# Knee arthroscope tomorrow...



## brownieinSC (Apr 19, 2004)

I am sure I will be fine at some point. I've never had surgery before so the thought of being put under, cut open, scraped out, stuff taken out,etc is freaking me out. I am trying to stay busy so I don't think too much about it. The knee pain is screwing up my riding (and hurts all the time) so I am going to get it taken care of. Tendonitis, medial plica removed and cartilage smoothed out (hopefully there is still enough left afterwards)
Anyone else have one? what was your recovery time? 
Luckily I have a lot of family to help me out and take care of my daughter for the first week anyway.


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## road dirt (Feb 17, 2007)

Good luck tomorrow. Just do as the Dr. says when it comes to recovery. Have him write it down!!!! The longer you're off it.......The sooner you'll be back on it. Do not try to come back to soon. Correct healing takes _*time*_, rehab and therapy.


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## BoiseBoy (Mar 1, 2006)

*Good Luck*



brownieinSC said:


> I am sure I will be fine at some point. I've never had surgery before so the thought of being put under, cut open, scraped out, stuff taken out,etc is freaking me out. I am trying to stay busy so I don't think too much about it. The knee pain is screwing up my riding (and hurts all the time) so I am going to get it taken care of. Tendonitis, medial plica removed and cartilage smoothed out (hopefully there is still enough left afterwards)
> Anyone else have one? what was your recovery time?
> Luckily I have a lot of family to help me out and take care of my daughter for the first week anyway.


Your rehab will all depend on what they find and what they do when they get in there. If it is just a debridement (cleaning out) of the plical band, cart, meniscus... you should have a relatively quick recovery. Synovectomies can hurt a bit more and have a longer period of time for healing. You could likely be on a stationary bike in only a couple of days after the surgery. If it is minor enough, you could be back riding in only a couple of weeks.
If you have a repair of the meniscus or another more significant procedure it may take significantly longer before you get on your bike (weeks to months).

Good luck, let us know what they find/do.


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## EclipseRoadie (Oct 7, 2007)

Greeeat. Hey bro I'm in the same boat as you are. I have a knee scope coming up for a lateral meniscus tear that needs to be fixed. Totally not looking forward to being all gimped up....

ER


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## lelebebbel (Jan 31, 2005)

had an athroscopy on my left knee a month ago. It was the most harmless surgery I've ever had, so relax. You'll be left with 3 tiny cuts in your knee.
The first night after the surgery will be painful after the anesthesia wears off, so take whatever painkillers they prescripe you and use lots of ice.

My doctor gave me one of these machines here: www.gameready.com and it was a huge relief, made a BIG difference in terms of pain and recovery time. highly recommended for at least the first week.

Like Boiseboy said, recovery time depends on if they can stitch the mensicus back together (long recovery) or if they have to cut off the torn part (almost instant recovery, but long term problems later on). 
I lost part of my meniscus, which sucks. Then again I could walk from the moment I got out of the hospital (no crutches, no cast or braces), and was back on the bike 3 weeks after. Just don't rush anything after the surgery, that will cause unnecessary swelling and delay the whole thing.


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## presslab (Jan 5, 2007)

Same here, they removed 25% lateral meniscus. I was back to MTB in two weeks. On the other hand, my ACL is still messed up so hopefully they will fix that. It's like pulling teeth to get Kaiser to do anything.


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## BruceBrown (Jan 16, 2004)

brownieinSC said:


> I am sure I will be fine at some point. I've never had surgery before so the thought of being put under, cut open, scraped out, stuff taken out,etc is freaking me out. I am trying to stay busy so I don't think too much about it. The knee pain is screwing up my riding (and hurts all the time) so I am going to get it taken care of. Tendonitis, medial plica removed and cartilage smoothed out (hopefully there is still enough left afterwards)
> Anyone else have one? what was your recovery time?


