Arthroscopic knee surgery - How long 'till back to norm...

A

amhess

Cathlete
I'm 34 years old and I had arthroscopic surgery on 12/8 and am wondering how long I can expect to recover and when I might be back to normal routine. I just had a "loose body" removed and a bunch of cartilage clean up work done on my knee.

It's almost been a week and I'm climbing stairs and can bend to about 85 degrees with a lot of effort. javascript:smilie('x(') I'm also still icing it every chance I get, since the swelling is still there.

If anyone out there has had this done, your input would be greatly appreciated! Will it be back to normal or will it always be fragile?
Anne
 
I had athroscopic surgery several years back - cleaned up rough cartilage and lateral releases. I was doing upper body stuff that weekend and was doing some VERY low impact stuff within a week. Had a stationary bike and did about 20 minutes each day - real easy, nothing hard. I wasn't too concerned about jumping back in - doc told me that I couldn't 'break' anything...and he encouraged me to get active asap to help strengthen my legs.

as far as prognosis - for me - I was able to regain full use of my knees but still had some pain. I had/have patalla femoral syndrome (achy knee caps in short). They're doing pretty well right now, knock on wood!

Good luck!!!
 
This is a timely post! I have an appt next week to discuss this type of surgery for my knee. I too will be having some things cleaned up. I was wondering if you two could tell me how bad your knee(s) were BEFORE surgery. Right now my knee locks up and I havent done standing leg work of any kind for almost a year. I'm assuming this was an outpatient procedure, and were either of you able to go back to work the day after???

Thanks!!
 
RE: Arthroscopic knee surgery - How long 'till back to ...

My knee didn't "lock" (that's worse), but was getting "caught" and it would feel like it would give out under me for about a month prior to my surgery. That was serious enough for them to warrant surgery for me.

I can actually get on the bike now (day 7) and do it very slowly. They said after you can bend it to 90 degrees, hop on the bike.

As far as going back to work the next day, I wouldn't count on it. It is outpatient surgery and you're home that afternoon/evening, but there is pain involved. Of course, everyone takes pain differently and I think I really do have a pretty high treshold for pain. I was on Vicodin for 3 days and you can't drive or really function well on that medication. I tried to get off that asap, and then the pain kicked in from not being on meds.

It's going to be tight and swollen for a while. I had surgery on Wednesday and went to work the following Tuesday. I did do some work from home on the computer, but you'll want to really ice it 24/7 (if possible) when you get off the pain meds. Also, you need to really make an effort to bend it those first days to get back to your range of motion. They say about 1 month to a more normal workout, I guess.
 
RE: Arthroscopic knee surgery - How long 'till back to ...

Thanks, what kind of leg work were you able to tolerate before surgery??
 
RE: Arthroscopic knee surgery - How long 'till back to ...

I did my surgery on July 3'rd and I am doing pretty good as long as I don't do high impact aerobics everyday and keep my step as low as it can go. I also do leg exercises that target the muscles just above my knee. I didn't do that and the doctor knew it and boy did I get scolded LOL. I thought Cathe workout's were hard the leg exercise I have to do are sooooo hard. I have to sit in a chair or on the floor with my butt as far back against the wall or the back of the chair and my leg straight and lift my leg and hold it for 5 seconds. Hard at first but then gets easy, and he said keep doing that and I should be able to do everything I was doing before I had the surgery.
 
RE: Arthroscopic knee surgery - How long 'till back to ...

I was able to do a lot of her higher impact step aerobics, but some of the one's with a lot of twisting over the step is what would aggravate it the most. That's when it would swell up to the point where I couldn't exercise again, a vicious circle. I actually did some low impact yesterday, squats, leg lifts and it felt really good to get into it again (day 8). I'm hoping within 2 weeks, I'll be back up on the step! Not sure I'll ever be able to handle the really high impact tapes, but you never know!
 
RE: Arthroscopic knee surgery - How long 'till back to ...

I had knee surgery Oct. 2000. I found bike riding really helped. I started back on the step (lowest height) within a week or two. It didn't take long before I was at my regular step height. My knee feels great, really high impact doesn't bother me, and I am so glad I got it done. I do make sure that I don't work out on any cement floors or jog on cement.

Joanne
 
RE: Arthroscopic knee surgery - How long 'till back to ...

Thanks for all your comments. Right now any kind of squat or lunge is out of the question, even with no weight. I'm just wondering if I'll ever be able to do those again. I really miss standing leg work and being a "pear" it's stressful!
 
RE: Arthroscopic knee surgery - How long 'till back to ...

