Torn Meniscus, anyone?

Biking is generally easy on the knees. Your friend should stick with 'easy' gears and be careful not
to over-do it.

I tore my meniscus several years ago. I didn't go for the surgery, and the knee feels fine. Every
knee is different.

Good luck.

Joel

Marlene Blanshay said:

A friend of mine, not me fortunately, recently injured his knee- partially torn lateral meniscus.
Not torn all the way through, just a small tear. He is going for physio and if it doesn't respond,
it may require surgery, arthroscopic. He injured it while running and he slipped on the ice so
running is out, but the doctor said cycling is okay, so he tried the trainer and said it felt fine!

He's hoping to be able to ride again this spring (that means probably april), if he doesn't
have surgery.

ANyone ever have this injury and how long did it take to get back to riding? He also hopes to race
(cyclocross) later this year. He's just all depressed about being a gimp and is worried about
riding and racing again.

In article said:

A friend of mine, not me fortunately, recently injured his knee- partially torn lateral meniscus.
Not torn all the way through, just a small tear. He is going for physio and if it doesn't respond,
it may require surgery, arthroscopic. He injured it while running and he slipped on the ice so
running is out, but the doctor said cycling is okay, so he tried the trainer and said it felt fine!

He's hoping to be able to ride again this spring (that means probably april), if he doesn't
have surgery.

ANyone ever have this injury and how long did it take to get back to riding? He also hopes to race
(cyclocross) later this year. He's just all depressed about being a gimp and is worried about
riding and racing again.

So long as the tear folds back in line, you may be OK. I got along for some years after tearing
mine. With mine, about once a year I would move the wrong way and the tear would fold over, pushing
the joint apart. This was _very_ painful -- like writhing on the floor until I managed to get it
pushed back.

Then the day came that I couldn't get it back. To make a long managed-care- nightmare story short,
arthroscopic surgery cut the torn part out. My knee is now pretty much ok, except that I've been
cautioned not to engage in impact-producing activities (running, jumping, ...); biking, backpacking
are ok. YMMV, of course...

Knees are much more subject to damage than we think in our youth 🙁 Artificial knees are a lousy
substitute, too. You really want qualified medical attention to this kind of problem.

-frank

--

In article <[email hidden]>, joel roth

Quoted message said:

Biking is generally easy on the knees. Your friend should stick with 'easy' gears and be careful
not to over-do it.

I tore my meniscus several years ago. I didn't go for the surgery, and the knee feels fine. Every
knee is different.

Good luck.

Joel

True. He isn't in that bad shape, but he wants to get back to normal. He's diabetic and it's
essential for him to keep active, so that's why he's so concerned. SO far, he's managed to stay off
meds because he cycles, runs, etc, and he doesn't want to get off his program.

Thanks, everyone who responded so far.

I've torn both menisci, and have had arthroscopic surgery on each knee. I was back on the bike
within three days of surgery (although I had to ride out of the saddle until the knee would flex
enough.) I was back at speed within two weeks.

Interestingly enough, the knee with no remaining cartilage is fine; the one that only had a small
amount removed still causes problems occasionally. Don't avoid the surgery!

"Marlene Blanshay" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
"]news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

A friend of mine, not me fortunately, recently injured his knee- partially torn lateral meniscus.
Not torn all the way through, just a small tear. He is going for physio and if it doesn't
respond, it may require surgery, arthroscopic. He injured it while running and he slipped on the
ice so running is out, but the doctor said cycling is okay, so he tried the trainer and said it
felt fine!

He's hoping to be able to ride again this spring (that means probably april), if he doesn't have
surgery.

ANyone ever have this injury and how long did it take to get back to riding? He also hopes to race
(cyclocross) later this year. He's just all depressed about being a gimp and is worried about
riding and racing again.

______________________________________________________________________________
Posted Via Binaries.net = SPEED+RETENTION+COMPLETION = binaries.netbinaries.netOpen ↗

This sutgery is a peice of cake. Two small incisions closed with steri-strips, a few pain killers,
regualr icing and then after a few days hop on the stationery for an easy spin. Most importantly do
the physio, give up the running and focus on the low impact activities. I am speaking from
experience, 25 years and seven surgeries later I am waiting on a knee replacement because I didn't
do as I was told by the Orthopods Jeff

Marlene Blanshay said:

A friend of mine, not me fortunately, recently injured his knee- partially torn lateral meniscus.
Not torn all the way through, just a small tear. He is going for physio and if it doesn't
respond, it may require surgery, arthroscopic. He injured it while running and he slipped on the
ice so running is out, but the doctor said cycling is okay, so he tried the trainer and said it
felt fine!

