Torn Meniscus

[Eboot]

I recently suffered a complex tear of my meniscus.

I am currently exploring options after being advised by the orthopedic that I need orthoscopic surgery.

Has anyone else suffered this and what have been the results from a hard carving perspective of either having or not having the surgery?

[Carvin' Marvin]

My wife tore her acl, mcl, and miniscus skiing in 2017. She had the surgery and a successful, pain free ski season after that. Miniscus injuries are easy to make worse and can cause a locking sensation in your knee if not corrected. I personally would get it fixed. Sooner the better if you plan on putting a beating on it this winter. It is after all a pretty important competent in proper function of the joint. Pick your surgeon carefully. 

[Jack M]

Yup.  Had the surgery in October 2015 and had a pain free snowboarding season.  Recovery was about a month.  I don't believe a torn meniscus is like a torn ACL where the surgery is optional and you can just deal with it by keeping your legs strong.  I waited about a month after tearing mine in August before seeing a doctor.  The discomfort only got worse, and it was only a partial tear.

[davekempmeister]

tore mine pretty significantly at a trampoline park with my kids June 2017 and set up the surgery straight away.   procedure was August 1, 2017 and i would have scheduled even sooner than that were it not for a long planned trip to Australia, last July.  i think Jack is correct to point out that repair is not really an elective.       strengthening, orthotics, etc. won't help do an end run around that one, imo

prior to repair, my experience was a fairly constant low grade pain coupled with an occasional and excruciating (and unpredictable) pain that came out of nowhere.  it really shut me down for awhile.  

post repair, things are good.  i had a decent season this past winter and no issues at all.

best of luck Eboot.  hope it goes just as well for you.  

[Eboot]

7 hours ago, davekempmeister said:

tore mine pretty significantly at a trampoline park with my kids

Tore mine on a trampoline as well ... who knew

[Eboot]

On 6/30/2018 at 3:42 AM, Carvin' Marvin said:

 Sooner the better if you plan on putting a beating on it this winter. 

FrankNBeans said: Ditto.

 

Lying on my recovery bed  surgery completed this morning.

Any tips on rebuilding strength welcomed.

 

[Carvin' Marvin]

36 minutes ago, Eboot said:

FrankNBeans said: Ditto.

 

Lying on my recovery bed  surgery completed this morning.

Any tips on rebuilding strength welcomed.

 

Oh nice, good for you. I hope your recovery goes smoothly. 

Your physical therapist is going to be your greatest asset. Try to choose a PT familiar with winter sports if you have one available. Make sure you outline your goals in the beginning so everyone is on the same page.  You can even take in your carving setup and show the therapist some videos so they can become familiar with the mechanics.  Don't be afraid to change therapists if you don't like the situation. Don't stop going until you are "graduated" from the program and even then if insurance will pay for some more then keep going. 

Use Tylenol for pain control. Some studies have shown NSAIDS like Ibuprofen or Aleve will inhibit healing so stay away from them for 6 weeks or so. Take some pain meds before PT if it is bothering you. That way you will have less holding you back. 

Stay frequent with your range of motion exercises. Ask lots of questions and don't try to get ahead of yourself. Good communication with your PT and ortho are key. 

Good luck!

[daveo]

I've had 2 ACL reconstruction on my left knee. I would say apart from the obvious strengthening and balance advice, one really important thing is to maintain your range of motion of your knee joint. If you weren't measured before, usually your other knee is a good indication of what you can aim for. Full extension and collapse. I used to lie on my front with my lower leg hanging off with a small weight on my foot once I could handle it. In saying that I think the swelling for meniscus surgery is less than that of an ACL, so you may not have to resort to such drastic measures. Prof. Julian Feller was my surgeon and I think he did a great job. One of my ACLs was at the height of my (average) athletics career so we needed it to get back to normal ASAP, so we opted for JF.

2 hours ago, Carvin' Marvin said:

Some studies have shown NSAIDS like Ibuprofen or Aleve will inhibit healing so stay away from them for 6 weeks or so.

