I am perusing the campfire tonight with my knee wrapped after this afternoon’s surgery. My knee has bothered me for two months, with some days and nights being almost unbearable. After surgery, I walked out of the hospital with no crutches and have felt better than at any time in the last couple months. Hopefully, it is not just the drugs making me think that things are better in the knee than they really are. We will see tomorrow.

Now for more information. I am 53 and the surgeon said that he does see arthritis in that knee and not to expect to feel like a young man.

Does anyone else here have some first hand experience to share? I would appreciate it.

Mike

Wife had it done couple of years ago...Seems to have worked don't hear her complaining anymore about her knee hurting.

Did 6 months of PT before realizing surgery was my only choice. Made me almost 100%. Still have a loss of flexibility in that knee but I don't baby it.

BTDT
It’ll feel great for some time. No way to tell how long. Might be a couple years; might be never.

You’ll know when you need a TKA.

Good luck!

PS. Have your doc submit an order for PT.

I had a medial menisectomy on my right knee when I was 16 as a result of a football injury. Surgery then was relatively primitive compared to today (so I am told). Doc told me I would have noticeable arthritis pain by age 30. At 63, I have little to no knee pain as long as I (1) do regular squats (makes a huge difference) and; (2) take collagen. My medial condyles (top and bottom) are noticeably protruding to the inside compared to my other knee (which you see a lot with surgical knees) but my pain is damn near a nothing-burger, if I manage it. Caveat: I can't hike or walk long distances without the need for Meloxicam or Ibuprofen, but day-to-day living is pretty much pain-free. If you end up with arthritic pain down the road, take a look at platelet-rich plasma (PRP) therapy.

Yes, do this.

I had it done a couple of years ago. Everybody's situation is different. It took a few weeks before I was comfortable again after mine.

Had both done years ago and both are doing fine.I think about 15 years now.

The left was the one tore up bad and he had to drill holes in the bone heads to make scar tissue to make things last longer.

He gave me this warranty:two steps,two miles,two months,two years or the rest of my life.

The right knee had a lot of fluid on it and after they pulled a bunch out it felt a bit better.

It was the quicker of the two to get over but so far so good.

I do not run so maybe that is why they have lasted so long.

Did they send you home with a cooling device,it helps a lot with the pain and swelling?

Just take it easy and heal up some before you mess it up worse.

I am on the list for the newly approved replacement surgery.
Kind of a soft hockey puck looking thing with a concave center. Both sides what’s left of them are taken out, knee joint spread, this slipped in.

Osky

Mine was done two weeks ago. Ibuprofen for two days afterwards. Didn't need any of the heavy meds. Felt better three days after surgery than I had for months. Two different tears in same knee.

Had mine "scoped" again yesterday...........It was the second time on the left knee. Tore cartilage several years ago for the first one.
I have quite a bit of arthritis in there and they cleaned up some floaters etc so it doesn't do the snap ,crackle, pop and swell up and limit movement.
Going up and down stairs was getting to be an issue. I also walked out of the hospital on my own like you and I must say that today it feels better than it has in 6 months.
Probably partly drugs but it is not grinding like it was. Start PT on Monday.
Good luck sir you will be fine.
X

Mike,
So as has been said: Figure month or less to fully recover; be mindful that diligent quad strengthening is key; follow your PT instructions to the letter. If he says do extra lunges between now and your next PT visit, then lunge your way to the mailbox and back every blessed day, etc. Yes the joint will become arthritic prematurely in that knee, and yes it is mostly from not having all of your meniscus, but that is water under the bridge due to the injury; the surgery at least will make your relatively pain free with higher utility for a good while. No one can say how long, but “years” anyway. I tell patients, just imagine that knee is aged 10-20yrs older than your good knee. Can’t go back again, just go use it and enjoy life. You will like be at essentially 100% when recovered, maybe a small effusion if get rough on it, but no worries. Remember: quad strength ( most important with acl’s, but still true with meniscus, still true with overall protecting the knee under use.)

Clean-ups (repeat debridements) are common down the road. Hard to say when, but for increased pain or locking occurring again. That too can’t be helped. Fortunately, pretty easy surgery to tolerate.

