Recent meniscal tear diagnosis...

I've had both knees done in the last ten months, the second one didn't go too well. Recently (Friday) re-tore my medial meniscus - MRI today, meet with my surgeon on Friday. My doctor said, "We'll get it right this time". My guess is that surgery will be scheduled on Tuesday. Let's compare our recovery, OK?

Here's the program: You'll be drugged up the first three days. Vicadin is lovely. They'll give you a cane an encourage to walk on it immediatly. Physical Therapy will start in two weeks - ultrasound, stretching, strengthening. You might be running in 5-6 weeks. Don't count on it.

Then again, you're younger than me, your recovery will probably be quicker.

When to you get cut?

I had arthroscopic surgery on both knees for meniscus tears in my late 40s. Before the surgeries I couldn?t jog the 20 yards down my driveway to the mailbox, and my knees would occasionally lock up totally. I had to work the next day after each surgery, and the knee was pretty sore when I tried to get around on it, but walking was pain-free in a couple of days. The orthopedic surgeon told me that my running should be paced by the pain level, but to come back as I felt like it. Years later the left knee remains totally pain-free. Since the surgery I?ve wrenched the right knee several times by catching my foot on something and, yeah, that knee occasionally bothers me when I go hard or go long. Nothing would have given me 20-year-old knees, but the surgeries have been a blessing.

Are you THAT Herb Lindsey from the 70's marathon champ days?

I wish:) I am just a fan. I get cut on the 12th of this month.

I had a portion of a torn medial meniscus cut away when I was scoped a couple of years ago. Thurs am was the surgery; Friday sucked - lots of pain, hobbling around on crutches; Saturday was fine - only need one crutch, went to party; Sunday I walked on it for 10 minutes; Monday I jogged on it for 5 min. I'd say I was completely back in action by 2 weeks.

I guess it really depends on a couple of things. One, whether it's being repaired or just cut away. If it's being repaired, then the recovery takes a lot longer b/c you need to keep the leg isolated. Second, good muscular development of your quads helps - if you've got big quads, the atrophy doesn't affect you as much.

Good luck.

Feb 12th? I bet I'm good for the 11th or 12th. The race is on!

Good input Benedict. I should add that after my first surgery the muscles in my quads did not fire for at least three weeks. No matter how hard I concentrated, I could muster up a faint "wiggle" at best!

I had a torn ACL in '88 but my cartilege was fine. Based on the fact I was only interested in running and not lateral sports and my knee was not excessively loose, the doctor recommended not to reconstruct. That was good advice as I had no problems with the knee for 15 years.

I started a running come back last summer and early fall at age 40 and it was going ok. Built up close to 100 per week, started feeling pretty good. Then I hurt it playing with my kids. Doc says its torn meniscus and I had MRI last night and talk to Doc on Monday.

If it is meniscus, this Doc is going to say to not only cut the cartilege (simple arthroscopy) but go for total reconstruction of the knee (major open knee surgery) to replace the ACL with a piece of the petellar tendon. I don't know which was to go with this and I have to decide monday morning. Any advice out there?

Thank you for sharing your experiences. Best wishes.

I think that meniscus tears are sometimes difficult to see on an MRI - mine didn't offer anything conclusive. The initial diagnosis on me was an MCL sprain. Had me go to PT for 4 weeks to see if it improved. 90% of time this corrects the problem. The other 10% of the time it most likely is a meniscus tear - the only way to know for sure is to get cut.

I know plenty of girls who have had ACL reconstruction (funny how it happens to them more often than guys). Lots and lots of rehab. Definately talk to a surgeon who works with athletes. If the ACL isn't bothering you, then I would leave it alone.

It's official, herblindsey, I get cut Tuesday the 11th! Let the recovery begin!

My Doc says he does 400 a year with one percent not going right. Says second scope has always been good. Oh well.

I, too, have been cut twice in the last two and a half years, most recently in the right knee December 18. (I'm 40). The biggest thing was that each knee healed differently: the first time, I ran 16 days out of surgery, ran a pedestrian 5k four weeks out, with each mile progressively faster, and really had no issues but letting the swelling dissipate after a month or two or three...

This time, I had horrible calf pain (apparently not blood clot related, though the bonehead surgeon couldn't have cared less!) for a week after surgery, and still stop while running to massage my calf. Last weekend I ran a tough 7+ miler on trails (BTW, I have hardly run on pavement since surgery, sticking to tracks and trails). Looking back at my log, I find that I've always had trouble with my right calf, going through periods of fairly intense tightness every year. I never paid much attention to it, and now I see the pain was always in the same leg. Anyway, I ran a 5k last weekend, too, working hard to jog a seven-minute mile to begin, then 6:56, 6:42, all the while making sure I was JOGGING, not running. In many ways, it was fun to trot along with folks working real hard--it's quite the ego boost.

My last point is that you should just go with it. You're not having anything reconstructed, so as my physical therapist said, you'll have no more risk of tearing something than the average joe. Pay attention to pain and fatigue, and don't try to run through it, as you would when you're heatlthy. We have many, many more miles to run, so six weeks of "wimpiness" will only help...

I just had a torn ACL replaced (with my patellar tendon) on Tuesday. I'm going to have lots of rehab, but in the end, I think my knee will be much better off. I am now able to walk short distances with no crutches and am completely off of the pain medication. I hope to be training seriously by May/June again.

I went ahead with the surgery because I am young (23) and want to be able to play other sports, as well as run, without the worry of my knee buckling and doing more damage to other parts of my knee. Now when I get back in shape, I will have complete confidence in my knee, whereas before, I was constantly favoring it. Best of luck whatever your decision is.

Thanks NT. Please give me updates on your progress. I will get a recommendation from my doc on monday morning.

Surgery done this morning, herblindsey, now it's your turn! Good luck. Asked my surgeon what he thought of my knees an does he expect any more trouble. He showed me the photos and said "other than the tear that we repaired, your knees show no sign of wear or arthritis, and look as good as those of a 20 year old" Whoever said that running is bad for the knees could it be they haven't been running enough?

Rock and Roll Malmo! I'll let you know how it goes. Best wishes!

malmo wrote:

Surgery done this morning, herblindsey, now it's your turn! Good luck. Asked my surgeon what he thought of my knees an does he expect any more trouble. He showed me the photos and said "other than the tear that we repaired, your knees show no sign of wear or arthritis, and look as good as those of a 20 year old" Whoever said that running is bad for the knees could it be they haven't been running enough?