Depends on the severity. First knee that went I tore the meniscus playing BBall. That sucker was swollen up like a canteloupe and I was back on the bike 3 months later, but not riding to full strength on that leg until a full year following.

Second knee went on the bike in a 50 mile race. That one went smoother and after crutches for a few days, I started easy rehab on the trainer (it was winter - end of November) and I was racing in April. But again, full strength wasn't really reached for 6 months to a year following surgery.

You'll be fine, but time heals all wounds.

BB


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## brownieinSC (Apr 19, 2004)

Had the surgery and the doctor said it went really well. no need to stimulate any new cartilage growth so that was good. I have no idea what my knee looks like because they told me not to unwrap my bandages, that they would do that at physical therapy tomorrow. They sent home this wonderful knee wrap that pumps ice water around my knee, something that sends electrical signals into my knee to screw up my pain signals to my brain so it doesn't know I hurt and lovely pain drugs. I am trying to cut back on the pain meds and take advil so I can function better.
Thanks everyone!


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## BoiseBoy (Mar 1, 2006)

*Congrats*



brownieinSC said:


> Had the surgery and the doctor said it went really well. no need to stimulate any new cartilage growth so that was good. I have no idea what my knee looks like because they told me not to unwrap my bandages, that they would do that at physical therapy tomorrow. They sent home this wonderful knee wrap that pumps ice water around my knee, something that sends electrical signals into my knee to screw up my pain signals to my brain so it doesn't know I hurt and lovely pain drugs. I am trying to cut back on the pain meds and take advil so I can function better.
> Thanks everyone!


It sounds like you only had to have a menisectomy/debridement. This is typically the easiest and fastest knee surgery to recover from. You likely will have very little, if any restrictions. If you control your swelling, get range back and strengthen up quickly you could possibly be back on your bike in a couple of weeks.
The Estim that they sent you home with sounds like a TENS unit. It helps to confuse the pain signals so that you don't feel pain as readily.

Good luck


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## brownieinSC (Apr 19, 2004)

*One week update*

I have had physical therapy three times so far and am doing all the exercises at home. They tried to get my to pedal on a stationary bike today. They had to put the seat up very high and I had to pedal backwards with my toe pointing down first to get my knee around. I still have swelling so my knee cap was popping the entire time. I think I got a few weeks before I can even go on a joy ride at this point.

Had a doctor appointment also. He said I am healing very fast and my knee is very mobile considering surgery was only a week ago. I go back to see him again Jan 17th. He said if I feel up to it and want to go back to work before then to let him know.....yeah, I'll do that


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## road dirt (Feb 17, 2007)

Glad to hear things are going well.!! You'll be back in the New Year before you know it!!


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## brownieinSC (Apr 19, 2004)

I got motivation today! New tires, new shorts and jerseys, and a beautiful new Thomson Elite seat post!!
Come on knee!!!!!!!!!!


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## MACDADDY! (Jun 20, 2006)

hey brownie hope all is going well!!
all the advice seems sound,
just know your own limits,which is hard knowing you want to get back out there.
I came back a little soon after my first scope and did some REAL damage.
if you are like I was ,stability will be your problem for some time.
now I am sans ACL with very little cartilage remaining...yes its a *****:madman:


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## splatman (Jan 30, 2007)

I just had orthoscopic surgery last wednesday, just some clean up from my knee-cap dislocating a couple times. Make sure you work at that physical therapy, I had it the second time I injured my knee and it works wonders!


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## cocheese (Jan 12, 2004)

I'm glad that your surgery went well and the recovery is coming along.

I've been waffling for years about whether to get my left knee fixed. MRI's show nothing and physical therapy helps some but does not fix it 100%. My knee pops every time I get up from a chair or straighten it after sitting. It hurts post and lot during rides. It clicks at every pedal revolution. It aches in the back too.

Thing is, the MRI is clean! The doctor says that it sounds like a classis meniscal issue and that the only way to know for sure is to scope it and look at it. He leaves the ball in my court as far as need though.