Became the knee patient two winters back myself so had to follow my own friggen advice.

Sand
What is your practice?

Fam med. Was a failed ortho applicant back in the day, which is to say, i didn’t make that cut, but learned a lot on the way and still enjoy the heck out of.

Add: and get in the habit of unloading your weight from that postop knee when pivot. I.e. don’t ask that knee to pivot under a heavy load, say under a pack or headed down hill.

I think I lasted close to 10 years after my medial meniscus surgery before I needed the total replacement. The arthritis had gotten progressively worse over time. Synvisc and cortisone injections after about 5 years, then even they weren't very effective.

PT is your friend.

Thanks, sand.

Had mine done ten years ago.Three tears in the meniscus and shaved ragged cartilage on the femur.Man it felt great after the surgery,then woke up in the middle of the night(about twelve hours later) and the pain!!!!! Exercise helps get you back,but takes a little time. The hardest thing for me was going up and down steps.I think it took about a year before I could go up and down steps and it didn't hurt.Had to change my lead leg from my left to my right and also be careful not to twist it.

Had mine done 24 years ago. They basically went in arthroscopically and cleaned up the edges of my tear. Rested for a day with some Vics. Up walking with crutches in two days, no meds. On a plane in 3 days to a company meeting where we had to do an obstacle course for some "team building". Did it as well as I could.

These days I couldn't be happier with it. None of that clicking pain since the surgery. Going down a mountain or a bunch of steps can get a little sporty. So does getting up from a squatting position; otherwise I'm GTG.

Had my left knee done in 2014 and never a problem since. I walked in to PT at 2 weeks and was asked why I was there. Had my right knee scoped in 16 and it was a total fail. I ended up with a TKR in 18. When I first retired my left knee was my problem knee. Go figure.

Had mine done on the 5th of this month. Im hooked up to the cold water circulating wrap right now. The more i wear it the better i feel. I have my first pt today. After a month of limping around im looking forward to getting stretched out. Hope your recovery goes well, it should.

My wife had surgery for a torn meniscus almost a year ago. She still can't kneel but the doc says she'll heal fully in time. She's diabetic and that makes healing a lot slower.
He sewed the 2 broken ends together. The sutures weren't strong enough so he tied the torn ends together, drilled a hole all the way through the one and ran the line through it, pulling the sewn ends down into the hole. Then he tied it off to a button on the far side of the bone. That's there permanently although it's no longer needed. He said he can remove the button if it bothers her but you can't see it and she can't feel it so there's no need.

This procedure takes a lot longer to heal than a knee replacement but it's a better fix. He said that when he does these, he often has an artificial knee on hand ready to go in in case it's necessary. The x-rays and MRI's don't show everything and he often finds things in there that he couldn't see. Having a knee joint ready to install if it's bad enough saves the necessity of another surgery.

Every one is different. I've had 3 meniscus repairs, 2 on left knee, 1 on right knee.

My GUESS: your day one feelings are the drugs, so don't be dumb, rest.

It will be bloated and stiff, but pain from the meniscus like you had won't come back. You will have to get range of motion back, hence the PT. It's straight forward and you can do it on your own, but that takes two things: 1) knowing what to do 2) Actually doing it! #2 is the hardest. You will have to push that knee via PT to get range of motion and strength back, with PT you go 2-3 times/week and they can tell if you are keeping up on your own, and trust me, if you don't get it moving they will and it will hurt! Do the PT, make progress and everyones the better.

You mentioned arthritis, My first one had that as well and he told me flat out I was heading for a replacement, but not for years. He was right, I know have a TKR, but there was many years between those two things.

This post is meant as encouragement, not medical advice. I had a broken wrist that couldn’t be fixed completely. One of the balls was split down the middle. The wrist was stiff, near frozen for over ten years. One day I was processing firewood and just said to myself F-it, if the wrist don't work they can cut it off. I stacked several cord of wood handling each piece with that hand. The wrist loosened up and works better than the other one. The moral of the story is do not give up hope.

