Meniscus Tears, Any Riders W/This Experience?
 

I got taken down by a Lexus on 2011/5/4, and today I finally got to see an Orthopedist about my knee. My X-Rays showed no damage to the bones, but he suspects a torn meniscus. Have to wait for the owner's (not driver's) insurance company to OK the MRI, but I'm scheduled for late next week.

I'm still off the bike, between the knee, and the back, and the wrist, it's not a good thing to do right now. So, does, anybody out there have experience riding with this? What can I expect if it's confirmed?

Stage 3 tear. About 6 months before I could get back on the saddle. Its been almost 2 yrs now and it still gets real sore after a ride

i had a full meniscus tear from a freak knee-bending incident on christmas eve over 3 years ago. it was some of the worst pain i've ever known. the torn part of my meniscus got double over on itself and locked the joint at a 30 degree angle. my doctor likened it to shoving a 2x4 into a door jamb to hold it open. i had to have full-blown reconstructive knee surgery. i was in physical therapy for 2 months relearning how to walk, go up and down stairs, things like that. part of the PT was also riding a stationary bike to get low impact motion back into the joint. through that whole process, i got back into cycling after a roughly 10 year hiatus. i talked to my doctor about riding my bike to work to help make the knee stronger and he told me to go for it. i'm now on my 4th year of bike commuting, and overall my knee feels great. there are some days when it gets tight (though some people say that can be weather related), and occasional soreness after really long rides, but those also can affect my non-surgery knee as well.

I've had a tear, but not as bad as the ones above. It would catch sometimes if I did a deep knee bend. Very painful when that happens, like pinching a nerve. My ortho said he could repair it, but there would be a long period of rehab, or I could leave it as is if it doesn't bother me too much. It was pretty minor as far as tears go, so I opted to leave it. It bothered me every now and then for the next 3-4 years, but eventually it went away. It's been a few years since it's bothered me at all.

I had one hiking. ON TOP OF THE MOUNTAIN. oh boy, that wasn't a fun hike down.

It took me 3 weeks to use my ankle fully, and 3 months to get used a regular walk. Every now and them when I'm standing on my bike pedaling, I stop and my ankle shakes and feels weak, but no weakness.

also, if it was the driver's fault, you can sue him. Go see a lawyer with a free consultation if you wish. I did and got enough money for college, but I had no injury, just they tried to kill me.

I had a pretty good tear in mine a couple of years ago and had about 50% of it scoped. I actually healed very quickly and was back on my bike in about two weeks...lot's of low gears and spinning for a couple of weeks after that....otherwise, it doesn't give me any issues at all. Although....I don't run anymore.

I'm a physical therapist. It was actually a torn meniscus and the rehab process that brought me into the profession in the first place!

A torn meniscus is not necessarily a big deal. Small tears are better treated without surgery, and people often can return to vigorous activity within a couple months. Larger tears require 1 of 3 surgical options, all of which are arthroscopic. In order of recovery time: 1) Meniscectomy. They remove it entirely. You're back within 2-3 weeks, but probably will develop arthritis in the future. 2) Debriedment. They just trim out the torn parts. Back in a month. 3) Repair. They sew it back together, but then you have to stay off it entirely for 6 weeks, and then rehab.

Good luck.

^ not all meniscus repair surgeries are done arthroscopically. I've got a nice big old scar down the right side of my knee where my doc opened me up to sew my meniscus back together. But I had a complete tear and the torn piece was doubled over and wedged inside the joint, so perhaps mine was a rare case where more invasive surgery was necessary.

I haven't heard of that happening since 'the olden days.' How long ago was it? Did they do anything else other than the meniscus?

my surgery was back in 2008. I'm not aware of anything else my doctor did in there. He did give me the option of an arthroscopic solution, but because of my relatively young age (31 at the time) he really pushed me to have the knee opened up so he could really get in there and make the knee almost as good as new.

Well now we're hijaking the thread I guess... that still sounds very very odd to me. Not arguing with you, of course. I'm sure he had his reasons. The norm is still arthroscopic, though.

I had a meniscus tear about 6 years ago from a skiing incident. Had it fixed with the scope. Had the choice of full anesthesia or spinal, took the spinal and watched the whole thing on the TV in the OR while the surgeon explained what he was doing - which I would highly recommend. Had to stay off of it for several days, keep out of the water until the incisions healed (2 weeks) but otherwise, no bid deal.

J.

I had a meniscus tear a couple of years ago. I wasn't biking at the time so I can't tell you how it affected my riding. I can tell you however that biking has been the best way for me to work out. I have only just recently been able to run and not have a sharp knee pain. You will feel pressure and tightening even after everything heals depending on your physical activity. I was only at a 5 percent disability afterword. I will feel pressure in my knee after a hilly or harder ride. My left leg is also a bit weaker than my right as a result as well. Just more reason to ride. (edit) I also ride a single speed btw. No problems with it.

I have fairly recent experience with this myself. A short chronology:

February '11----fairly serious tear in what the doc said must have already been a torn medial meniscus. The loose end flipped but fortunately, didn't slip into the joint. . .was just painful.
April-- (five weeks ago) arthroscopic surgery to cut away the torn bits and clean up the rest. Iced it non-stop for the first few days, then most of the next week. No exercise for the first three days, then a series of exercises a PT friend gave me- - -stuff for flexibility and to maintain muscle to some degree. Was out of the office for a couple of weeks but if there were a critical need for me to be in, could have been back, albeit hobbling, in a week.
4 weeks ago: daily indoor stationary bike with no resistance; start taking glucosamine/chondroitin/MSM daily---forever for joint health (per docs instructions)
3 weeks ago: easy road rides of a about an hour. . .about every other day
2 weeks ago: up to five days a week---slightly longer rides
1 week ago: resumed commuting on mostly flat with a few hills 15-miles each way---back to daily riding of either commutes or 90-minute mid-day jaunts
2 hours ago: finished a short but satisfying (all things considered) 45-mile rolling Memorial Day ride

Since the 'scope' work, I've iced it on occasion and wear a compression bandage when it bothers me- - -and it bothers me more from extended walking than it does from riding. Doc says no running and no cyclocross but I can ride all I want. As I understand it, this isn't an injury that will ever heal itself. You have few choices---live with it (if you can and hope it doesn't get worse) or have surgery. Unless you're young and the tear is in the right place, it can't really be repaired (as in stitched together). But apparently the surgery I had (cleaning out the shredded bits) is extremely common and highly successful. So far, it's worked for me. As noted above, I rode 45 today slightly slower than normal (it was also in the low '90s) and feel fine.

YMMV.

Ok, got the results... It's not a torn meniscus, it's a bruised one. Going in for PT starting this week. More details later.

Now that's the best news of all. Good for you!

J.