What do you know about miniscus tears?

I have had a fall 2 weeks ago, feel really dumb! I'm pretty sure I sprained my knee as that seems to be getting better finally. I went to the DR and he's concerned I may have torn the miniscus. I am scheduled for an MRI on Friday. I thought that sounded like a pretty simple surgery, but online I have read that it could be up to 3-4 months before I can resume normal activities. Has anyone ever had this or know someone who has? I was hoping that I would be back to normal a little sooner.

I have had 3 surgeries for torn meniscus in the past 15 years, the last one being the second for my right knee two years ago tomorrow.

Part of the length of your recovery depends on what underlying issues you had prior to the surgery. Another factor is the skill of the surgeon and what they do while they are in there. Prior to my first surgery, I had developed patello-femoral tendinitis. The surgeon also decided to do some freelancing while he was in there and removed the plica, a fat pad near the patella. That little extra resulted in a LOT more swelling and basically shut down my quads. At first I did extremely well--3 weeks after the surgery I ran 30 min on a treadmill. Then the patello-femoral issues returned with a vengeance and a week later I could not walk 100 feet without pain. It took a good 10 months to return to running pain free.

The next two (2003 and 2007) went much better. There were no underlying issues and I was much more knowledgeable about rehab. I had both surgeries on a Monday and in both cases played golf (walking) the following Saturday.

The most important things are to reduce the swelling and regain full range of motion ASAP. That means ice, ice, ice, ice, ice and wrap, wrap, wrap. I used an icing machine--it's like a cooler that you fill with ice water with tubes that run into a wrap that goes around the knee. You plug it in and it circulates the icy water--it works great, but ice will still do OK as well.

Keep the knee wrapped, starting below the knee and wrapping it so that the fluid is pushed toward the trunk. Only take off the wrap to do your exercises. Use crutches until you can walk with a full range of motion--don't limp.

Follow you doctor's instructions, but you should be able to do mild strengthening (straight leg lifts) and range of motion exercises after the first day. If you have access to a bike, it can be helpful to turn the pedals--not as exercise, but as range of motion stretching. Set the seat high enough so that you can do a full revolution. There will be some discomfort.

I found that the first two days were OK, then the swelling got worse on days 3 and 4, then became significantly reduced on day 5. I would recommend that you track your progress by measuring the circumference of the knee.

I think I did mostly low-impact exercise for awhile--bike, strairclimber, elliptical. I can't remember when I went back to running after the last 2 surgeries. Given my weight, I wasn't doing a lot of running at all in those days. But I was back to pretty much my full cardio routine within 2-3 weeks.

Because the recovery can go relatively quickly, many people do not bother with formal rehab. I think that is a big mistake. Make sure you get your doc to give you a referral and set up some sessions.

Good luck.