 9. It looks like my workouts were pretty light for three weeks and didn’t hit my former workout levels until a month from the procedure.

I hope all goes well with your procedure.

Greg

Had mine done in November 2019.

The next day I walked a 1/4 of a mile. The second day I did 2 miles. By the end of the first week I was up to nearly 4 miles.

Got on the trainer 1 week post-op for an easy 45 min spin. Continued the daily walking and 30-45 mins for another week or so. Did a Ramp Test just over 2 weeks post-op and felt good. Back into full riding after that.

Btw, I did absolutely zero rehab exercises other than the initial appointment/evaluation. After running me through most of the exercises and getting a bit of my history, the therapist looked at me and said "you're not going to do any of this, are you?" She than suggested that rather than making a schedule of therapy appointments that I instead stick with my walking and cycling plan but comeback in 6 weeks for an evaluation of my range of motion. I went back and she gave me the all clear and that my plan worked better than anything she would have given me.

I don't run anymore so can't give you any info there.

Have had each done years ago and as one poster mentioned, I'm sure it's even easier now. I water ran before the surgery so was in great shape before the surgery. I also water ran 2 days later so I was rehabbing quickly. My surgeon was exceptional and made me promise no run for 2 weeks. I did run exactly 2 weeks after each and in a month was up to 10 milers. The second surgery was a bit more damage inside but I was on my bike trainer the next day with his blessing. It hurt, but his words (nothing structural wrong) kept me gently going. PT was no where near what it is today (far too conservative back then) so he say they'd slow me down too much and delay recovery, so I did my own with water runs and indoor rides.

Probably 20 years later and 10 Ironman races ago my knees are as good as ever and I would never question having it done. It's an amazing experience and one gets to learn the actual condition of the inside of your knees. At the time I had been running for 20 years and yet he said (I did a spinal and stayed awake) there was no signs of wear, arthritis or ligament issues. That kept me going as I knew I wasn't doing damage. I'm sure you'll look back and feel it was a great solution to keeping an active lifestyle. Best of luck!

---

Kiwami Racing Team

I had my left knee scoped a month ago. A couple of tears in the medial meniscus and a bone fragment in the joint tearing the articular cartilage. I rode, gently, 5 days after surgery and slowly ramped up my riding. One month post surgery my FTP is essentially back to the level pre-surgery. I rode a century outside yesterday. I was walking immediately after surgery and went on a 4 mile hike two weeks post surgery although I experienced some discomfort. But that passed quickly.

I had a couple of arthroscopies 20 years ago. Technology has changed and although I am much older it was a pretty easy recovery.

Congrats!

---

Kiwami Racing Team

I just had my surgery almost 2 weeks ago. The procedure went well and they found two loose bodies in there, one was almost the size of a dime. The doctor said the inside of my knee looked great and I had a lot of miles left on it.

I was able to get on the bike after about four days, just doing 5 minutes in building 5 minutes at a time until yesterday. I got really sore beginning on friday, particularly behind my knee. I think the combination of being the biking and increasing my physical therapy load fatigued me.

Has anyone else had experience with soreness behind their knee after the surgery? I've been working really hard on trying to get the swelling to go down with lots of leg elevation and icing.

Sorry I cant help with any advice. After the MRI my doc said he would not recommend surgery. I have a lot of arthritis in the patella compartment, and he does not want to risk making it worse with surgery that may or may not remove the loose bodies. As of now I don’t have any pain, just the catching and locking and occasional pain when the loose bodies are in a bad spot. Most of the time the knee feels ok.

That’s great your knee looks good otherwise with no severe arthritis. I would just give it more time.

I had this surgery done a year ago Christmas Eve. I had two large loose bodies removed and the meniscus trimmed. Prior to the surgery, I had no significant pain but the knee would lock while mountain biking, usually at inopportune times. I would also get significant swelling.

Post op, no pain, but I was relegated to crutches for 3 days then was able to start PT. I went through 6 weeks of PT, started cycling on a recumbent trainer at 3 weeks. I was advised no more running so mostly walked and hiked. Looking back at my garment stats, I rode 60 miles in Feb, 136 in March and 76 miles in April, mainly due to weather. I bought a Kickr and got a Zwift account and have logged between 500 and 750 miles monthly ever since.

Again, no significant post op pain but swelling persisted for 3 months and I did a lot of icing. I was out hiking recently on a frozen trail with lots of climbing and descending and I couldn’t tell that I ever had a problem. I have on occasion broken into a run chasing the dog or passing a slower hiker and have noticed mild stiffness the next day but no other problem. I’m currently doing the Build Me Up program on Zwift with no issues. I will tell you that 1 year before my surgery my FTP was 240, it’s now 204 and at 65, I doubt I’ll get much more back. Also, I had to retire from tri which I accept but I haven’t been able to part with my nearly new Shiv. On the bright side, though, I retired to Bend, OR and have discovered cross country skiing, kayaking and I still ride the roads, the MB trails and the Dirty Freehub gravel rides.

If you’re having issues, you may be doing too much too soon. Take your time getting back. Good luck.

I had 15% of my meniscus removed from my right knee in early December. I was back on my indoor trainer four days later, slowly working up on resistance and distance. I was back in the pool after two weeks.

We've (my PT and I) taken a conservative approach on running and it was 7 1/2 weeks before I ran again. I am on a every other day, four miles at a time right now. I am also riding 150 miles a week and swimming 2-3 times per week.

I had my left knee scoped 20+ years ago and have had no issues.

The key then, and I believe the same this time, is making sure my weight is in check and not rushing back on the run side.

Mine was in November of 15, IIRC it was less than a month.

I had some minor pain that the doc tried to address with an expensive shot.

I ended up moving a few weeks later and saw a new doc. He had me stretch my quad, and I was back on the bike a few days later.