Yes, this is what my surgeon told me, too.

2 hours ago, Carvin' Marvin said:

Your physical therapist is going to be your greatest asset.

I would personally recommend self education over relying on your therapist, unless you know your national alpine snowboard team's rehab therapist and you know he/she has dealt with this specific injury.

The first few physical therapists I saw I thought were absolutely amazing, but that was actually due to my personal lack of knowledge/education. After I spoke to my track (RIP Norm) and weightlifting coaches (probably have 20+ Olympic athletes between them), I got scolded for seeing a physical therapist without consulting them first and was then informed of the physical therapist ban (which both my coaches coincidentally implemented). We had one sports doctor we trusted and that was it. I was instructed (firmly) to educate myself and the rest was of the rehab programmes would be devised by my coaches and myself. 

Edited October 23, 2018 by daveo

[Beckmann AG]

11 hours ago, Eboot said:

Any tips on rebuilding strength welcomed.

Go swimming.

Avoid wearing shoes with rubbery/bouncy/gimmicky soles.

When the pain is gone, brush your teeth while standing on the sofa.

Walk barefoot on the beach. On the hard sand to start, and for very short distances on account of the gradient. If the water is calm, walk in the surf, both ankle and knee deep.

As the knee heals, move into the softer sand. 

Ride a bike with light resistance, unless you're not a cyclist, in which case, don't.

To avoid complications, try to find out what, if any, connective tissue was affected by the surgery. One of the difficulties with knee repair is that operative inflammation can linger and/or lead to tendinitis. Especially if one isn't careful with their 'recovery' regime.

More of a problem using patellar graft for ACL repair, but you don't want to create one problem while rehabilitating from another.

Make sure you fully understand the difference between the 'pain' of exertion/muscle development, and the pain associated with the body damaging itself.  

Edited October 23, 2018 by Beckmann AG

[davekempmeister]

10 hours ago, Beckmann AG said:

 

Ride a bike with light resistance..........

2nd that.  The walk and swim part also.

[Gabe T]

On 10/22/2018 at 10:13 PM, daveo said:

I've had 2 ACL reconstruction on my left knee. I would say apart from the obvious strengthening and balance advice, one really important thing is to maintain your range of motion of your knee joint. 

Were these surgeries far apart?   Curious about the need for 2.  

What was your recovery period before being able to get back to sports? 

[daveo]

17 hours ago, Gabe T said:

Were these surgeries far apart?   Curious about the need for 2.  

What was your recovery period before being able to get back to sports? 

First one I injured it when I was 13. I was running at full speed and slipped next to a leaking bin, I then made contact with a wall and that pushed my knee out enough to completely tear the ACL in 2. I didn't have the surgery until I was 15 because it may have ended in two legs of different lengths. This one was rough, took me about 3 weeks to walk without crutches and didn't do any sport for at least a year. This recover was difficult, honestly. Mentally and physically.

Second one I was 23. Playing basketball, coming down from a dunk sideways, I made contact in the air with an opponent player (completely normal), but it made me land sideways after a big leap and it was another complete tear. This time I was walking without crutches within a week. I competed the following season, my rehab started straight away and was super strict. Like .. super strict. So I guess you could say I never really stopped sport. But, I started jogging/running at 7 weeks for that.

I played basketball from when I was 5-17 (except when I was 13-15/16), then did athletics (to avoid another knee injury...). I joined up a casual league when I was 23 with friends and had this newfound extreme vertical jump because of the sprints and jumps training I had done. I'm only 190cm and was jumping a little under 1ft over the rim. This was just uncontrollable for me apparently. Plus not playing for so many years then coming back I was definitely a bit unco. Rolled my ankles, jarred my fingers and then did my knee in half a season haha! Needless to say from that point on my athletics coach banned me from other sports  RIP Norm.

Edited November 2, 2018 by daveo

[Eboot]

Back on the snow - first runs again last night and feeling good.  Thanx for all the input, hope to be back up to full strength + by Montucky February.