Had meniscus surgery in Jan, still wary

Garrett1234

Anyone else had knee surgery? My knee is still a little sore sometimes and bugs me a little, though the agony of the torn meniscus was fixed by the surgery. Still, I'm apprehensive about running again. Maybe I'll stick to biking and walking.

I'd be interested to hear anyone else's stories of recovery, or lack thereof, how your routines changed after surgery, etc.

Thanks!

GiddyupTim

Hey,
How are you going to compare? Torn menisci come in different shapes and sizes. When they repair them, sometimes they sew the tear closed. Other times, they simply trim the frayed edges. I think that sometimes they think the tear actually heals and grows back together. But often not.
I tore my ACL and my meniscus and some cartilage, and I had surgery. Here's what I do know: Recovery is generally quite good, but the rate of recovery can be highly variable.
For example, I had my surgery in almost exactly the same week as Adrian Peterson. (He was December. I was January.) He was back in the NFL eight months later, while I was still hobbling around with much discomfort and trepidation. But, mine is great now. I feel like it is still healing a bit, and there is some soreness in there, but I am not limited at all. I jog up to eight miles. I play tennis four times a week. I do Crossfit and weight lifting.
I also think that you have to be careful with a torn meniscus. If it isn't healed, and hasn't been sewn back together, it is sitting there with a rip that is vulnerable to further tearing, if you run too much or put too much weight on it. I know, for instance, there was a guy on here who was a weight lifter. Big guy. He found out he had a meniscus tear. His doctor told him to stop deadlifting because he might make it worse. Now, this guy was a power lifter who was probably deadlifting over 400 pounds. But, that advice might hold for us mere mortals too. i do not know.
I would recommend that you go to your surgeon, and/or someone else in sports medicine, and find out specifically what kind of surgery you had and get their advice. I would go to two people, if it were me. See if you can get two differing opinions, and then go with...I don't know.
Hard to generalize in any way.
Don't sweat being apprehensive. All of us are at first. It is hard to get over that trauma and get back out there. But, don't worry and don't rush it. If your knee is 100 percent you'll come to trust it again.
P.S. Love Niagra Falls. i used to live in Rochester, back in the 90s.

Azdak

You can also have knee issues not directly related to the actual surgery. I have had 3 menistectomies--at ages 40, 51, and 56. I recovered fine from the actual surgery each time. When I had the first one, I also had muscle imbalance issues which lead to a whopping case of patello femoral tendinitis. That affected me for 10 months, but wasn't really related to the surgery. Since then,I have taken are of my knees. Everyone's situation is different, but I was able to return to running, squats, anything I wanted to do with no restrictions within 4-6 wks of the surgery.

You really have to get details from your surgeon or from a therapist as to what activities are ok. Unless there is arthritis present or some other structural issue, your issues might be related to muscle weaknesses rather than the surgery itself. Just something to consider before you conclude that you have a "bum knee" for life.