Knee Arthroscopy recovery

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Calliope610
Calliope610 Posts: 3,771 Member
edited December 2014 in Fitness and Exercise
I don't know where to put this, but since it relates to returning to activity and exercise, I figure I would post here...

I think a knee arthroscopy is in my near future (January at the earliest). I have an appointment with an Ortho doctor on Thursday, and I know he will address my concerns then, but I'm anxious to know how long I might expect to be off from work. I have to figure out if I have enough sick and/or vacation time to cover my time off from work. I have a desk job so I'm not on my feet so I doubt I will be put on restricted/light duty.

How long was your recovery, how long before you could return to work, how long before you could return to full activity/exercise? I walk 2miles daily and bike 30-40miles/week.

Thanks,

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Replies

  • Muscleflex79
    Muscleflex79 Posts: 1,917 Member
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    I'm wondering the same thing as I might have to have the same procedure done. Hoping I can continue upper body workouts even when I can't do lower body stuff? Interested in any responses you'll get here...
  • DeeVanderbles
    DeeVanderbles Posts: 589 Member
    edited December 2014
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    Hi! I had plica in my right knee ("Plica is a term used to describe a fold in the lining of the knee joint. Imagine the inner lining of the knee joint as nothing more than a sleeve of tissue. This sleeve of tissue is made up of synovial tissue, a thin, slippery material that lines all joints."). I saw two orthos who both indicated they didn't think plica should cause pain but only one of them was willing to perform artroscopic surgery to remove it and search for another cause of pain. My surgery lasted about 20 minutes and they never found another cause of pain. My knee still bothers me now and then but for the most part is fine.

    I was able to walk on my foot that day without crutches or anything but I did use crutches simply because it was more comfortable/less awkward. I was back at work within 4 days. My knee still felt a little swollen/weird but was 100% functioning.

    This was back in 2009 before I was really active so I can't speak to how long before full activity/exercise but I'd definitely say longer than the 4 day recovery I had and would ask your doctor. Even though artroscopic surgery is generally the same in terms on invasiveness, depending on what they're doing and how long they're in there, that may play a role in your recovery time.
  • Calliope610
    Calliope610 Posts: 3,771 Member
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    @Dee, my orthro has mentioned a "thickened plica" during my initial examination...
  • dacspace
    dacspace Posts: 108 Member
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    My last surgery (a few years ago), I was out for a week per doctors' orders. I had a friend who had one done a few months ago and she was only out for a few days. I think it depends on the doctor and if they end up doing anything additional. My knee surgeries always end up with a "cleaning out" of the scar tissue and such so it's a bit more involved. I can say they will have you up and around walking with crutches before you leave the hospital (or same day surgery center).
    Physical therapy should be part of your recovery. I went 2X a week for about 6 weeks. The return to full activity was dependent on the PT's assessment in conjunction with my doctor's assessement. It took me about 8 weeks or so.
    I highly recommend having a stool of some kind to prop your leg on when you return to work. Just from personal experience, sitting all day tends to cause it to throb a bit if it's not elevated.
    Good luck!
  • DeeVanderbles
    DeeVanderbles Posts: 589 Member
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    dacspace wrote: »
    My last surgery (a few years ago), I was out for a week per doctors' orders. I had a friend who had one done a few months ago and she was only out for a few days. I think it depends on the doctor and if they end up doing anything additional. My knee surgeries always end up with a "cleaning out" of the scar tissue and such so it's a bit more involved. I can say they will have you up and around walking with crutches before you leave the hospital (or same day surgery center).
    Physical therapy should be part of your recovery. I went 2X a week for about 6 weeks. The return to full activity was dependent on the PT's assessment in conjunction with my doctor's assessement. It took me about 8 weeks or so.
    I highly recommend having a stool of some kind to prop your leg on when you return to work. Just from personal experience, sitting all day tends to cause it to throb a bit if it's not elevated.
    Good luck!