My new year's resolution is to get it scoped and be done with it. I'm tired of not knowing what is going on. At this point I'm just tired of the aching, stinging, and the popping!

You guys are giving me good inspiration to get it done and ride pain free. Thanks.


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## brownieinSC (Apr 19, 2004)

It has been over three weeks now. I get on the trainer twice a day for twenty minutes each time and do strength training. I am going to try bumping it up to thirty minutes this week. I am going through physical therapy and have a good therapist. She tells me what she wants me to try and really listens to what I tell her about the effect (mostly good, a few bad) on my knee.
It does get a little better every day (unless I do something to irritate it). I am looking forward to the day when I can ride and do it without pain. 
Good luck when you get it done cocheese. 
Macdaddy are they going to stimulate cartilage growth for you next then?


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## cocheese (Jan 12, 2004)

brownieinSC said:


> It has been over three weeks now. It does get a little better every day. Good luck when you get it done cocheese.


Good to hear that you are still progressing. I keep hearing people say to stick to what the docs say. Some try to do too much too soon and end up worse off than they were before the surgery.

Thanks. I am going to call the dr today and get on the list. He's a really great dr and was reluctant to do anything but says that it is my call. I couldn't even lena or squat down in the shower today without a loud pop every time.


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## cocheese (Jan 12, 2004)

Well, I have my surgery scheduled for next week. I'm hopeful that it will allow me to be pain free and thus be more active. I'm actually very excited to have the procedure done because it's been about 10 years coming. I have thought about it a long time and waited for things to fix themselves. This has never happened. I feel that it is the right thing to do given the fact that I have exhausted every other avenue.


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## brownieinSC (Apr 19, 2004)

Good Luck! 
It has been five weeks since my surgery and I am going to try my first ride this weekend somewhere pretty flat. It gets agitated some days but I think in another month I'll rarely notice, except after a hard ride.
Climbing without pain will be a nice change


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## cocheese (Jan 12, 2004)

Thanks Brownie. Good to hear that your recovery is going well. I, like you, am looking forward to being able to ride pain free.


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## MACDADDY! (Jun 20, 2006)

brownieinSC said:


> Macdaddy are they going to stimulate cartilage growth for you next then?


I do not know of which you speak??
most of my stuff was done in '81 so it was a bit primitive.
had some "flare up" in '00 but no one mentioned anything about cartilage growth..
at that time it was just hang on till replacement.


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## cocheese (Jan 12, 2004)

A coworker of mine had a meniscus removed back inthe 80's. Is it true that they thought it was some sort of relic of tissue left over from when the muscles first developed? Seems odd that doctors would think you could take the whole thing out and you would be fine.

My dr. did mention catrlidge stimulation but he didn't think that he would have to do that for me. He said that if he did that I would have to stay off of it for about 6 weeks to allow the tissue to develop without bearing any weight on the joint.

Pain or not, I am going to go for a ride today as one of my last before the surgery.

Fingers crossed, this procedure will allow me to ride more pain free.


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## cocheese (Jan 12, 2004)

Well, today was the day for me. I started another thread as to not derail this one. Thanks for all the help everyone! 

http://forums.mtbr.com/showthread.php?t=376736


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## brownieinSC (Apr 19, 2004)

I went on my first real ride yesterday. I rode 12.5 miles and my knee did really well. It was sore but not nearly as painful as before surgery. I'll just have to keep building it up.
I unfortunately had to go back to work today also! 8 hours stand on concrete floors in steel toe shoes made it hurt worse than my ride but it'll get there.
Thanks for your support everyone.


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## birmy (Jan 14, 2005)

*Dont Worry*



brownieinSC said:


> I am sure I will be fine at some point. I've never had surgery before so the thought of being put under, cut open, scraped out, stuff taken out,etc is freaking me out. I am trying to stay busy so I don't think too much about it. The knee pain is screwing up my riding (and hurts all the time) so I am going to get it taken care of. Tendonitis, medial plica removed and cartilage smoothed out (hopefully there is still enough left afterwards)
> Anyone else have one? what was your recovery time?
> Luckily I have a lot of family to help me out and take care of my daughter for the first week anyway.