He's hoping to be able to ride again this spring (that means probably april), if he doesn't have
surgery.

ANyone ever have this injury and how long did it take to get back to riding? He also hopes to race
(cyclocross) later this year. He's just all depressed about being a gimp and is worried about
riding and racing again.

In article said:

True. He isn't in that bad shape, but he wants to get back to normal. He's diabetic and it's
essential for him to keep active, so that's why he's so concerned. SO far, he's managed to stay off
meds because he cycles, runs, etc, and he doesn't want to get off his program.

"etc" could include swimming even if the knee hurts.

--Paul

(Marlene Blanshay) said:

ANyone ever have this injury and how long did it take to get back to riding?

these days, they start you exercising the joint immediately after surgery. the hospital physical
therapist was there about 5 mins after i came out of anesthesia, having me do knee bends to keep it
from getting stiff. i was told to do 20 per hour, whether they were all at once, one at a time, or
in groups.

my insurance paid for post-surgical physical therapy. fortunately, my PT was a cyclist. i told him
my training goal (surgery just before new year's day, ride a metric century in mid-may) and we
developed a therapy/training program. he helped me get my cadence up so i could gear down and spin
up (my cadence is now around 95 rpm).

i was riding a stationary bike at the health club next door to the PT office within a week, and was
on my bike in 3 weeks. i rode the 3 miles to the ortho surgeon's office for the 6 week post surgical
xrays and followup. i rode the metric century 5
1/2 months after the surgery without any pain or strain, but the training program included several
20 mile rides in the 3 weeks prior to the metric century. i'm sure that if i was a hammerhead, i
could have done it sooner.

Quoted message said:

ANyone ever have this injury and how long did it take to get back to riding?

I've had this surgery. A piece of cake. Was on my stationary bike the day after. Two days after I
was out on my MTB doing a two hour spin. Never felt any pain whatsoever.

Hjalmar

In article <[email hidden]>, [email hidden] (Dennis P.

Harris) said:

On Thu, 30 Jan 2003 17:07:39 GMT in rec.bicycles.misc, [email hidden] (Marlene

Blanshay) said:

ANyone ever have this injury and how long did it take to get back to riding?

these days, they start you exercising the joint immediately after surgery. the hospital physical
therapist was there about 5 mins after i came out of anesthesia, having me do knee bends to keep
it from getting stiff. i was told to do 20 per hour, whether they were all at once, one at a time,
or in groups.

my insurance paid for post-surgical physical therapy. fortunately, my PT was a cyclist. i told him
my training goal (surgery just before new year's day, ride a metric century in mid-may) and we
developed a therapy/training program. he helped me get my cadence up so i could gear down and spin
up (my cadence is now around 95 rpm).

i was riding a stationary bike at the health club next door to the PT office within a week, and
was on my bike in 3 weeks. i rode the 3 miles to the ortho surgeon's office for the 6 week post
surgical xrays and followup. i rode the metric century 5
1/2 months after the surgery without any pain or strain, but the training program included several
20 mile rides in the 3 weeks prior to the metric century. i'm sure that if i was a hammerhead, i
could have done it sooner.

WTG- that's encouraging! My friend saw this news and is relieved. Fortunately,he's also going to a
clinic where they specialize in sports medicine. The last thing he wants to hear is "don't do any
exercise." I was having back trouble and the osteopath I went to said, "stay off your bike."
Sheeah right!

In article <[email hidden]>, [email hidden] (Paul

Southworth) said:

In article said:

True. He isn't in that bad shape, but he wants to get back to normal. He's diabetic and it's
essential for him to keep active, so that's why he's so concerned. SO far, he's managed to stay
off meds because he cycles, runs, etc, and he doesn't want to get off his program.

"etc" could include swimming even if the knee hurts.

--Paul

good suggestion, but he doesn't swim! I would, though, if it were me.

(Marlene Blanshay) said:

Quoted message said:

i was riding a stationary bike at the health club next door to the PT office within a week, and
was on my bike in 3 weeks. i rode the 3 miles to the ortho surgeon's office for the 6 week post
surgical xrays and followup. i rode the metric century 5
1/2 months after the surgery without any pain or strain, but the training program included
several 20 mile rides in the 3 weeks prior to the metric century. i'm sure that if i was a
hammerhead, i could have done it sooner.

