Knee arthroscopy recovery time
Discussion
I'm hopefully going to be having one of these soon I have been struggling with a split cartilage for 15 months and finally got a second opinion and a well regarded surgeon is hopefully going to be getting the knitting needles out and getting busy on my chondral flap (some separation also) after I was originally told it couldn't be operated on.
I'm a bit concerned about recovery time just wondered what peoples experiences were? Being self employed I will have to balance a swift return to work with not wrecking a one awaited and expensive operation. It's an anterior cartilage split.
A pal of mine said he was back in the gym after 3/4 days anything at 2 weeks ish with a graduated return would be awesome. I'm trying to weigh up having the op done straight away vs deferring until June when we are much less busy at work. I know the obvious answer is ASAP but we do the majority of our business from now until May at my work so the financial penalty could be very high!
I'm a bit concerned about recovery time just wondered what peoples experiences were? Being self employed I will have to balance a swift return to work with not wrecking a one awaited and expensive operation. It's an anterior cartilage split.
A pal of mine said he was back in the gym after 3/4 days anything at 2 weeks ish with a graduated return would be awesome. I'm trying to weigh up having the op done straight away vs deferring until June when we are much less busy at work. I know the obvious answer is ASAP but we do the majority of our business from now until May at my work so the financial penalty could be very high!
Hi Jon,
The answer will undoubtedly be ' it depends' and you'll only find out after it is done....
However with a sample size of one, mine felt amazing as soon as I woke up (while waiting to be picked up I went for a walk around the hospital grounds) and I was in the gym the next day starting my gentle rehab and a load of things that didn't nvolve my knee. I got my legs as strong as F&*£ before the op and subsequently stuck to my rehab program
I'd put mine off until the end of the rugby season as didn't want to miss any games. I put up with 6 months of only being able to run on match days after getting dosed up on painkillers and hobbling around for the rest of the week. Every other op I've had I've taken the view of getting them done asap- I'm an employed drone though
The answer will undoubtedly be ' it depends' and you'll only find out after it is done....
However with a sample size of one, mine felt amazing as soon as I woke up (while waiting to be picked up I went for a walk around the hospital grounds) and I was in the gym the next day starting my gentle rehab and a load of things that didn't nvolve my knee. I got my legs as strong as F&*£ before the op and subsequently stuck to my rehab program
I'd put mine off until the end of the rugby season as didn't want to miss any games. I put up with 6 months of only being able to run on match days after getting dosed up on painkillers and hobbling around for the rest of the week. Every other op I've had I've taken the view of getting them done asap- I'm an employed drone though
If its your meniscus, then in my experience a lot will depend on whether it’s trimmed or repaired. I had a repair a few years ago after a buckle handle tear, which was quite a lengthy recovery (a few months). It re-tore last year and the surgeon just trimmed it off. I walked out of hospital with a couple of hours and went to a music festival 2 days later (endless walking / standing) with no real issues.
Well it's all reassuring stuff I'll certainly be having a good chat with the surgeon before. I have a split with a flap and detachment so I think it's a decent sized op for it's type it's not just shaving off rough bits but my hope is that post op swelling aside it can't be any worse than it is now!
Have had mine done key hole around 10yrs ago .having a manual job didn't get back to normal for 3/4 weeks . I was a keen runner and looked fwd to running somewhat painfree.
When I came round on the ward the surgeon said no more running for you Sony, after a few weeks rest I was back at it and been running 3 times a week since .as been said everyone is differant. Must add the first couple of niights the pain was rather bad , but I was only given some paracetamol
When I came round on the ward the surgeon said no more running for you Sony, after a few weeks rest I was back at it and been running 3 times a week since .as been said everyone is differant. Must add the first couple of niights the pain was rather bad , but I was only given some paracetamol
fridaypassion said:
Well it's all reassuring stuff I'll certainly be having a good chat with the surgeon before. I have a split with a flap and detachment so I think it's a decent sized op for it's type it's not just shaving off rough bits but my hope is that post op swelling aside it can't be any worse than it is now!
It really depends on how severe the damage is but also how good your surgeon is, how good your post-op care is (i.e. physio) and how much rehab work you do.fridaypassion said:
If I can drive an auto car within 1-2 weeks of the op I'll be happy with that I'm not wanting to rush anything!
I've had athroscopies on both knees: the left was very minor and I was fine a week later. The right has been very difficult and I found driving hard because of the time with my leg spent in one position (motorway driving). Nothing that a couple of minutes walking it off couldn't alleviate though.Well I have had it confirmed and it's a chondroplasty procedure. I was told no driving for 10 days partly actually due to potential liability issues in the event of a crash! I'll certainly have a week chilling out and try to not rush back to full tilt. Hopefully going in in around 3-4 weeks. Looking around I'm guessing it's about 5 grand but I guess they will fill me in on this when I get booked in.
Very frustrating as I could have had the op over a year ago if I had seen this guy and not his mate wh told me it couldn't be operated on...
I guess doctors are like mechanics you have good and bad ones!
Very frustrating as I could have had the op over a year ago if I had seen this guy and not his mate wh told me it couldn't be operated on...
I guess doctors are like mechanics you have good and bad ones!
Well I'm 3 days post op now it's certainly not been a magic bullet so far for be although I know it's early days. I'm only just starting to come around fully from the affects of the GE and painkillers have been very drowsy.
I had terrible muscle inhibition before the Op and this hasn't instantly disappeared with the Op I'll need a lot of physio I think. I've been instructed to stay on crutches for two weeks although I can manage without it's just getting me not to lean on the good leg.
Not in pain they despatched me from the hospital with Codine but have just been taking paracetamol to help keep the muscle inhibition at bay but quite surprised how little pain there is.
Anyway hopefully on the long path back to recovery after over 15 months of walking around with a cartilage flap that should have been operated on straight away. Pretty sure that's an NHS emergency qualifying op as well which makes the first "surgeons" actions even more disappointing. We'll deal with that when I'm better.
I had terrible muscle inhibition before the Op and this hasn't instantly disappeared with the Op I'll need a lot of physio I think. I've been instructed to stay on crutches for two weeks although I can manage without it's just getting me not to lean on the good leg.
Not in pain they despatched me from the hospital with Codine but have just been taking paracetamol to help keep the muscle inhibition at bay but quite surprised how little pain there is.
Anyway hopefully on the long path back to recovery after over 15 months of walking around with a cartilage flap that should have been operated on straight away. Pretty sure that's an NHS emergency qualifying op as well which makes the first "surgeons" actions even more disappointing. We'll deal with that when I'm better.
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