Torn meniscus in my knee

[Wingshooter]

Well I have a torn meniscus in my knee  Doc says I need surgery. Parrot beak, posterior horn.
 

Anyone else have this surgery (or recommend otherwise)? Knee feels a lot better now, but still not quite 100%. I can walk around much better now, but I have been mostly off my feet and ice pack for over a month. I really didn’t have a lot of pain. Had a lot of swelling and stiffness with a pulling sensation. It’s tolerable, but I don’t want to have it keep me from doing things I like to do either. This will be my first surgery or procedure. 
 

Bad timing too because I was supposed to be leaving this weekend for a 10 day backpacking spot-and-stalk bear hunt in Idaho 

 

[Grayfox54]

Had my left knee done back around 1994. No big deal. They did it Arthroscopic. Just a couple of very small cuts. Crutches for a couple of weeks, a cane for a couple of more, then a knee brace for about a month or two. Was off work maybe 6 weeks. haven't had any problems out of it since. 

The worst part was being stuck in the house for about a month. 

[Wingshooter]

40 minutes ago, Grayfox54 said:

Had my left knee done back around 1994. No big deal. They did it Arthroscopic. Just a couple of very small cuts. Crutches for a couple of weeks, a cane for a couple of more, then a knee brace for about a month or two. Was off work maybe 6 weeks. haven't had any problems out of it since. 

The worst part was being stuck in the house for about a month. 

Thanks. That’s good to know. I am hopeful that I will be able to use it back to full strength after it’s fixed. They will have to cut the torn flap off, so I don’t know how much meniscus I’ll lose. 

[Tuffus]

I had arthroscopic surgery on my left knee 3 times from age 26 - 46. The 3rd time I didn't need crutches after 1 day and missed no work. Pretty quick recovery each time. Bicycle riding strengthened the knee afterwards. You probably will be all fixed up after 1 surgery. Mine was due to a horrendous tibia plateau fracture which really ruins the joint and eventually had to be replaced. Good luck and have a quick recovery.

[gary_boom]

Had my right knee done 21 years ago. Off work one month. About a year later I thought I had hurt my knee again. Went back to the surgeon had a x ray he said it was arthritis very common after surgery.

[Darrell]

I think your age and general condition has a lot to do with recovery. I'm 65 and had my knee scoped last Dec. I played racquetball only a week later and had much less post-game pain, but there was still some.  A couple months ago I had injections of Duro-Lane (I think it's called) in both knees, and WOW, what a difference! Pain is all but eliminated now, BUT, the orthopedic surgeon made it clear that the injections aren't a fix and will last only five or six months. Eventually my knees will have to be replaced, but if the injections help me put that off, then I'll keep taking them.

[Gurn]

I had the surgery done about 10 years ago. I think it was just a couple of little cuts made. Was back to work in a few days. I must have torn it a few years before and just put up with it. Waited till it kept me from sleeping and driving without pain till I did something about it. Never really bothered me while walking. It sure was nice being able to sleep again without the pain. 
  So far so good, I expect some day I’ll have to have a bionic knee put in.  

[jpx2rk]

Messed my knee up last Nov., slight tear in the meniscus but no surgery, wore a brace for about 4 weeks, and it healed by itself per the xrays.  The Ortho doc said they normally don't do surgery except in extreme cases anymore, so your doc would prescribe the best route to go.  GL

[Wingshooter]

1 hour ago, Gurn said:

I had the surgery done about 10 years ago. I think it was just a couple of little cuts made. Was back to work in a few days. I must have torn it a few years before and just put up with it. Waited till it kept me from sleeping and driving without pain till I did something about it. Never really bothered me while walking. It sure was nice being able to sleep again without the pain. 
  So far so good, I expect some day I’ll have to have a bionic knee put in.  

I also think i tore it a few years ago, and it’s just now causing a bigger problem. Good to know you got right back to life and no pain. Thanks

[OldIronFan]

Tore my meniscus and fractured the head of my tibia running more than 10 years ago. I had to wait for the fracture to heal up before I could contemplate the meniscus repair. Once I had waited the knee felt ok'ish enough that I put off surgery. It continually got worse though and it began to limit me in my daily activities. I still tried to avoid surgery with about 8 weeks of physical therapy. Of course that did not help since meniscus do not repair themselves so I finally had the surgery. It was instantaneously better. 

