I’ve just been diagnosed with a torn Meniscus (knee cartilage) and about to have surgery. Anyone have any experience of how long I may be out of action and what my chances are of resuming normal (Ironman) training in the future?
Cheers
I’ve known soccer players with this injury who were back playing shortly after the procedure. I’m not a surgeon, but I’d suspect it depends on the severity of the tear.
Lateral or medial? What size and shape and grade? AR ethey repairing or removing? How much is being removed? Are they doing anything else?
Lots of factors.
But if it’s a small tear, and all they are doing is removing a small bit, you may be up and running again in a few weeks.
A friend of mine had surgery to repair a torn meniscus and he was back riding in a week and a half. Although, I think his tear was minor because he was riding right up until he had surgery. He said riding didn’t bother his knee, but standing all day during work was killing him.
Jeff
Some many questions and so few answers at the moment.
I don’t know that is the answer.
Was just really asking generally if anyone has had this done or had knowledge of.
Yeah, I understand the best scenario would have me up and about pretty quick. But am I feeling lucky.? Well, I just tore my cartilage.
I had a meniscal tear surgery in November 2005, was riding again in 1-2 weeks and ran my first marathon in July 2006 without any problems. The piece they removed was about the size of a finger nail.
if it’s just a tear and everything else looks good you’ll be fine. Good luck.
Had surgery for meniscus tear last year, was able to bike and swim within a week and run wihin 5 weeks. Do the rehab. So far, no problems. Best of luck.
I tore it in my left knee while running home on crooked sidewalks, went to a doctor and was told that if you can live with it leave it alone. No sense cutting you up if the discomfort is not that bad…so I guess I got used to it or something but a year later it’s not any worse. I did stop running home from work on crooked sidewalks.
It’s been 10 years since I had this done, but the only hurdle to recovery was getting the extra fluid injected during surgery out. Beyond that, simple rehab started right away and all activities that I could tolerate w/o discomfort were strongly encouraged. I suppose the technique has advanced in the last decade and fluid retention might no longer be an issue.
Have now had 40% of medial meniscus removed. Seems I have a badly bruised ACL to boot. So rest for a few weeks and go from there I guess. Oh, and hope for the best.
Sounds like you already had the surgery. Best of luck with your recovery.
I had surgery 3 months ago. First four days I did not do anything. Sat on the couch and worked (laptop), watched TV, etc. I did some straight leg lifts to engage the quads, but that was it. Next few weeks I eased into walking, then biking, then jogging. By the fifth week following surgery I was completely cleared to do whatever I wanted.
However … (and there is alway a however) … my knee is actually more sore now than before. The soreness is localized where one of the scopes went in, so it could be scar tissue from teh surgery. But it is also at the same point as the tear, so it could be more. I am weaning off the motrin over the next few weeks and have a follow-up call with my doc planned if things do not improve.
Good luck and do the rehab.
drn92
I had the same thing happen to me. My advice is to get it operated on ASAP, so you can begin to get back on the road. In my case, I had surgery nine weeks before IM Hawaii… I completed the race under brutal conditions, but obviously, had a very slow marathon.
I almost did no running between July and October and it showed in my marathon time, but heck it was Hawaii and you never know if you will ever be back. I just wanted to finish and was determined to get to the line.
Post surgery, I was off of everything for about two weeks, and then started with short bike rides. The one thing you have to be careful of is getting back in the pool too soon. While you would think that the pool would be the only way to keep your fitness without using your legs, you have to wait until your wound heals so you don’t get an infection from the pool water.
After about a month I was back to riding long like before. I only did short T runs of 20-30 minutes max before the big day. Once the race was over, I just rode and did not run for a couple of month to let myself completely heal.
I hope this helps.
I also had a torn meniscus last year. Had the surgery in Oct and was running 5-6 weeks after. I was biking the next week. I had to take a week off from swimming( I have an endless pool so my MD ok’d this) I ran a half marathon in Feb and did well. I also did an IM in JUne and had no problems. The sooner you get it done the sooner you will be back. My leg was weak at first so I spent some time in the weight room.
The surgery itself is really easy to recover from. I’m a recovery room nurse and I love scope pts. It’s day surgery outpatient. You will probably be done under general anesthesia. Talk to your surgeon he will probably put a local in the area during surgery so you will wake up with mild pressure in the knee. I had a small dose of pain medicine in the Recovery Room. It really took the edge off. I went home soon after that.
As soon as I got home I elevated my leg and spent most of the day on the couch. I had a cyro cuff aircast which I think really helped. I put this on right away and recycled the cold water frequently. I took pain medicine that night mostly for sleep so I could sleep with my leg elevated. I didn’t need any pain med again. I had the surgery on Fri and was spinning on Mon easy.
Thanks very much guys, for all the help, advice and encouragement. I’ve obviously been a little worried about this, but the general opinion seems to be that it’s not a show stopper and I should be back to training sooner rather than later.
Thanks again
Chubbly