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johnr9q
Sport climber
Sacramento, Ca
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Dec 27, 2018 - 07:15am PT
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Robert Yoho: When I tore my meniscus it hurt so bad I couldn't walk. One month after surgery I had no pain and was back climbing. Maybe I had the sham surgery? But whatever it was, it worked.
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Sierra Ledge Rat
Mountain climber
Old and Broken Down in Appalachia
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Dec 27, 2018 - 09:24am PT
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Unless the knee is locking, it is done only
For $$.
I know, but the insurance company wouldn't pay for anything but arthoscopy and I was desperate to try anything.
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LAhiker
Social climber
Los Angeles
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Dec 27, 2018 - 11:10am PT
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SLR, I hope you can get a new knee or find some other good solution soon.
And Hueco, I hope physical therapy is helping.
BTW, I have friends -- hikers, not climbers -- who have recovered from more minor meniscal tears or flip-ups with rest and exercise alone. One did well using the exercises toward the end of this diagnostic video. (I find it a bit odd that the PTs try to demonstrate the exercises while wearing business clothes, but their advice is good.)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=It0DUy0j0-4
But I realize that more is required to recover from more serious meniscal tears and to get back into the game after meniscal surgery.
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Fritz
Social climber
Choss Creek, ID
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Dec 27, 2018 - 11:20am PT
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I'll confess my torn meniscus "sham surgery" also turned up a 1/4" long bone chip & some assorted arthritic "junk."
I didn't just have pain in my left knee. That area of my leg swelled-up to twice normal size after some swimming & was painfull to the touch.
I appreciate some meniscus tears heal themselves. I was not going to wait for a miracle self-healing event & I'm damn glad I got carved on.
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HighTraverse
Trad climber
Bay Area
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SLR
3 months isn't long enough for good recovery. I've had two of these surgeries. Followed docs orders both times. Full recovery took over a year. It was definitely worth going slowly. One of my knees is now nearly perfect the other only mildly problematic. Of course a lot depends on how bad the injury was. Life is definitely not over!
Fulll disclosure: I gave up Telemark skiing and ski downhill very carefully but still shoot the chutes.
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kpinwalla2
Social climber
WA
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I had surgery for a torn meniscus 7 years ago. At the time, the dr. said I had "the cartilage of 23 year old". The surgery went well and I had three years of no pain. Pain returned after 3 years and I needed another meniscus surgery. This one didn't make the pain go away, and an x-ray showed I was now bone-on-bone. Evidently, removing part of the meniscus the first time had accelerated the wear on my cartilage - no more "cartilage of a 23 year old". My only option was a partial or total knee replacement. I did my research and found a dr. in Portland to do the work 3.5 years ago (July 2015). I was freaked out ("my life is over") before the knee replacement, thinking I'd never again be able to hike, mtn. bike, climb, or ski at a personally acceptable level. I took the rehab very seriously. I was able to a bike at 6 weeks after the surgery, I hiked a steep trail to the top of a peak at 10 weeks, I climbed 5.9 (slab) at City of Rocks at 3.5 months. I decided to take the first season off from skiing, and to cut back on telemarking when I resumed the following season (after all, no one cares if you tele). 1.5 years after the replacement, I spent 3 days at Mt. Bachelor skiing hard and as well as ever on clownhill skis - no pain, no difference that I could tell whatsoever. At 2 years out, I competed in and won the "clydesdale" class (over 200 lbs.) in a mtn. bike race. These days, there is almost no perceptible difference between my "good" and "fake" knees. I don't run, I don't jump, and I don't kneel (feels weird). A high step and rockover onto the fake knee is a move I avoid, because it sometimes is painful or just doesn't work so well due to decreased flexibility. This year I spent two weeks mtn. biking in Canada with lots of climbing and technical descents, put up a new route at City of Rocks, hiked 12 miles while bagging a peak, and spent about 100 hours carrying a moderately heavy pack and constructing mtn. bike trails. So (the good) life goes on. My advice - recent studies are showing that many meniscus surgeries have no better outcome than physical therapy, and the chances of meniscus surgery leading to cartilage loss and ultimate knee replacement are high. I would now make a concerted effort to try to alleviate knee pain with therapy before having meniscus surgery. If you get a knee replacement, find an expert in that field, and work hard in the rehab phase - it will pay off. I took the time to write this because I wish I had read something like it 7 years ago.
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jeff constine
Trad climber
Ao Namao
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Had the same deal in 1997 I had real bad locking of the knee, had the OP recovered and back to climbing in 6 mo. No problems since. 34 when I had the OP now 56 still no problems.
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Reeotch
climber
4 Corners Area
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Jan 14, 2019 - 05:06pm PT
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Wow, thanks for that run down on your experience kpinwalla2. How a old are you now? When you had your knee replacement?
I'm 3 - 4 weeks post op. I'm starting my PT. Last few days I've felt my knee is better than before the surgery. At least I can walk without limping. My meniscus was 80% severed. He did a repair job, stitching the "flapper" back down. Somebody above mentioned a "tibial platform rebuild", what is that, a partial knee replacement?
I never thought that a high step into a rockover was very good for the knees. Several times, I have partially dislocated my knee, mid-route, doing that maneuver(eeew).
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Lynne Leichtfuss
Sport climber
moving thru
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Jan 14, 2019 - 07:33pm PT
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Sierra Ledge Rat....absolutely not! Life is not over for you, just being steered in another direction which will have adventure, new awakenings and fun if you have an open heart. Trust me, I know Friend! Cheers and love, lynnie.
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kpinwalla2
Social climber
WA
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Jan 14, 2019 - 09:45pm PT
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I was 57 at time of knee replacement - almost 60 now.
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zBrown
Ice climber
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I have the bucket handle tear - left (from skiing crash in the seventies)
And complex tear - right (2008?)
No surgery
Just muscle building
Am I inflexible
Yes
Does not hurt though
And I run on them regularly
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