Recovery from knee arthroscopy??
So, I know I have a posterior/lateral meniscus tear confirmed by MRI last May. My lateral knee "discomfort" is on the rise & the Baker's cyst is a pain in the a**. I am seriously leaning toward having the knee scoped and cleaned up.
What is realistic recovery time/return to running & biking?
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The good thing is that by fixing that tear, the bakers cyst and the hammie tendons around it will get relief.
Plan on 4-6 weeks to get back to normal. To be a little more specific, it would look like this-
You're looking at a solid week of full cease and desist no exercise down time. Goals for that week are to stretch and ice like it's your job. You want to get full mobility back and get rid of all the swelling as priority number one. This is tough, because most people feel awesome after the surgery, get it close enough mobility wise and then do to much causing it to balloon back up on day 3-4. mobility first, then strength.
Week 2 you can be back on the bike, but there will be no intensity there till week 3-4 and even then, it will be a progression back towards anything in the FTP range.
Week 4-6 is usually where running can be brought back, BUT....this is going to depend on a few things. The pre-surgery unknown is how much work is the MD going to need to do in there to "clean it up". That be minimal or it can be involved and that will ultimately determine the time frames.
Plan on 4-6 and make sure you get some PT orders.
Thanks, Leigh !! This will be AFTER Lovin the Hills, I just want to anticipate how long I will be down.
Gina, after having 2 surgeries myself, take as long as needed, because they can be hurt more and then what will be the next option for you? I had a meniscus tear that I had cleaned up, and it felt so good a month later I began running on it. Only then, swelling never went down, and the pain came back. To find out a year later I had no meniscus left, along with a half dollar legion on my articular cartilage, went thru microfracture surgery and haven't felt good until this fall.... 2+ years later. Do the least invasive procedure if you have no alternative, definitely get your PT done, heed the pain, ice as much as possible, and if you can't do anything without advil, you need to back down. Don't rush it, time is your friend along with PT and ice. There's always another season/race, and trust me, you want to do it. I was heartbroken when I thought I could never run again. Patience will be your best medicine. Good luck.
Dan
I've had to learn this too with my "minor" surgery. I thought I'd be back in the saddle 6 weeks after. It is now 7 months, and I'm in the middle of the return to running program. Also, although you may hope/think it will fix everything that may not be the case. I still have pain at certain times. And as Dan said, listen to your body. I've finally learned that during my weight sessions to listen to the joint, not to the muscles. If the joint hurts, I back down. If the muscles can do the weight but the joint can't, it is the joint that rules the decision.
I also agree with Dan's point of doing the least invasive thing possible. Remember, "minor surgery" is always done on someone else.
I'll have my eye surgery, you clean up your knee--if we are lucky enough to overlap, we'll have down time together. Oh joy.
Between us, we've had more comebacks than Cher!
I had a lateral meniscus fixed on January 29th 2010. I too thought that 6 weeks would be long enough before running again but it simply wasn't. It took me till June to get any sort of confidence back in my knee and till July to really start running again. I could bike in the gym after 2 weeks and was back on my TT bike after 6. The bike helps to keep the joint mobile but at the first sign of pain i'd stop. A year on and it feels fine, sometimes i get a dull ache if i've been sat down on a long haul flight and then go running but other than that it was a success. DON"T rush back.
If you have the ability to choose who you go to for PT, I would recomend you "pre-hab" the knee. I have worked on many hockey players who have had this done and been back on skates in 12 days (all under 21 yo) mainly due to how strong they were before they went in. I would get that leg strong, then you rehab will go much better. Just remember, there will be many more "race seasons" to come, but you only get one set of original body parts...take care of them.
Good Luck!!!
I'm usually the last person into any conversation. but I need to second what the smart peeps have already said.
the problem with any surgery is that it will weaken your muscles during the recovery. you might think that you will be doing an AGGRESSIVE course of PT, not getting weaker, etc. Matter of fact, the affected side will get weaker. (it's already weaker b/c ur guarding the painful side even before!!!!)
just be sure to start working as soon as possible, and let the pain gauge ur progresss.
keep us posted
Just be prepared that it may never be back to what it was before you started having pain, but it may be better.
I appreciate everyone's input. At present, I am still in the consideration phase. It is not stopping me from doing what I want, but does bother me all of the time. Question is, do I wait until I am completely sidelined or just bite the bullet?
@Gina: that's a tough call because surgery is always the last resort... I did it when I couldn't run anymore. I should've probably tried PT first, and a lot of ice after each run and tried to make a schedule of days off and days on to see if that worked better. I haven't checked all the posts but is it when you run, bike, walk, everything? Anyway. My decision came down to I was too young (32) to have that pain and wanted to try to take care of it ASAP because in my arrogant brain, I didn't want to stop running, hiking, or climbing and it always bothered me. I know for sure that my other knee has a tear too but it only hurts after I run and never when I do other things so I won't worry until it debilitates me. I'm on a schedule where I find that putting in consistent run time actually keeps it at bay and hurts less when I am more active, but it sounds you may be beyond that point. As pointed out by others, if you do decided to bite the bullet, be so very patient and most likely you'll be fine. Make sure you find someone who does 100's of them a year and that is recommended by people you trust. Good luck in your decision and I hope it all works out for you.
Dan