Meniscus Tear

[Smawgunner2]

Getting old sucks...true that.
If I'd stumble on a tree root that would cause my foot to get torqued to the left or right side, I'd have a bad stabbing pain, that felt like it was on the inside, but left side of my right knee. The Doc said that the tear is basically a flap of material that just gets cut away. There's no way to stitch it, so once it's removed the pain goes away and it heals up.

My original right knee injury was 39 years ago, in '84. It involved my knee cap not tracking straight up and down, as I'd extend my foot. The knee cap would partially drop off to the right side of the joint....which is actually a partial dislocation. It didn't take much of a twist or turn to cause the entire knee to dislocate, which was excruciating pain. I reset it myself too many times and at age 26, decided to have the reconstruction surgery. This had me off of work for 3 months....BUT this was back in the dark ages of 1984 and even this surgery has greatly improved to less than 4 weeks. Rehab was an absolute bitch! After it was all said and done, I was faster with that leg, but it took me the better part of 8 to 9 months to get the power back into it. I was in the height of my kickboxing days, from age 19 to 36 and I was driven to get back in the ring, which helped with my recovery.

If you're saying your knee "just goes out for no reason", I'd definitely have it checked out, because it ain't gonna get any better on its' own. The younger you are when you get it repaired, the quicker you'll recover and the easier the rehab.
Good luck, brother!!!

I did…went to Ortho One in Cbus. They torqued and twisted my leg/knee every which way and could get any pain out of it. Dunno.

 

[Bowhunter57]

@Smawgunner2
Could just be something that happened once and you're good to go. At least you got it checked out.

I had my left knee give out on my last summer, when I was at an OSTA shoot, near Xenia. Couldn't finish the course, which sucked, but it was raining that day and I blamed it on the weather. Never had any trouble out of it before or since.

 

["J"]

I did…went to Ortho One in Cbus. They torqued and twisted my leg/knee every which way and could get any pain out of it. Dunno.

You might have that elusive “trick knee”…….

 

[Mickey Merrie]

When the flap catches it creates that problem. Also floating pieces... I used to just kick the leg in the air and it would fix it till the next time.

Once i couldn't move my leg in bed cause the covers hurt it and I'd scream in pain. Wifey said your going to the medical people. They scheduled my surgery for deer season. I rescheduled it then shot the double drop tine. After that? "Cut me!"

 

[finelyshedded]

Hope you heal and get on the mend soon Daniel!

 

[Bowhunter57]

I waited the 3 days, per the Doc and made my first bandage change....not any where near as bad as I thought. 3 incisions with 3 small stitches, which come out on the 31st. I'm definitely feeling the pain of this surgery in the last 10 hours or so and am all about the pain management with the prescription meds they gave me. It's making life a lot easier and I'm only having to take 1 about twice a day. The bottle says 1 every 4 hours, which is unnecessary, in my opinion and for what I'm dealing with for pain. Just the same, I'm not about to "John Wayne" thru the pain, cause that ain't helping the recovery.

If felt good to get all of the extra gauze off of the wound too. Now, I can actually feel the soothing effects of an ice pack. Plus, fresh bandages were instructed for the 3rd day. Using one of those 4 pronged aluminum canes, is making mobility a reasonable possibility. The purple lines are Sharpie marks by the Doc.

Fresh bandages!!!

 

[Mickey Merrie]

As you go forward most of the pain, tightness and feeling of swelling will relate to the incision areas where they separated and stretched soft tissue. I think they also fill the joint with liquid to make room and that takes time to be re absorbed.

That higher incision will be the biggest little troublemaker when it comes to those not quite right pains and irritation that can last for weeks.

I was walking up and down the road 3 days out. Not exactly a John Wayne type myself. i prefer not masking the pain which was tolerable so I could know exactly what I could and couldn't do. Like I said, I've had both knees scoped. The first one at about 55 when I was teaching my son to punt the football.
That was when the plant leg put me in a continuous pain I couldn't get relief from. It was the worse pain I had ever experienced and came on instantly. By the time I was able to see the surgeon I couldn't remember which knee it was. I told him it was a meniscus tear and he asked how I knew? (I had a minor sports medicine training in college and almost went for my masters in Athens Ohio). He looked at the scans and confirmed my diagnosis, LOL but couldn't believe I would want surgery being no longer in pain. I said fix it as it will only get worse and never heal. He agreed. The second knee was done in 2017 and was the result of years of little things taking their toll. I have very little issue with either of them today, but when I do its related to the arthritis in each knee. Maybe 3 or 4 times a year it flares up and I paint the knee with DMSO for a couple days and the pain goes away such that I forget to use the DMSO.

Dan you should come through this at least as well as I have and forget that you even had surgery all together in under a year!

 

[Bowhunter57]

@Mickey Merrie
I appreciate all your "hot tips" for getting thru this, as it helps knowing what to look forward to and not think about where I'm at, at the moment.

As of right now, there's no way I'd pass a sobriety walking test.