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Experience with knee injury - torn meniscus and/or ACL?

momhappy

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Has anyone dealt with a knee injury resulting in a torn meniscus and/or ACL? Did you chooses to have surgery? Why or why not? If you had surgery, what was the recovery like and how long did the recovery take?
 

Dee*Jay

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I tore my ACL, MCL, meniscus and got two big bone bruises in a skiing accident a few years ago. My scenario is probably different than what you are asking about becuase I had to go through six months of pre-hab before my doctor would even consider doing the surgery. Due to my other injuries aside from the ACL I couldn't fully straighten my leg, and the doctor said if he repaired my ACL at that point I it would heal too short and I would have a permanent limp. I ultimately did go under the knife but once the surgeon was in there he found that my ACL had clotted to the bone and was therefore "reattached" so he didn't replace it. The Steadman Hawkins clinic in Colorado is trying to "force" the reattachment situation that occurred naturally in my injury by micro-drilling holes in the bone to make it bleed and clot to the bone, but mine happened anyway due to the bone bruises. If you google "Steadman Hawkins healing response" you will get better explanations than I could ever give on all this! Anyway, I'm sorry my scenario probably doesn't do much good in answering your question, but long story short I did elect to have surgery, even though the ACL part of it wasn't necessary once they got in there. I was also to go the cadavar route rather than the synthetic or hamstring opion. Let me know if you have any other or specific questions and I'll do my best to answer.
 

Dee*Jay

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momhappy

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Thanks Dee Jay for sharing. I'm sorry to hear about your injury - I'm guessing that the injury is still bothersome in some ways?
 

cflutist

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Oh no, sorry to hear this.
Sending lots of "Dust" to you.
 

Dee*Jay

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momhappy|1428521953|3858791 said:
Thanks Dee Jay for sharing. I'm sorry to hear about your injury - I'm guessing that the injury is still bothersome in some ways?

Honestly, the largest problem I had was that this had been my "good knee." In the course of a year of pre-hab and rehab my "bad" knee finally said ENOUGH! and I ended up having surgery on that too, so two knee surgeries in six months. If I would just get my lazy butt back to the gym (or something!) I think I would be fine. Rehab is ABSOLUTELY CRITICAL though. I mean be RELIGIOUS about it. Do EVERYTHING they tell you to do. Not necessarily more than that, but EVERYTHING. (Sorry for all the caps, but I'm emphatic about this, ha ha!)
 

momhappy

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Thanks cflutist and DeeJay. The injury is not mine - it's my brother:( He's been dealing with it for a while and is debating about surgery.
 

JewelFreak

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Momhappy, I wrecked my knee about 2 yrs ago. Hobbled around for a while & took it very easy, and it was better in about 3 months. Not better enough, though, so I had an MRI that showed it wasn't the ACL as I thought, but I had ruptured 2 tendons & torn the meniscus. Plus a little arthritis in there too, ick.

Went to a sports orthopedist who recommended surgery -- he said it was a 10-minute to half-hour procedure. But noted that it would heal on its own in a year or less. I decided not to have the operation; it was already better than originally & surgery meant PT & time off my feet, etc., when it would heal by itself in about the same time.

My knee has been back to normal for a year or so. Only took another 3 or 4 months to be all fixed. I didn't do anything special except for shortening some exercise & not doing anything rough with it.

Whether to have surgery or not depends on how it feels, what the MRI looks like, & the individual. I'm happy with the way mine turned out.

Hope your brother is well soon.

--- Laurie
 

momhappy

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Thanks^
My brother injured his about a year ago and finally had an MRI because it continues to be a great source of pain (as well as instability). The decision to have knee surgery is a difficult one. I have many friends that have had knee surgeries (for various injuries) and the recoveries were all pretty major.
 

April20

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My DH tore his meniscus last year mowing the grass. He ended up needing surgery. It was a super simple procedure as his tear wasn't terrible. He went in at 4pm and we walked out at 6pm. He had no restrictions other than not being able to drive for 24 hours and that was due to the anesthesia. He felt sooooo much better afterwards. He still needs to go do a little rehab for it, but all in all it was a simple "fix" with little to no recovery.

I will say that now, nearly a year after the tear, he does say the knee still feels "weak". It especially bothers him going down stairs. We're fairly certain more rehab will fix that; now if I could only get him to call......
 

momhappy

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Thanks^
The MRI showed that my brother has a tear in his ACL and torn meniscus. The doc said that he could do one or both repairs (or none if he chooses not to have surgery at all). I guess that it really depends on the injury and that's what makes everyone's experiences so different.
 

MishB

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I severed my ACL skiing 4 years ago, I had surgery - an artificial LARS graft. The artificial graft has the advantage of a much shorter recovery time, but it was still a solid 6 months of my life in pre-hab, post surgery and re-hab. And it's still never been the same, it's fine to walk, and ski on, but it aches from time to time, hates climbing stairs in heels, and to be honest, I would hate to run on it.