I have had both my knees scoped. I was 15 for my first and 18 for my second. I am now 31 and have no problems at all. Rehab will greatly depend on your leg strength. I did not have to go to rehab either time.

Fear not


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## cocheese (Jan 12, 2004)

brownieinSC said:


> I went on my first real ride yesterday. I rode 12.5 miles and my knee did really well. It was sore but not nearly as painful as before surgery. I'll just have to keep building it up.
> I unfortunately had to go back to work today also! 8 hours stand on concrete floors in steel toe shoes made it hurt worse than my ride but it'll get there.
> Thanks for your support everyone.


Good to hear that our recovery is going well.

I had my scope this past Thursday and I'm still trying to stay off of it and using the crutches to get around better. I am headed to the PT on Wed. I'm going to try to take it easy even though all this laying around is driving me a little nutty.

My doc didn't find any tears but found a spot of deterioration on the outside which he tried to stimulate as well as a depresion in the meniscus on the inside. He also said there was fraying that he cleaned up as well as quite a bit of inflamed and irritated tissue.

You mention being glad that he did not have to stimulate any areas. Does that make for a longer recovery?


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## brownieinSC (Apr 19, 2004)

They told me it would on about two weeks if they had to stimulate cartlidge growth.


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## cocheese (Jan 12, 2004)

brownieinSC said:


> They told me it would on about two weeks if they had to stimulate cartlidge growth.


Oh, that ain't so bad. Thanks.


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## cocheese (Jan 12, 2004)

Brownie, how fast did you regain your range of motion? I'm 10 days post op and I'm only at 90 degrees. With that, it hurts and feels like my knees going to pop when I do. I was hoping for a "quick" recovery but it looks like it may take longer. I'm bearing weight and all and walking w/o crutches, but the range of motion is hanging me up for sure.


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## brownieinSC (Apr 19, 2004)

cocheese said:


> Brownie, how fast did you regain your range of motion? I'm 10 days post op and I'm only at 90 degrees. With that, it hurts and feels like my knees going to pop when I do. I was hoping for a "quick" recovery but it looks like it may take longer. I'm bearing weight and all and walking w/o crutches, but the range of motion is hanging me up for sure.


They bent to 120-130 about about three weeks later. Not comfortably but not terrible pain either. Even now if I try to squat that knee hurts and doesn't bend as far as the other one. Mine bend to an abnormal range though ~ 150 degrees. 
It really helped me when I was doing my knee bending stretch to hold it for 5-10 slow breathes and think about my knee relaxing with each exhale. It is hard to let go of the tension when your body is trying to protect it.


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## cocheese (Jan 12, 2004)

brownieinSC said:


> They bent to 120-130 about about three weeks later. Not comfortably but not terrible pain either. Even now if I try to squat that knee hurts and doesn't bend as far as the other one. Mine bend to an abnormal range though ~ 150 degrees.
> It really helped me when I was doing my knee bending stretch to hold it for 5-10 slow breathes and think about my knee relaxing with each exhale. It is hard to let go of the tension when your body is trying to protect it.


Thanks for the info brownie. I am over 90 degrees today which is better than yesterday. A little progress every day is all I can ask for. 150 degrees?! Wow! Mine was nowhere near that. I used the same PT before I resorted to surgery and he noted that I didn't have very good flexibilty at the knee even before surgery. I'm guessing ~130 degrees or so.

I know what you mean about having to concentrate on relaxing. I noticed tonight that I was really guarding the knee and thus not getting it as far as I could if I truly let it fall freely. I got several more degrees from that alone. I guess you remember the pain from the last time you bent that far and are protecting it. It's tough to do, but I think it is part of the recovery.

