Arthroscopy Surgery, who's had it?

[MatadorCE]

Well I had an appoinment with my Ortho this morning, and I've got a torn lateral meniscus so looks like I'll be getting Arthroscopy surgery. For those who have had it done:
After how many days are you able to walk (or at least drive a car)?
What was your recovery time?
Did you have to wear a brace afterwards, use crutches, etc?
How swollen does the knee get after the procedure?
How much pain were you in?
Did you doctor tell you what amount of risk you had of developing arthritis later on?
What exercises can you do to prevent this kind of injury (don't want it on my other knee)?

[fidlerre]

Not a bad prodcedure at all.

Pain is very minimal and I only remember crutches for a few days...

I was back playing soccer in 4 weeks.

[Slug]

No biggie. Jogging after 10 days. Soccer at about 3-4 weeks.

[NHRef]

I had it done in January, walked out of the hospital, drove car in 3 days, problem driving is the swelling in the knee keeps you from bending the leg, I had it on my right leg, so moving between the pedals was hard.

Was back reffing in 8 weeks, but you heal slower as you get older :eek:

I still have issues with it when I do to much. Others I have talked to said you won't be 100% for a year. I can play/ref fine, its the next day it hurts.

[MatadorCE]

I had it done in January, walked out of the hospital, drove car in 3 days, problem driving is the swelling in the knee keeps you from bending the leg, I had it on my right leg, so moving between the pedals was hard.

Was back reffing in 8 weeks, but you heal slower as you get older :eek:

I still have issues with it when I do to much. Others I have talked to said you won't be 100% for a year. I can play/ref fine, its the next day it hurts.

I'll have it done in my right knee as well, so I'm a bit worried about driving since I live by myself. Obviously I don't plan on driving the day of or even for the next couple of days after I have it done.

I'm also worried about playing again; I don't want to mess up my knee even more or have the same thing happen in my other knee.

[MatadorCE]

Did any of your doctors recommend anything to prevent this kind of injury in the future?

[Nixon]

Did any of your doctors recommend anything to prevent this kind of injury in the future?

Hey man join the club got exact same thing in my right knee waitin on the op too, my doc said its just one of those things that happens nothing you can do to stop it from happening (short of never using it). Bit miffed thought didnt realise i was gonna be laid out 4 weeks unable to play, i also got told there prob wouldnt be any need for cruches just to lay off it for a week.

[bostonsoccermdl]

Did any of your doctors recommend anything to prevent this kind of injury in the future?

I dont think it is possible. Most of these injuries are just fluke things. Actually many people will argue that playing "defensively" rather than instictively will cause more injuries.

Anyway, I got kicked in the wrist making a save last winter (I am a goalkeeper) and had a chronic pain in my wrist. at the end of the season I fnally went to teh doc and it was torn ligaments. I had surgery and it is/was a 6 month process to total rehab...

sucks.

[vmax71]

Did any of your doctors recommend anything to prevent this kind of injury in the future?


as an orthopaedist , these injuries happen at the end of games when you are fatigued and the muscles in the leg aren't there as stabilizers. Cardiovascular fitnes and particuilarly fitness in the quads and hamstrings - I am not talking about strengthing only but also excersices to prevent fatigue are the best way. This is one of the reasons why weekend warriors - people wo do nothing during the week and then go razy during the weekend often sustain these injuries.

Get on a stationary bike as soon as you can after your procedure to work on your legs - 30 minutes minimum 5 days a week.

[Lillywhite]

I had it done 7 years ago. Unfortunately mine was only investigative to see the total damage. I saw the Video of my knee afterwards though which was interesting if a little squishy.

I've known about 4 people who've had it done and they were all walking without crutches, albeit gingerly, about 3 or 4 days after. Were back to normal with in a couple of weeks and back to trying to injure themselves in all manner of original ways within a month or so.

Best thing about it is the tiny scars left. I couldn't even see mine after about 3 months. Of course me keeping my knee almost permanently wedged in a bucket of vitamin E cream didn't urt on that front. The other scars haven't faded much but hey, chicks dig scars.

[MatadorCE]

as an orthopaedist , these injuries happen at the end of games when you are fatigued and the muscles in the leg aren't there as stabilizers. Cardiovascular fitnes and particuilarly fitness in the quads and hamstrings - I am not talking about strengthing only but also excersices to prevent fatigue are the best way. This is one of the reasons why weekend warriors - people wo do nothing during the week and then go razy during the weekend often sustain these injuries.

Get on a stationary bike as soon as you can after your procedure to work on your legs - 30 minutes minimum 5 days a week.

