Foo - Knee Surgery

Hey, has anyone had surgery on a torn meniscus, and if so, how long was the recovery till you were back on a bike and/or running? Sounds like I'll just need the removal kind of surgery, not the replacement or re-attaching type.

Currently I can still bike(commute and fun, I don't do any racing or mountain) with no issues, but something tells me it'll sideline me for a bit.

I had arthroscopic surgery for a plica and a torn meniscus but it was back in the 80's. I recall crutches for less than a week and being active soon after that. However, I was a teen ager and not riding at the time, so I cannot help with the back on the bike questions. I can tell you if you get kicked in the knee by accident days after surgery, you will go to the ground in pain.

I was off of the bike for 2 weeks. The PT is the worst part of the whole ordeal.

Doubly bad if you are allergic to anti-inflamatory meds like I am. My knee could comfortably wear sunglasses.

I had a torn meniscus as well some years ago. Ironically I wasn't riding then and riding on a stationary bike was part of the therapy. So I don't think it will be too long.

This is what you get to look forward to.

http://i102.photobucket.com/albums/m106/Cypress818/knee.jpg
http://i102.photobucket.com/albums/m106/Cypress818/knee2.jpg

This is what you get to look forward to.


GAH! Do not want! Thankfully I'm not allergic to any meds that I know of so it shouldn't swell that bad.

The Doc say's I'll be walking out of the surgery and crutchs should be optional, but who knows if that'll work out or not.

The Doc say's I'll be walking out of the surgery and crutchs should be optional, but who knows if that'll work out or not.


I did walk out on crutches...

When all of the drugs they have you hopped up on wear off, THAT'S when your knee catches fire and you start pounding whatever they prescribed you.

Tore my ACL about 15 years ago, along with a small tear in the meniscus that took 3 stitches. I told the doctor that I needed to bike for transportation, and he told me "unlimited biking 30 days post-op" and kept his word on it. I did 100 miles the first week I was allowed to bike, and went from there. It took about 3 more months for my leg to get pretty much back up to strength.

Biking helps keep my knee smooth still-- if I don't bike regularly it gets a little achy where the meniscus tear was, but if I bike regularly it feels good all the time. FWIW, I'm a pretty high rpm spinner.

on the upside, cycling is one of the best pt's for it. i had 3 knee surgeries between '89 and '97. once i took up cycling, my knees have never felt better.

i first surgery; 90% torn meniscus and partially torn acl, was a total hack job. i couldn't put weight on it at all for a week or so. otoh, a college roomie said he walked home from the surgery.