    My surgery was so minimal and non-invasive, I wasn't sent for PT as part of recovery. I don't remember him giving me exercises to do at home, either.
  • kshadows
    kshadows Posts: 1,315 Member
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    I had an arthroscopy of my knee on 11/5. It was a Wednesday and I was back at work on Friday, but I do have an office job where I sit at a desk all day so I just kept it elevated and iced it at work. I am still not back to normal activity and my recovery has been slow but that's not typical. Good luck! Feel free to ask any questions.
  • Calliope610
    Calliope610 Posts: 3,771 Member
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    Thanks for the info guys! :)
  • fitterforlife
    fitterforlife Posts: 19 Member
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    I had my arthroscopy in Dec 12. The surgeon decided to do micro fracture and ligament release during the same procedure. I was on crutches for 6 weeks . The physio and rehabilitation was extremely poor and had to keep going back to the hospital couple of times. Finally could walk after 3 .5 whole months and was back to work in March 13. I am not sure if the operation was a success or failure but I still struggle to climb stairs. I walk with a 2kg band around my left knee. Wish had never done it and continued exercising and loosing weight to counteract my Grade 1 Osteoarthritis.

    Hope you have a better experience than mine. Good luck !!1
  • turkeyhunter60
    turkeyhunter60 Posts: 319 Member
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    tore my meniscus several years ago, missed 3-4 days of work, then on crutches for a month.Keeping it elevated is important. Did not feel back to 100% for over a year. Did my own PT at home. I agree that every injury/repair, person, and doctor, are different on this one. Good luck.
  • mitch16
    mitch16 Posts: 2,113 Member
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    It depends on your procedure--not all arthroscopy is created equal. Are you simply having torn cartilage removed, or are you having something repaired? Vastly different recovery times between the two...
  • Calliope610
    Calliope610 Posts: 3,771 Member
    edited December 2014
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    @mitch,

    I'm getting a second opinion on Thursday. My primary ortho didn't want to do an MRI, just wanted to do an exploratory knee scope and take care on any problems at that time - thus the 2nd opinion. I do have a mis-aligned (40% offcenter) patella, so a lateral release may be in order, also possible meniscus tear, but nothing definitive yet. I hope to get a better diagnosis this Thursday.
  • dopeysmelly
    dopeysmelly Posts: 1,390 Member
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    I had torn cartilage removed on Oct 3. I was off crutches within a day, back to walking 2-3 miles within 5 days. Added back the stationary bike as I felt like, but was up to 30 mins within a months. Went for my first run (in years) yesterday.

    I had physical therapy and it was incredibly useful. I still do the exercises daily.

    Getting over the general anesthesia was tougher than the knee surgery and took over a week for me. I iced my knee a lot (every hour for 20 mins) for the first week, but also got up and slowly moved around once an hour to prevent loss of flexibility and to prevent secondary pain.

    If you can do exercises to improve muscle strength prior to surgery, you'll find recovery is MUCH quicker.
  • Calliope610
    Calliope610 Posts: 3,771 Member
    edited December 2014
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    dopeysmelly wrote: »
    I had torn cartilage removed on Oct 3. I was off crutches within a day, back to walking 2-3 miles within 5 days. Added back the stationary bike as I felt like, but was up to 30 mins within a months. Went for my first run (in years) yesterday.

    I had physical therapy and it was incredibly useful. I still do the exercises daily.

    Getting over the general anesthesia was tougher than the knee surgery and took over a week for me. I iced my knee a lot (every hour for 20 mins) for the first week, but also got up and slowly moved around once an hour to prevent loss of flexibility and to prevent secondary pain.

    If you can do exercises to improve muscle strength prior to surgery, you'll find recovery is MUCH quicker.