This thread should probably be on the "Open" forum since it doesn't appear to be addressed to Cathe.

I had cartilage damage cleaned up in September. My surgeon told me to be aggressive in my rehab. I ditched the crutches and walked around the block within 24 hours of surgery. Also started using the spin bike with very low tension and low rpm. I was back at yoga & pilates after a week with modifications. The cycling, yoga & pilates really helped in regaining range of motion which was my primary goal at first.

Tried some unweighted lunges & squats the 2nd week, but it was too soon & the knee really ached. Week 4, started lower body weight work, going light & ramped up the tension on the spin bike.

I haven't done much high impact, but have done a lot of strenuous activity. Weight training is back to normal (though I go easy in December for a bit of recovery). I still need to ice occasionally after long, strenuous exercise (like 15 mile hikes). My only restriction is to avoid "cutting" (quick lateral moves).

I think this is really where you have to listen to your body. If you're achey, back off & chose gentler exercise.

It's hard to believe the Vicoden is a recreational drug! I don't tolerate it very well. I took 1/2 a dose for the first 36 hours & was very happy to put that bottle away.

For those facing surgery, consider having soup in the freezer or pantry, along with smoothie ingredients. Eating was an effort for a few days & solid food out of the question.

Debra
 
>It's almost been a week and I'm climbing stairs and can bend
>to about 85 degrees with a lot of effort.
>javascript:smilie('x(') I'm also still icing it every chance I
>get, since the swelling is still there.


I had a similar surgery 2 years ago (Nov. 2002 36 years old). I was frustrated with range of motion afterwards for some time (I wanted to do things like a child's pose stretch (not yoga, just Cathe)) and couldn't do it for probably 3+ months. My dr. gave me NO physical therapy afterwards (wanted me to ditch working out and strength training for swimming) - I ended up going to a different doctor later on for a PT referral (probably at the 3 month mark). By 6 months I had no ROM problems. Keep icing, resting and doing the basic 'post surgery' exercises they should have given you (on a sheet of paper most likely). If you're not seeing improvement in the next couple of weeks (and I don't mean full ROM), get some physical therapy. Most importantly - be patient! (It's hard - I know! I did this surgery just 3 months after getting my black belt and losing 35 pounds... nothing like a set back!) (P.S. I was off the crutches about 48 hours after the surgery.)
 
I had this done a LONG time ago. Get to physical therapy! I was running about 4 weeks after surgery. Other things that really helped - swimming and jogging in the pool. Stationary bike riding - really helped strengthen and get ROM back. Strength training will be part of PT so ask your therapist about how and when to incorporate!
You WILL be able to strength train again.
 
Hey, I had this done about 10 years ago - no residual pain or problems after about six months. Regaining and maintaining quad strength was a must for me (just leg lifts while on back at first). Yes, like the others I would say go slow. There will be some pain and swelling. Take whatever was prescribed by your doctor - mine gave me 800mg motrin and told me to take it 3x/day for 6 months! It worked!

Joanna

PS I am married to an orthopaedic surgeon and every time I wanted to complain, he asked me if I was doing the prescribed exercises and was I taking my medicine...sheesh...
 
I had mine on friday and was back on tuesday with the right leg and then with left had surgery friday and back on monday. a lot of resting my foot on a chair/box to keep it elevated. definitely icing!!!

i forgot about the pilates - i was doing that within the week too.

I just quit doing lunges all together. They are way too hard on my knees. Every now and then the knees ache but nothing like the constant ache around the patella that I had before. When cathe does lunges I do calf raises or those roll out things on the ball (regular and 'froggy style').

I can do squats and plie's but not so low. sometimes the plie's give me trouble. I can do step ups without much trouble.

My step is always without risers when i do step aerobics. once in a long while I'll add a pair of risers but hardly ever. easier on my knees this way.

I have to say though that I don't think it's all because of the surgery. I visited a pain specialist who gave me prolotherapy shots - you might check this out...it may not be helpful for your type of pain but I think that it helped me. www.getprolo.com A couple words of warning about this - it's been around for along time but many in the medical world still consider it 'alternative' or new. Also, your insurance may or may not cover it. (mine covered some).

best of luck!
 
RE: Arthroscopic knee surgery - How long 'till back to ...

Thanks for all the advise everyone! I had my follow-up visit and there was no loose body, but a meniscus tear was repaired and I have early signs of arthritis in that knee. She said eventually, I may need a whole knee replacement when I'm older, but I'm going to try to be positive about it and just not do the higher impact stuff to try and keep that off in the future as long as possible. I'll miss the running though...:-(
 
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