My husband severed his ACL skiing 2 years after I did, and after consulting a lot of physios and doctors (including the surgeon who did my op and an independent sports medicine specialist) decided against surgery. However, he put a lot of work into strengthening and keeping his leg strong (he cycles 100's of kms per week) and he's doing just fine without the surgery.

So there is no right answer, it depends on your individual circumstances. I hated my own experience, if I could turn back time I couldn't say I wouldn't have surgery, but I might have given it a lot more serious consideration rather than just assuming surgery was the only option.
 

momhappy

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^Your post was very helpful, MishB - having the perspective from not one, but two people with a similar injury. My brother is not crazy about having surgery, but he also doesn't want to live with the pain for the rest of his life. I'm guessing that there will always be a certain amount of pain, with or without surgery because the damage has already been done and even a surgical repair can't change that completely.
 

ame

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My brother has torn his, pretty badly, and surgery was the only option. Being that he was a college FB player, he was in pretty prime shape so he bounced back easily and quickly. I think it is worth doing it for quality of life in general though.
 

WillyDiamond

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Momhappy
Sorry for getting on this late, just saw your post, don't know if done deal.
I somehow get the feeling you reside in the NYC area, if that is the case, have your brother be examined by a dr at HSS (Hospital for Special Surgery), they have specialists for just the knee, foot, hip, elbow, etc, you get the idea. My son who is a dr now worked for a dr there many years ago doing research, they are the best, that is what they do. He will walk away with a answer he can live with. Best of luck.
 

momhappy

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ame|1429110565|3862262 said:
My brother has torn his, pretty badly, and surgery was the only option. Being that he was a college FB player, he was in pretty prime shape so he bounced back easily and quickly. I think it is worth doing it for quality of life in general though.

Thanks. I guess this is part of the problem - my brother doesn't engage in things like skiing, tennis, basketball, etc. that would require ACL surgery. He just has pain and now the pain isn't just in the injured knee, it's in both (the doctor thinks the other knee pain is a result of favoring the injured knee). One doctor has recommended surgery for the ACL repair and another doctor said that she wouldn't repair the ACL, but maybe encourage an arthroscopic procedure to clean it up. I tend to agree with the latter of the two, but my brother thinks that he needs the full-on ACL, meniscus, & cartilage repair. He said that he just doesn't want to live with the pain, but I tend to think that even after a surgical repair, he will always have a certain amount of pain because the injured and/or repaired knee will never be the same as it was before the injury.
 

missy

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Momhappy, has your brother received more than one medical opinion? I am a big believer in second opinions and as Willy stated HSS is highly regarded for this type of medical issue. They don't necessarily advocate the surgical option as the best. They evaluate on a case by case basis and take into account your brother's lifestyle and needs. Anyway, I don't know where your brother is located but if not too far perhaps worth the trip. Good luck to him and I hope he finds a pain free solution.
 

Dee*Jay

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momhappy|1429403066|3864245 said:
ame|1429110565|3862262 said:
My brother has torn his, pretty badly, and surgery was the only option. Being that he was a college FB player, he was in pretty prime shape so he bounced back easily and quickly. I think it is worth doing it for quality of life in general though.

Thanks. I guess this is part of the problem - my brother doesn't engage in things like skiing, tennis, basketball, etc. that would require ACL surgery. He just has pain and now the pain isn't just in the injured knee, it's in both (the doctor thinks the other knee pain is a result of favoring the injured knee). One doctor has recommended surgery for the ACL repair and another doctor said that she wouldn't repair the ACL, but maybe encourage an arthroscopic procedure to clean it up. I tend to agree with the latter of the two, but my brother thinks that he needs the full-on ACL, meniscus, & cartilage repair. He said that he just doesn't want to live with the pain, but I tend to think that even after a surgical repair, he will always have a certain amount of pain because the injured and/or repaired knee will never be the same as it was before the injury.

This is a very important thing! My other knee was most definitely affected by favoring the torn ACL knee and I ultimately ended up having two surgeries rather than just one. Also, due to my non-torn knee being injured several years before it actually altered my gait, which caused one hip to be higher than the other, and now I have a curve in my spine. I think it's very important to think about the consequences of not getting the knee fixed in relation to what the impact may be on the rest of the body.
 

ame

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The more you do on the injury though, the longer it takes to heal and the more damage is done to other things. Pain is nothing to ignore.
 

momhappy

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^He's been living with it for a year. He golfs regularly (walking, not riding a golf cart), walks 3-4 miles about 4 times a week as part of his work out routine, etc. He says that his knees don't bother him at all during his normal activities - it's when he sits down at night to relax that they ache. I guess that if it was me, and I was still capable of doing my normal activities, I probably wouldn't have surgery. However, if he wants to have surgery, I want to try to support him:)
 
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