I had both knees done 3 years ago (aged 51) and surgeries were about 2 months apart. recovery was pretty quick, couple of days it was all healed up.

one knee was much better the other, not so much. for people saying physical therapy helped, BS. my physical therapy was stupid.

just stretch on your own, don't be stupid and strain it for a couple of months but keep moving. that's about it.

Did they require an MRI with contrast before the second procedure? Before I had the second procedure done on my knee, they said they needed the MRI with contrast to discern the old damage from the new damage. For the record, I am not a fan of a 20ga needle in the knee.

Yes sir they did an MRI beforehand. Hopefully I can get a couple more years out of it before having to start injections due to the amount of tissue that has been removed. I will know more when we do the follow up late next week.
Have a great day!

Thanks everyone for the info and encouragement. Today there is still no discomfort. I plan on going for a short walk in a little while and then doing a flight of stairs to the reloading room. Tomorrow i plan on trying my wife’s exercise bike for the start of my own PT.

Mike

Mike,
I have had 6 knee surgeries. Meniscus is common and not all that big of a deal as far as surgeries are concerned.

As for the arthritis... Just keep in touch with your doctor, there are ways to slow that disease process, and a lot of things you can do to alleviate pain without taking opioids or anything like that. Since you have already had meniscus surgery you could be a candidate for Synvisc which will promote more cartilage growth. And nothing helps arthritis more than cartilage growth.

I had min done 15 or 20 years ago. A couple days taking it easy and then good to go. Been great ever since. Had the other knee done after an ACL injury way back in 1977 after a sports injury. Wish that knee was doing as well as the one that had meniscus surgery.

Better hope insurance will cover the Synvisc. Mine did for a couple of shots over the course of a couple of years. Then they stopped covering it. That sucked, as with a cortisone shot followed by the Synvisc a few weeks later, I was good to go for 6-9 months.

I’ll just add that cortisone and sun USF-type injections don’t work for everyone.

and that part is why our insurance quit covering it.

They decided it was an "experimental' treatment at that time, or so I was told.

Didn't matter to them that the stuff worked well for me, 3 months total relief and another 3-6 months decent relief before I needed another.

Mike,

Take it easy for a bit - even if it does feel pretty good and I'll echo what the others have said around PT - if only to get some of the exercises down.

I'm just a wee younger than you and have had a partial meniscectomy to each knee. Doc scraped some of the arthritis behind my knee (yes, at our age we all have it) during the last procedure and that seemed to cause a little more discomfort/healing than the knee a few years prior that didn't involve a scrape.

My first round on Synvisc was free; I was one of the trial patients.

FOR ME, it was amazing stuff. My injury was from trauma, so I have some unique things going on in my knee... But for me, Synvisc gave me the only 1.5 years pain free I've had since the accident (which happened in June of '84). Since then I've had it all, and now I have an artificial knee joint. But I was pretty impressed with Synvisc. It worked wonders the first time, and was a complete failure the second time... But by that time, the whole knee was worn out and it was just time for an artificial joint.

I had pain walking & running in the left knee at about your age. Had two meniscus tears fixed. After about 15yrs, started having pain again and found out from the orthopedic doc that it's arthritis in the knee now. Half the cartilage is now gone in that knee. Signs of arthritis 10-15years after the meniscus repair is apparently common. No complaints--I got 15 extra years of pain free use from it. I am at the "manage pain" point right now. I got a cortisone shot 2yrs ago that helped with the initial pain for a couple months. I cut back on my running (still hiking w/pack) and that seems to have helped as the pain has not resumed (yet). Ultimately, I will wear this knee out and and at some point the pain will push me into the total replacement--and that seems to be a pretty straightforward solution--when the time comes.

When do you know you're ready for a knee replacement? My legs are getting more bowed outward and my ortho tells me that I will eventually need a partial (medial side). I've got very good range of motion and flexibility, but damn they ache and hurt like hell.

I’ve got the same thing but with something in the left that locks it up on occasion after twisting and a big pop. If if get down on my left knee it will push something out of place and it really pisses something off. I’m not sure how long I can keep dealing with it.

Got that surgery 35 years ago and I'm still walking.