Anyone Ever Had A Meniscus Tear?

[Deleted member 541]

I had an MRI on Monday, and just found out today, that I have a Meniscus Tear in my left knee. Also need another MRI on the right knee as my Dr feels I probably have bilateral tears...

Anyways, I need to know what I might be facing with this... How bad is the surgery, the recovery, and time frame I might be looking at before returning to work???

I see an Ortho next week Wednesday... Oh Joy, one more Dr, I can add to my already growing list of specialist that I have to see.......I see my Dr's more than I do anything else in my life......I am seriously sick of this crap!!!!!!

 

[2quilt]

I used to have a friend who tore hers playing basketball. Arthroscopic surgery, she walked out of the hospital day surgery on a cane, and in about 4 weeks she was walking just fine. Some cartilage had broken off in there and I don't need to tell you what the pain was like, do I?

 

[Butigotup]

I've had one, but only as part of a bigger injury. I tore my ACL, MCL and both meniscii all at once. So my experience isn't typical.

The only relevant caution I can offer is this -- don't minimize surgery in your mind. Plenty of people will tell you they had the surgery done years ago and were back to normal in a few weeks. They weren't, they just don't remember how hard the recovery was. It can be done and it's often better than just living with it, but it will probably take longer and be more intense than people tell you. Plan for it to be harder so hopefully it will be easier, and get a second opinion to be sure you need the surgery. Then, if you have to do it, do it. It can work out really well.

 

[Charon]

Man that sucks! I'm sorry that happened to you She Cat. I've never had a bad knee injury (thank God) but a guy I wrestled with years ago had knee surgery, they used some kind of laser or something, but he only had these tiny little dots for scars, barely noticeable. I remember him saying that he was able to be up and about pretty quickly. Its years later and he still wrestles so I think-and hope-you'll be alright and recover quickly. Good luck!

 

[Robin]

The pain that I was in when I tore my acl and my medial meniscus was the worst pain that I had before my surgery. So post surgery I was revlieved and happy about it. Was a ACL reconstruction so I did have a long rehabilitation process, but again NOTHING like the pain before.

Also, I am able to play sport again like before! So have not had a seconds doubt or regret about the surgery.

 

[amethist]

Hi She Cat

Painful as it is for you right now, once you have had it repaired you could be up and about almost back to normal in two weeks.

It sometimes depends how bad the tear is in the first place, but two weeks minimum is the usual time scale, depending on your job.

Hope that helps.

Amethist.

 

[Deleted member 541]

Thanks everyone for the feedback.... This just sucks...

Amethist, my job, well I clean houses for a living, so I am on my feet and moving for 5-6 hours a day 5 days a week. The loss of 2 weeks work will be devastating to my wallet.....

2quilt, no you don't need to tell me how much pain I am in. It can be so bad at times that trying to sit, or to stand, or to climb or descend stairs is torture.....

The biggest problem.....They have only done a MRI on my left knee, I have the same issues in my right knee as well. The Ortho will address this issue, I am told, when I see him on Wednesday......

I often say, that getting old is NOT for sissies, so I just thought it worth repeating........Getting old is not for sissies, and it SUCKS too!!!!!!

 

[Mina]

Ouch...sorry to hear about your knee, She Cat!

I've been working on what the orthopaedist thinks is a minor tear in my left leg lateral meniscus (MRI inconclusive; pain/symptoms consistent with tear). No surgery required, but the physical therapy was definitely not fun. Fairly painful, and I would leave with my knees shaking and my legs not wanting to hold me up. After about 6 weeks, I noticed that the pain was pretty much gone when I was going up/down stairs, changing from standing to sitting, etc. Hopefully your timeline on that will be much faster since they are surgically fixing a known problem, and will then have you do PT (instead of just PT).

One thing the PT told me was to keep up with the exercises over the long term. Whatever body imbalances that contributed to the problem in the first place would return over time if I quit doing exercises to correct them. Makes sense, I guess.

 

[Deleted member 541]

Thanks Mina....OUCH, is right.....What a pain. (no pun intended) I have heard horror stories already about PT for this particular problem.....Actually the ones that I read about, from people on another forum....QUIT the PT because it was more painful than the tear itself........That in itself isn't very positive.....

I can't wait to hear what the Ortho says on Wednesday, but then again, the thoughts of surgery/PT...Well, I would just as soon wait......Actually I would rather beat myself over the head:crazy::crazy: than go through surgery.......Anyway, we shall see how this turns out.