This past winter I played quite a bit of indoor tennis, both clay and hard court, and in the middle of the season I stretched for a ball and tweeked something in my knee. I was able to continue playing thru the season but my knee got progressively more sore as I played. Had an MRI done and it shows that I've got an acute torn medial meniscus. Surgeon says it's straightforward to remove the tear (unlikely able to be repaired) and that it would be a few weeks of recovery given the atrophied state of my right knee. Has anyone had arthroscopic knee surgery to remove cartilage and were you able to get back to an active lifestyle. I'm 55 and am in the gym at least 5 days a week and getting on the treadmill most of those days. I'd like to get back to at least doing some of that.
AKB - Tore my knee meniscus playing tennis ...
- Thread starter RochLion
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I had the surgery. I walked out of the hospital afterward.
It hurt for a few weeks but nothing bad. The pain after tearing it was worse than the pain drum surgery. There was no permanent difference.
It hurt for a few weeks but nothing bad. The pain after tearing it was worse than the pain drum surgery. There was no permanent difference.
I highly recommend exploring all other options before even considering committing to the arthroscopy.
Had both knee scoped 15-20 years ago from hockey injuries. I was playing golf within a few days each time. Be prepared for doctor to tell you he/she “cleaned” up other small issues once they get the scope in there. Happened both times with me
I did something similar. I didn’t get an operation. Took about 6 months of low activity to heal.
Had my left knee done about 7 years ago. Pain free to this day. No problems.
Now if only the full tear in my right knee was as easy
My son tore his during a wrestling match in Feb. Ortho sent him to PT, he was doing well, then standing up cross legged in our living room finished it off, had surgery in April. Had the repair with 6 stitches in the meniscus. Crutches for a month. then one crutch for a few weeks, currently continuing PT. Out of sports until at least December. Dr. Said an ACL would have been quicker recovery, but said for younger people they always want to preserve/ repair as first option. (Trim is 1 monthish recovery) Sucks for him, between Covid and this injury will basically have 2 years of high school sports.
Why? The wear are tear from a torn meniscus is far worse than getting the damage removed.
I’ve had my knees cleaned out 6 times (4 on the left 2 on the right). You will be walking the next day. The surgery is over in 30 minutes. Rehab is quick as they are simply removing damaged tissue rather than restructuring.
My wife is headed for this, possibly this fall. I hope her experience is like yours. This has been an annually more difficult problem for close to 10 years to the point that she can't take a walk anymore or stand very long. She can no longer find a position that reduces the pain. It's time to take action. A surgeon discussed it with her a month ago and he suggested having an MRI to see more accurately what her condition is. He did say she has bone spurs, arthritis and a potential tear of the miniscus with other sundry issues from an x-ray.
I’ve had meniscus surgeries in both knees. Many tears cannot be resolved by physical therapy. If the knee is locking or clicking, like mine, you definitely need surgery. I had a fair amount of pain in both knees after the surgeries, but lost 65 pounds and the pain went away.
Wow that's tough, but yeah it's just one of those subtle movements that seems to finish it off. A tennis buddy of mine had a near full ACL tear. Six months later he's back to playing tennis like nothing ever happened. I'm going to his Dr now!
Every visit with the Ortho they ask if it is clicking or locking. It hadn't been but it is starting feel like ligament/muscle is sliding over each other and hesitation now.
Depends on MD, the injury and person injured. Some are back to pain free living really fast, others take many months and still others get chronic pain and deterioration. But if you are active and can't be with the injury, there's little choice. Pain and locking up of a knee is no way to go through life.
It’s not the initial discomfort or lack thereof that is a concern. In fact, that’s negligible. There are longer term side effects that need to be discussed in detail with the physician. One question I might suggest is, “what are the chances of developing early-onset arthritis at the surgery site?”
Partial tear a couple years ago. Had surgery scheduled but switching jobs and insurance and then Covid prevented me from getting it repaired. However, knee currently feels great, lost 15 pounds this year and have no knee pain anymore. Back to regularly playing sports again.
Had my meniscus torn and cleaned up by Dr Burke in Pittsburgh about a year ago. Was playing racquetball regularly at that time. Gave it up(gym closed Covid) but do play pickleball now. Still a little phantom pain once in awhile, mostly while I'm sleeping. Play golf and walk regularly. Fairly pain free and swelling has all gone away after surgery. Relatively short recovery but be careful descending steps for awhile. Can be tricky.
I’m 65. Two days after my repair in 2017, exploded mine during a routine run, I was on the elliptical. I workout 6 days a week and have had no problems.
I’m sure this is dependent on the specific nature and location of the year, but with all of mine the surgeon instructed me to get the surgery as leaving rough edges or loose bodies would accelerate degradation. His explanation was that rough surfaces are like sandpaper further wearing and tearing the reaming cartilage. Believe me I understand osteoarthritis. My left knee has about 30% cartilage remaining and about 70 in my right knee. All my fault however through football and dabbling in powerlifting.
