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yournamehere · 08-26-2004, 07:26 PM

I'm in the same boat as you - torn medial meniscus; been hurting since April, and it's just never going to get better without surgery. I'm trying to schedule it now for mid to late September.

I was told to expect the following:
Surgery on Wednesday; back to work Monday.
Crutches for the first 24 hours; 70% recovery within six weeks. Physical therapy 2 or 3 times a week for a few weeks.
They will give you anesthetic.
Until you get surgery, you can cause further injury to your knee.
After surgery, you might hurt your knee doing certain things, but you won't injure it.
Because they're removing part of the support pad for your thighbone, you will eventually develop arthritis - how much depends on how much of the meniscus is removed. However, not getting the surgery will cause even more arthritis.

Luckily, I have a lot of faith in my surgeon - he's done about 5 of these surgeries every week for the past 25 years, and was one of the first to do them arthroscopically.

As for the MRI, they can be a good guide - but don't be surprised if, once they're in there, they find more problems than the MRI showed.

Good luck.

08-26-2004, 07:26 PM	#10 (permalink)
yournamehere Invisible Location: tentative, at best	I'm in the same boat as you - torn medial meniscus; been hurting since April, and it's just never going to get better without surgery. I'm trying to schedule it now for mid to late September. I was told to expect the following: Surgery on Wednesday; back to work Monday. Crutches for the first 24 hours; 70% recovery within six weeks. Physical therapy 2 or 3 times a week for a few weeks. They <b>will</b> give you anesthetic. Until you get surgery, you can cause further injury to your knee. After surgery, you might <i>hurt</i> your knee doing certain things, but you won't <i>injure</i> it. Because they're removing part of the support pad for your thighbone, you will eventually develop arthritis - how much depends on how much of the meniscus is removed. However, <i>not</i> getting the surgery will cause even more arthritis. Luckily, I have a lot of faith in my surgeon - he's done about 5 of these surgeries every week for the past 25 years, and was one of the first to do them arthroscopically. As for the MRI, they can be a good guide - but don't be surprised if, once they're in there, they find more problems than the MRI showed. Good luck. __________________ If you want to avoid 95% of internet spelling errors: "If your ridiculous pants are too loose, you're definitely going to lose them. Tell your two loser friends over there that they're going to lose theirs, too." It won't hurt your fashion sense, either.