Thank you for the information. Since I've found the condition of my injury, I've been trying to get a gym workout routine going at least 3-4 days per week and wanted to know what parts of the leg I should focus on to prevent injuries. I certainly want to get back to playing after the procedure, but I want to do everything I can to prevent further injury.

[CHICO13]

I was back on the field after a month. Good advice on the stationary bike, just give it a week to ten days before you really start to put any real stress on it. Knee injuries are un-preventable. Just work on your flexibility and stamina. If you get into a good regimen at the gym working your ankles, calves and thigh muscles you lessen the odds. Consult a QUALIFIED PT. Alot of PT's at most gyms are hacks and can actually do you further damage. Good luck....

[mak9]

Did severe damage to ACL and MCL; Waiting for 2 months for MRI and I will probably get surgery.

It is to some extend unpreventable, but there are some lessons I learned:

Play on a good flat grass field, not one with bumps and holes->can twist your leg when running.

Don’t play stupid pick up games, because of the lack of skill, some defenders can do severe damage to you (like what happen to me). OR dribble wisely and not a lot.

[MatadorCE]

Well I got it done last Tuesday and I'm almost back to walking normally. Thankfully it wasn't nearly as bad as I thought it would be. I rather have a scope on both knees at once rather than having one twisted ankle. I walked out of the recovery room (no crutches) but it took a couple of days for the swelling to go down and my knee is still pretty stiff but least I could bear reasonable weight on it.
I still won't be playing for a couple of months but at least I'm relieved that I can go back to the gym soon.

[Nixon]

Well I got it done last Tuesday and I'm almost back to walking normally. Thankfully it wasn't nearly as bad as I thought it would be. I rather have a scope on both knees at once rather than having one twisted ankle. I walked out of the recovery room (no crutches) but it took a couple of days for the swelling to go down and my knee is still pretty stiff but least I could bear reasonable weight on it.
I still won't be playing for a couple of months but at least I'm relieved that I can go back to the gym soon.

Cool thats relaxing to know it wont be too bad after but suppose that depends on fitness (mine not to good at the mo). Got mine on the 4th of Nov had one couple of weeks ago but complecations ment they didnt proceed which was wierd but hay cool to know that i shouldnt need crutches. Good luck with the recovery.

[jammybastard]

Here's a question for all of you:

how many of you got a second opinion, and how many sought out the best surgeon in your area for your operation?

Yesterday I had my 3rd MRI. This time it was an arthogram, with contrast dye injected into my knee, so my doctor can see exactly what is going on in insiede the joint. Up to this point it was clear I had a small MCL tear, and a deep bone bruise. Now we're trying to determine if my ACL is torn too.

My orthopedic surgeon has suggested a "cadaver" harvested replacement for the ACL. Less invasive, less recovery time, etc...

anyone else had this?

[blackdog]

I tore my ACL nearly 4 weeks ago playing on an even surface field. Jumped up to head the ball while shoulder to shoulder with an opposing player. Came down on my right knee a bit off balance and heard three pops. Slight tear in my MCL and the MRI showed complete tear of the ACL. The ortho has me in rehab to strengthen the knee before any discussion of surgery. I was lucky that I did not damage any of the meniscus. Next week we will discuss surgery. His procedure is to take a graft of the petella tendon along with a piece of bone from the petella and screw that into the femur and lower leg bone where my ACL once was. He believes a bone to bone procedure provides the strongest replacement down the road and there will be no chance of my body rejecting the tissue. I asked him out right how many of these he has done. He told me about 60 a year and close to a thousand since he started.

[MatadorCE]

Here's a question for all of you:

how many of you got a second opinion, and how many sought out the best surgeon in your area for your operation?

Yesterday I had my 3rd MRI. This time it was an arthogram, with contrast dye injected into my knee, so my doctor can see exactly what is going on in insiede the joint. Up to this point it was clear I had a small MCL tear, and a deep bone bruise. Now we're trying to determine if my ACL is torn too.

My orthopedic surgeon has suggested a "cadaver" harvested replacement for the ACL. Less invasive, less recovery time, etc...

anyone else had this?

No since after my MRI it was simple to determine how torn up my meniscus was. I had a lot of doubts if this procedure was necessary but after talking to the doctor, him explaining what was wrong, and seeing pictures of other procedures he had done I was convinced.

Good luck with the ACL, what are the complications of a graft of that type (ie. tissue rejection, etc.)?

[stark88]

When I had it it sucked, I had it right in the beginning of soccer season.
Really not to bad though, ask your doc what exercises you can do to get back in tip top shape, they will give you some good advice

[bostonsoccermdl]

I had it on my wrist (torn ligaments from goalkeeping collision in indoor).. Damn rehab took 7 months....