So, I guess I’m looking for opinions on my situation, which is:
After a winter of the Barry P run program, I was running 6X a week, 30’-60’-90’I started to experience knee painWent to primary physician, he examined knee, said I had a Baker’s Cyst, most likely caused by torn meniscusHad an MRI, confirmed DXUnderwent arthroscopic meniscectomy (removed torn portion)Follow up with Surgeon 7 days after surgery, he gave me the OK to resume normal activitiesResumed hard bike training (I had been riding hard right up to surgery date, but had not run for ~ 6 weeks)Resumed running- 20’ every other day 1st week, 30’ every other day 2nd week, ran six times 3rd week (3x15’, 2x30’, 1x45’)Had back of knee swelling (same symptoms that caused me to go to Dr. in the first place) the day after 45’ runSaw Surgeon last night, said I had a Baker’s Cyst, and drained itI asked if I caused this by running, he said no, but couldn’t give a reason I’ve been reading about recovery from this surgery, and it sounds like I may have been overly enthusiastic, and done too much too soon (particularly in regards to the running)
Has anyone else had this procedure and what was your recovery like? Thanks.
yes, i’ve had a meniscus repair (which failed) then a partial meniscectomy. the removal is a walk in the park compared to the repair.
that said, you clearly overdid it and your body told you so.
regardless of how you feel, arthroscopic surgery is still invasive and traumatic to the body. resuming HARD training is also traumatic (causes damage the body needs to heal from, on top of the healing from surgery).
what did your doctor say to do? does he understand how hard you, as an athlete, can go and what that means? for some docs, getting the OK to resume activity does not mean what you as such an athlete consider to be “normal.”
my recommendation is to ease back into things and gradually ramp up intensity rather than the way you did it.
the good news is that years later, i have no pain. i think you will be fine, but give it time (a few months) before you expect to be going full-bore. yeah, maybe you can do it sooner, but if you do too much too soon you wind up where you are now, and that sucks. if you ramp up, you’ll get instant feedback for when you (slightly) overdo it.
good luck!
Thanks. FWIW, I told my doc that I race duathlons, and have been doing so for 17 years. I assumed he would know that when I said, “So I can ride my bike and run?” one week after surgery, I really meant ride my bike and run. It did seem odd to me, but I was, of course, very eager to get training again.
Thanks for the info. I guess I just needed someone to tell me what I sorta already knew- I need to ease back into this, so I can race long term.
Thanks. FWIW, I told my doc that I race duathlons, and have been doing so for 17 years. I assumed he would know that when I said, “So I can ride my bike and run?” one week after surgery, I really meant ride my bike and run. It did seem odd to me, but I was, of course, very eager to get training again.
Thanks for the info. I guess I just needed someone to tell me what I sorta already knew- I need to ease back into this, so I can race long term.
yeah–without knowing your doc, i’d have to assume that like the majority of doctors out there, he doesn’t understand your deep commitment to racing.
riding a bike is awesome for recovery from that surgery – but he, too, probably doesn’t know how much power you put out.
for these reasons, i specifically seek out doctors who are both good at their craft but also have an understanding (direct if possible) of the activities we do.
ps one reason i no longer make assumptions with doctors is that i’ve had the following all-too-common exchange one too many times:
me: so, when will i be recovered?
doc: 6 weeks.
me: cool.
<6 weeks passes>
me: am i ready to go?
doc: wait 4 weeks, then start easing back slowly. i’ll see you again in 2 months.
me: WTF? you said 6 weeks!
doc: i said you have recovered in 6 weeks but you are not healed.
it’s sort of like the ‘can i go to the bathroom?/may i go to the bathroom?’ thing…but it has happened with a number of doctors over the years. i’d rather they tell me straight out what the worst case is so i can prepare for it and be pleasantly surprised vs false optimism or misleading statements. now that i know this happens, i probe for it.