    Glad to hear your recovery went so smoothly and quickly :flowerforyou:
  • SonyaCele
    SonyaCele Posts: 2,841 Member
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    i am 4 weeks out from having had arthroscopic acl surgery, I took a week off work, wished i took two. I barely have full mobility and there is a lot of soreness. I'm on crutches for a total of 8 weeks (because of the new Acl). Rehab started within hours after the surgery. I'm expecting at least a year before i'm back close to where i was before the surgery.
  • Azdak
    Azdak Posts: 8,281 Member
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    DeeVanderbles wrote: »
    dacspace wrote: »
    My last surgery (a few years ago), I was out for a week per doctors' orders. I had a friend who had one done a few months ago and she was only out for a few days. I think it depends on the doctor and if they end up doing anything additional. My knee surgeries always end up with a "cleaning out" of the scar tissue and such so it's a bit more involved. I can say they will have you up and around walking with crutches before you leave the hospital (or same day surgery center).
    Physical therapy should be part of your recovery. I went 2X a week for about 6 weeks. The return to full activity was dependent on the PT's assessment in conjunction with my doctor's assessement. It took me about 8 weeks or so.
    I highly recommend having a stool of some kind to prop your leg on when you return to work. Just from personal experience, sitting all day tends to cause it to throb a bit if it's not elevated.
    Good luck!

    My surgery was so minimal and non-invasive, I wasn't sent for PT as part of recovery. I don't remember him giving me exercises to do at home, either.

    That's unfortunate. Obviously it sounds like things went OK for you but most people would recover much more quickly and completely if they were guided into a more active and vigorous recovery plan.

    To be clear, I am not criticizing you in any way or implying that you are trying to say that therapy isn't necessary. I am just using your experience as an example.

    It is my belief that If one has arthroscopic surgery, no matter how "minor" the surgeon says it is, patients should insist/demand they be given a referral to PT.
  • Azdak
    Azdak Posts: 8,281 Member
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    dopeysmelly wrote: »
    I had torn cartilage removed on Oct 3. I was off crutches within a day, back to walking 2-3 miles within 5 days. Added back the stationary bike as I felt like, but was up to 30 mins within a months. Went for my first run (in years) yesterday.

    I had physical therapy and it was incredibly useful. I still do the exercises daily.

    Getting over the general anesthesia was tougher than the knee surgery and took over a week for me. I iced my knee a lot (every hour for 20 mins) for the first week, but also got up and slowly moved around once an hour to prevent loss of flexibility and to prevent secondary pain.

    If you can do exercises to improve muscle strength prior to surgery, you'll find recovery is MUCH quicker.

    I was writing my own response and realized I overlooked this. Good information. Getting the swelling down and restoring range of motion are absolutely critical.

    One of the best pieces of advice I got from a PT was to keep the knee wrapped all the time, except when doing the ROM exercises. Even at night when sleeping. Wrapping helps push the fluid out of the knee area, which is essential for reducing swelling and preventing atrophy.
  • lborsato1
    lborsato1 Posts: 1,011 Member
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    I have had ACL reconstruction on both my knees. Most recent was done in 2009. Surgery was in March 2009, and I was cleared for skiing in September 2009. I am pretty active, and being in decent shape prior to the surgery is the ticket to a fast recovery. Physio was very important too.... The exercises and the therapy to reduce the swelling really got everything moving. You have to put in the effort with they therapy and ROM exercises if you want a speedy recovery.
  • sofaking6
    sofaking6 Posts: 4,589 Member
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    SonyaCele wrote: »
    i am 4 weeks out from having had arthroscopic acl surgery, I took a week off work, wished i took two. I barely have full mobility and there is a lot of soreness. I'm on crutches for a total of 8 weeks (because of the new Acl). Rehab started within hours after the surgery. I'm expecting at least a year before i'm back close to where i was before the surgery.

    ((hugs)) I had my ACL replaced w/patella arthroscopically. My sympathies to you and a note to keep breaking up that scar tissue :)
  • kkg1019
    kkg1019 Posts: 3 Member
    edited December 2014
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    I had mine last July (2013), along with a ligament release. PT is very very important!! They got me back on my feet and walking 2 miles a day with in 6 months. I'm so glad I had it done, but during my recovery, I really disliked my physical therapist (so much pain!). He's one of my favorite people now!
  • _Terrapin_
    _Terrapin_ Posts: 4,302 Member
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    OP--meniscus tear you may feel or sense when you pivot to get out of a car or truck. Wen you tae one leg out and 'push' off the other leg and you feel a twinge it may be a tear. I had a tear, rehabbed with PT for 4 months, and luckily, didn't need surgery. I also had 'floaters' which would lock the knee and be very painful, also PT'ed thru those and no surgery. Best of luck.

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