Very little pain after surgery. I had it done on a Wednesday and was in physical therapy again that Friday. I was on crutches for 7 days but they were slowly getting me back bearing some weight through that week. By the following Wednesday I was off crutches, walking 1+ miles a day, and hitting physical therapy 3 times a week. I could have gone back to running inside of a month if I had wanted to. 

My take away points;
Do as much physical therapy (strengthen and stretch the knee supporting muscle structure including your hip) as you can before the surgery. I firmly believe it greatly reduces recovery time and complications. 
Do as much physical therapy after surgery as you can. Same reasons as above. 
Do not wait to have the surgery any longer than you have to. My biggest complications were lots, and lots, and lots of scar tissue that had to be removed from previously unaddressed injury. I was also compensating for the weakened knee causing misalignment and increased strain on other supporting muscle and structure. I should have done it as soon as my fracture healed. 

I went to Vanderbilt Bone and Joint in Franklin. Surgery took a few hours and was outpatient. I was home in my own bed that afternoon. The surgeon that did my repair is no longer there at Vanderbilt but I still have good things to say about them in general. I have been back to a different doctor for a hand injury and they are very thorough and efficient. 

Edited May 4, 2022 by OldIronFan
typo

[Wingshooter]

1 hour ago, jpx2rk said:

Messed my knee up last Nov., slight tear in the meniscus but no surgery, wore a brace for about 4 weeks, and it healed by itself per the xrays.  The Ortho doc said they normally don't do surgery except in extreme cases anymore, so your doc would prescribe the best route to go.  GL

I’m on the fence about the surgery. It feels almost normal now (slight pain with stairs, slightly swollen and a little stiff). Doc says I have a flap that is flipped up and can cause wear and tear on the joint. I’m not a fan of surgery unless absolutely necessary tho

[Wingshooter]

10 minutes ago, OldIronFan said:

Tore my meniscus and fractured the head of my tibia running more than 10 years ago. I had to wait for the fracture to heal up before I could contemplate the meniscus repair. Once I had waited the knee felt ok'ish enough that I put of surgery. It continually got worse though and it began to limit me in my daily activities. I still tried to avoid surgery with about 8 weeks of physical therapy. Of course that did not help since meniscus do not repair themselves so I finally had the surgery. It was instantaneously better. 

Very little pain after surgery. I had it done on a Wednesday and was in physical therapy again that Friday. I was on crutches for 7 days but they were slowly getting be back bearing some weight through that week. By the following Wednesday I was off crutches, walking 1+ miles a day, and hitting physical therapy 3 times a week. I could have gone back to running inside of a month if I had wanted to. 

My take away points;
Do as much physical therapy (strengthen and stretch the knee supporting muscle structure including your hip) as you can before the surgery. I firmly believe it greatly reduces recovery time and complications. 
Do as much physical therapy after surgery as you can. Same reasons as above. 
Do not wait to have the surgery any longer than you have to. My biggest complications were lots, and lots, and lots of scar tissue that had to be removed from previously unaddressed injury. I was also compensating for the weakened knee causing misalignment and increased strain on other supporting muscle and structure. I should have done it as soon as my fracture healed. 

I went to Vanderbilt Bone and Joint in Franklin. Surgery took a few hours and was outpatient. I was home in my own bed that afternoon. The surgeon that did my repair is no longer there at Vanderbilt but I still have good things to say about them in general. I have been back to a different doctor for a hand injury and they are very thorough and efficient. 

That’s great info. Thanks! 
 

I have noticed that my other knee and shoulder have been hurting lately from favoring them to move around. I also pulled a muscle in my back from limping. That was when my knee hurt more. Knee feels much better now, but I am concerned if I put surgery off then I will reinjure it while in the woods or doing some other activity in the future.

