Meniscus Repair Surgery

[fitdeb]

My right knee has been unhappy for months, so I was finally able to get an MRI last week. I have managed to tear my lateral meniscus and have a meniscal cyst! I am meeting with a surgeon next week. Ironic thing is it barely hurts (I thought it was my IT Band). I was being cautious with super high impact because of the difficulty in getting into see a doctor for non-essential stuff. I "fail" all of the physical tests that indicate a torn meniscus, but there it is plain as day on the MRI.

Has any Cathlete successfully recovered from meniscal repair surgery? By recovery I mean returned to tabatas, ploy-legs and MesoCycle 3 legs?

Any words of encouragement or advice would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks,
Deb

 

[psusoccer17]

If you have no pain there is no reason to fix the meniscus. I work in an orthopedic office, our physician tells his patients that meniscal repair will accelerate the development of arthritis. The irrigation used in arthroscopic repair is very acidic and washes away the synovial fluid in the knee. If there is minor discomfort we will give "gel" injections (hyaluronic acid). It is a series of three injections spaced one week apart. The only time we repair the meniscus is when there is a lot of pain.

 

[fitdeb]

Thanks for the advice. Unfortunately, I have a large flap that has caused the cyst to develop. The doctor was able to "drain" some fluid out of the cyst but not enough to collapse it.

 

[dr.mel_PT]

If surgery is absolutely necessary (I recommend getting a couple of opinions whenever surgery is suggested), make sure you hire a good physical therapist before and after surgery. They will perform movement screens, strength testing to condition the surrounding musculature prior to surgery and then help rebuild your resilience after the surgery to help you return to your workouts. I’ve had clients bounce back from meniscus surgery and continue running marathons and doing HIIT. It depends on a bunch of individual factors as well, but definitely get yourself a good PT in your corner!

 

[fitdeb]

Thanks Melissa. The surgeon I am seeing next week will be the second opinion. I am a personal trainer and also an Orthopedic Exercise Specialist so I will be acting as my own PT. Fortunately I am going into this very strong, but I know the road back will be a slow one. It's great to hear of the success that your clients have enjoyed.

 

[psusoccer17]

So sorry to hear that you need to have the meniscus repaired. My physician uses bone marrow aspirate concentrate injections when he repairs them, it allows for healing and pain relief. We aspirate your bone marrow from the iliac crest and inject into the area with the repair. It is amazing how much better they do with this approach, you should see if either of your physicians offer this choice.

 

[Lady Vol Fan]

I Hope you're doing well but am curious whether you had surgery?

Thanks Melissa. The surgeon I am seeing next week will be the second opinion.

 

[chenarl]

I don't want to give you much hope about returning to your daily activities because no one knows how the post-surgery will go. I couldn't walk for 2 months after my surgery, but now, I am great as fresh. I was lucky with my doctor, actually, which I found through the company I worked back then - iinsight.biz. It's a company that provides cloud-based data for healthcare workers and makes their job much easier and all the patients files under more significant protection. It's an amazing company and fantastic service, TBH. So, I could say that my job saved my life.