WTG- that's encouraging! My friend saw this news and is relieved. Fortunately,he's also going to a
clinic where they specialize in sports medicine.

i forgot to add that 7 months after the surgery i rode haines, ak to whitehorse, yt to skagway, ak,
535 miles, total hillclimbs approx. 9,500 ft. i took my time, camping and fishing along the way, but
before the surgery i couldn't ride 10 miles without major pain for 2 or 3 days after.

In article <[email hidden]>, [email hidden] (Dennis P.

Harris) said:

On Fri, 31 Jan 2003 17:24:07 GMT in rec.bicycles.misc, [email hidden] (Marlene

Blanshay) said:

Quoted message said:

i was riding a stationary bike at the health club next door to the PT office within a week,
and was on my bike in 3 weeks. i rode the 3 miles to the ortho surgeon's office for the 6 week
post surgical xrays and followup. i rode the metric century 5
1/2 months after the surgery without any pain or strain, but the training program included
several 20 mile rides in the 3 weeks prior to the metric century. i'm sure that if i was a
hammerhead, i could have done it sooner.

WTG- that's encouraging! My friend saw this news and is relieved. Fortunately,he's also going to
a clinic where they specialize in sports medicine.

i forgot to add that 7 months after the surgery i rode haines, ak to whitehorse, yt to skagway,
ak, 535 miles, total hillclimbs approx. 9,500 ft. i took my time, camping and fishing along the
way, but before the surgery i couldn't ride 10 miles without major pain for 2 or 3 days after.

SOunds like some ride. I don't think that's in his plans, LOL. However, he does want to race
cyclocross this fall and that's probably his main goal.

<< A friend of mine, not me fortunately, recently injured his knee- partially torn lateral meniscus.

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

<BR><BR>

I had bilateral knee surgery in July..they found more damage than expected when they went in, not
just a torn miniscus in each knee, but cartilage was trimmed in each knee and the right knee has
bone on bone. I am still not able to ride but I do spin each night for physical therapy(weight
bearing is too much for
me). I hope your friend has a better experience than I did..supposedly my doc was the best and we
tried HA injections as well when I was not doing well after surgery..I keep wondering if
something was missed..I am off to another next month to see what options await me.

Joel Stern

In article said:

<< A friend of mine, not me fortunately, recently injured his knee- partially torn lateral
meniscus. >><BR><BR>

I had bilateral knee surgery in July..they found more damage than

expected when

Quoted message said:

they went in, not just a torn miniscus in each knee, but cartilage was trimmed in each knee and
the right knee has bone on bone. I am still not able to ride but I do spin each night for physical
therapy(weight bearing is too much for
me). I hope your friend has a better experience than I did..supposedly my doc was the best and we
tried HA injections as well when I was not doing

well after

Quoted message said:

surgery..I keep wondering if something was missed..I am off to another next month to see what
options await me.

Joel Stern

Actually, he's doing pretty well. The tear is very small and he doesn't need surgery, although they
said he may one day. They gave him exercises to do and he's back on the trainer and hoping to start
running soon. They gave him the go ahead to run as long as it doesn't hurt and said he should be
able to run a half-marathon in april!

[email hidden] (Marlene Blanshay) wrote in message
news:<[email hidden]>...

Quoted message said:

A friend of mine, not me fortunately, recently injured his knee- partially torn lateral meniscus.
Not torn all the way through, just a small tear. He is going for physio and if it doesn't
respond, it may require surgery, arthroscopic. He injured it while running and he slipped on the
ice so running is out, but the doctor said cycling is okay, so he tried the trainer and said it
felt fine!

He's hoping to be able to ride again this spring (that means probably april), if he doesn't have
surgery.

ANyone ever have this injury and how long did it take to get back to riding? He also hopes to race
(cyclocross) later this year. He's just all depressed about being a gimp and is worried about
riding and racing again.

i had arthroscopic on my right knee in june of 2000 for a torn miniscus. i put it off as long as
possible, but the pain finally got too bad for me. the operation was a complete success and i was
back on my bike in 6 weeks, avoiding hills and big gears for a while. i also did high rep light
weight leg extensions to help healing by increasing the blood flow through the joint. tell your
friend to find a good orthopedic surgeon with experience in sports injuries. correct seat height and
cleat angle (if he rides clipless) are all very important to avoid knee injuries. smokey