I'm glad that your recovery is going well. You're back on the bike already! That was quick. I figure that my knee will probably ache here and there for several months, maybe years, but hopefully it will be better than it was before surgery.

Again, thanks for the help! I'll check back in as things move along for me.


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## brownieinSC (Apr 19, 2004)

*First post surgery race*

I raced short track in Charlotte NC today. I raced beginner so it was 30 minutes over a .75 mile course. I got 8 laps in and came in third place out of nine. It has been 9 weeks and 1 day since my surgery so I think I am recovering really well now. My knee is sore but nothing Advil can't fix. 
I think I have about 14 weeks till I do a 24 hour team event and I have another 18 mile race in April. I need to get my cardio back ~ my average heart rate today was 182 bpm for the thirty minutes. I'll be back on the trainer tomorrow!!


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## cocheese (Jan 12, 2004)

brownieinSC said:


> I raced short track in Charlotte NC today. I raced beginner so it was 30 minutes over a .75 mile course. I got 8 laps in and came in third place out of nine. It has been 9 weeks and 1 day since my surgery so I think I am recovering really well now. My knee is sore but nothing Advil can't fix.
> I think I have about 14 weeks till I do a 24 hour team event and I have another 18 mile race in April. I need to get my cardio back ~ my average heart rate today was 182 bpm for the thirty minutes. I'll be back on the trainer tomorrow!!


Congrats Brownie! That's got to feel good.

I'm jealous but doing ok myself. I'm about 23 days and on the trainer 2x a day for 10 minutes. Bending is causing me the most discomfort and a little swelling. Nothing too bad though. I can't wait until I get cleared to ride! :thumbsup:


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## masterp2 (Mar 4, 2007)

I went home with a minor limp. I was amazed, though most don't have my luck.

Just don't wimp out on the PT. That will make or break the recovery. Just keep telling yourself "it hurts so good!"


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## Cypress (Jan 4, 2008)

I can't take anti-inflammatory medication. Post scope.


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## cocheese (Jan 12, 2004)

masterp2 said:


> I went home with a minor limp. I was amazed, though most don't have my luck.
> 
> Just don't wimp out on the PT. That will make or break the recovery. Just keep telling yourself "it hurts so good!"


I'm pushing the PT hard. Twice a day and doing everything I am supposed to do. I am fine until I start doing the bending part. I'm at 125-ish degrees now but it feels like my knee is going to burst if I go any further than that. I think it is just generalized swelling. I go back tomorrow for another PT visit. My knee feels pretty good right now. It pops weird and makes some high pitch snaps that it didn't do before but that's only when I do the first squat or something. Man, I've got my fingers crossed that this is the long term solution!


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## cocheese (Jan 12, 2004)

Cypress said:


> I can't take anti-inflammatory medication. Post scope.


How long ago was your scope? Why can't you take anti-inflammatory meds? Allergic?

I guess I'm lucky in that regard, my swelling is not that bad at all.


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## Cypress (Jan 4, 2008)

The pictures were taken a week after the op. I am allergic to almost everything that reduces swelling, so PT was fun  

It took two weeks before I could make one complete pedal revolution on an exercise bike.


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## brownieinSC (Apr 19, 2004)

My knee was definitely looking better than that one week post op. The pain meds for the first few days were nice ~ I just took naps on the couch. Advil is a good daily friend of mine now. 
I don't think PT tried me on the bike till two weeks post op. That is probably good because whatever I did at PT, I would come home and make it harder on the trainer


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## cocheese (Jan 12, 2004)

Luckily mine never swelled that bad either. I'm about a month out and I still have a little swelling. I think it's the only things keeping the range of motion from being 100%. I went for my first ride on a moving bike today. I went and checked the mail with the kids which is about a mile ride or so. Yipee! I take a little Advil here and there about once or twice a week if I feel a little sore. Someone told me that it blocks some of the healing from taking place but I don't know whether that is true or not. I'm also taking glocosamine/chondroitin/msm and fish oil pills just to throw the proverbial book at this thing.


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