I just want to get back to normal ops. I have a backpack elk hunt planned this fall. It sounds like with the surgery I should be able to hike and backpack...

 

ETA: Did they trim away your meniscus or stitch it? They would need to trim mine. I hate to “lose” body pieces lol

Edited May 4, 2022 by Wingshooter

[OldIronFan]

13 minutes ago, Wingshooter said:

That’s great info. Thanks! 
 

I have noticed that my other knee and shoulder have been hurting lately from favoring them to move around. I also pulled a muscle in my back from limping. That was when my knee hurt more. Knee feels much better now, but I am concerned if I put surgery off then I will reinjure it while in the woods or doing some other activity in the future.

I just want to get back to normal ops. I have a backpack elk hunt planned this fall. It sounds like with the surgery I should be able to hike and backpack...

Yep, The tear in my right knee started aggravating my left knee, my right hip, and my lower back. I have never had back issues like so many friends and family members so I was concerned. After fixing the knee and getting everything strong again it all went away. Years later and no lower back pain, no knee pain, and no hip issues. 

I was surprised at how much hip strength and flexibility affected knee function. I did not really think of them as all that related or connected until I started focusing on my hips in physical therapy to strengthen the upper leg and knee. 

The big trigger for me to finally break down and have the surgery was when my knee would just buckle at unexpected times. All those other muscles that are compensating for your injured knee can just basically give up for a moment. It really liked to do it when I was going up stairs. I dropped my motorcycle once when I put my right foot down and the knee buckled. Parked the bike, started physical therapy, then scheduled the surgery right after that. 

Edited May 4, 2022 by OldIronFan

[Moped]

Had two tears in my left knee repaired and a arthritic grit sucked out of my knee about 7 years ago, arthoscopically. I was up walking around in a TVA Switchyard 4 days later.  Spent the weekend on crutches, though.  It sucked. But I started PT two weeks later, for  couple of weeks, then I was good to go.  Swelling never completely went down, but I've been hiking on it, ever since.  Still get some pain, but nothing major. 

[Guest]

14 hours ago, Grayfox54 said:

Had my left knee done back around 1994. No big deal. They did it Arthroscopic. Just a couple of very small cuts. Crutches for a couple of weeks, a cane for a couple of more, then a knee brace for about a month or two. Was off work maybe 6 weeks. haven't had any problems out of it since. 

The worst part was being stuck in the house for about a month. 

I could have literally made the EXACT same post, mine was called a "Remedial Muniscal Tear". I will add one thing; As I was favoring my L knee, I developed one HELL of a lower back ache that I totally attribute to walking crooked.

[Gurn]

10 hours ago, Wingshooter said:

That’s great info. Thanks! 
 

I have noticed that my other knee and shoulder have been hurting lately from favoring them to move around. I also pulled a muscle in my back from limping. That was when my knee hurt more. Knee feels much better now, but I am concerned if I put surgery off then I will reinjure it while in the woods or doing some other activity in the future.

I just want to get back to normal ops. I have a backpack elk hunt planned this fall. It sounds like with the surgery I should be able to hike and backpack...

 

ETA: Did they trim away your meniscus or stitch it? They would need to trim mine. I hate to “lose” body pieces lol

They removed mine. Yeah, that worried me but so far so good. 

[No_0ne]

20 minutes ago, Gurn said:

They removed mine. Yeah, that worried me but so far so good. 

Mine too, along with a lot of other repairs in 1977.  Made it to 2018 before I had total replacement.  It never was completely right after the first surgeries I had back then, but I learned to live with it.  The last 10 years before they installed the bionic knee, I had multiple injections each year, some of cortisone, many with the ground up rooster comb concoctions.  I should have had it replaced years before I did, but at least I can walk again now, albeit slowly and with a slight limp.  The arthroscopic surgeries they can do now are much less intrusive and the recovery period is far less, my advice would be to bite the bullet and get it done right away, hopefully preventing some of the long-term damage that I did to mine by waiting too long ...

Edited May 5, 2022 by No_0ne

[Guest]

They trimmed mine, if I recall. I have not had any major issues with that knee, but it does give a twinge every now and again.