I had mine done 5 years ago. I'm 54. I hobbled for years until I finally got it checked and had both a simple and complex tear. Dr. said he recommended removing the damages areas. Removal is a much quicker recovery than repair. I was back up an around in a few days. BEST thing I ever did. The pain was gone and no more popping and cracking. Pain free to this day and I walk 6 miles or more a day now. I wish I had done it years before. Hope that helps.
Sucks. I’m 41 and still very active. My ortho advised me to do whatever I want to do for as long as I can and we will address things further as we get there. I’ve lost weight and modified my exercise routine lately, and my knees feel better than they have in some time. I found exercises that keep me healthy with minimal joint inflammation. My left knee (the 6 surgeries) has essentially nothing more to take. I would only get scoped again if a loose body breaks out and needs to be removed. I am starting to develop bone Spurs as well, but they are still mild. I’m headed for double knee replacement at some point. I do hope my “bad” knee can make it until I’m 60 or so, and that does seem rather likely now, thankfully.
This sound a lot like my diagnosis. The radiologist termed the MRI "complex" tear with a rotational aspect. Ortho surgeon says that it's rare that repair can be done because of the lack of blood flow to the area. My PT says that it may take time to heal because if they "sand" away to smoothen edges it takes time for it to become completely smooth again. Thanks for the info.
Yeah apparently mine was a mess. They cleaned it out and removed the damage etc. I have been good to go since then. The only downside is that he said because of the removal, at some point it is possibly that knee replacement may be needed but would depend on wear and tear. So I basically got a prescription to NOT run anymore. I walk and try and do lower impact activities. I wouldn't stress about it.
I walk and try and do lower impact activities. I wouldn't stress about it.Yeah I'm starting to come to the realization that I'm going to have to replace running with other cardio like elliptical and bike. Unfortunately I'll probably have to limit tennis to just occasional as opposed to weekly. Or, take up pickleball as others have suggested. I have been resisting till now.Yeah apparently mine was a mess. They cleaned it out and removed the damage etc. I have been good to go since then. The only downside is that he said because of the removal, at some point it is possibly that knee replacement may be needed but would depend on wear and tear. So I basically got a prescription to NOT run anymore.
I had a similar experience. I had my right knee scoped about 20 years ago. It took about a year for the pain to go away but has been fine ever since. A couple of years ago I had left knee pain and an MRI revealed another torn meniscus. The surgeon again wanted to scope it. Instead I did physical therapy and lowered my weight from 205 to 165. The pain is gone.
Same experience more or less…tore my meniscus and a week or two later it felt much better. Surgeon said when it starts to bother me again he’ll clean it up. Ran on it for 7 years with no issues and then it finally started bothering me so had it cleaned up…no issues since then.
Got the knee scoped an cartilage tear remove early today. Worst part of procedure was getting IV in! Slippery veins! Surgeon said torn part was probably flapping over an causing pain. Hope to be ready to walk NYC and US Open grounds in 4 wks. Go Federer and Nadal.
Had knee replacement 1 year and 3 months ago. Took a year but I'm back to about 95% good.
I went to a physical therapist for about 2 months. He taught me the knee exercises that helped.
All involved laying on a flat surface. I did every exercise for 15 reps. The first was to lay on my back and flex my knee downward and hold it for a few seconds. The next was to do leg lifts and hold at the top for about 5 seconds. The third was to take a cylinder (coffee can worked good) and put it under my knee. Then I raised my lower leg up with the cylinder supporting it. I held the lower leg in place for a few seconds.
I did these exercises for a few months and they seemed to help. At the same time I was walking about 12,000 steps per day and climbing about 25 flights of stairs per day. One good piece of advice from my orthopedic surgeon was to always walk up stairs but take the elevator down if one is available. Walking up stairs is good for your knees but walking down stairs is bad.
Good luck.
Most important is the physical therapy. Do it well as directed and continue to do it long after you are discharged from therapy. Too many people quit the exercises a month or two after surgery just because the pain went away. Do them at least six months.
Strengthening the muscles and tendons of the knees will take a lot of pressure off of the knee structure. Eeven better to do the exercises for the rest of your life. Even if you skip a couple months for some reason, get back to it especially during the winter when we all get out of shape.
Helps to lose weight if needed. Less weight means less stress.
Well I did it again! As I posted earlier I had arthroscopic surgery on my right knee to remove a meniscus tear back in Aug. Now tomorrow I get it done on the left knee. Tore it doing a tennis cardio class. Never doing that again! This one feels much worse than the other so I'm anxious to see how it is after surgery. Mid-50s!?!
If he’s repairing a torn meniscus it could mean you will be non weight baring for a few months. Minor tears are nothing. Tore mine wrestling in my early 30’s. Was walking without crutches in little over a week. Ortho was kind enough to remove debris and smoothed the meniscus to avoid arthritis in future.
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