Meniscus (cartilage) Repair patients cannot do twisting, pivoting, squatting, deep knee bends or impact activities for four months. It is vital that meniscus repair patients do not squat for at least four months after the repair.
The fluid in your knee often remains there for at least 4-6 weeks after surgery until your body can reabsorb it. This fluid will make your knee feel tight or stiff, especially with deep knee bending or squatting.
Patient will be non-weight bearing for 6 weeks immediately following surgery unless otherwise directed. Progress to partial weight bearing with brace at week 6. Progress to full weight bearing with brace unlocked (if adequate quad control) near week 8.
Protect repair • Reduce swelling, minimize pain • Restore patellar mobility • Restore full extension • Flexion < 90 degrees • Minimize arthrogenic muscle inhibition, re-establish quad control, regain full active extension • Patient education • Keep your knee straight and elevated when sitting or lying down.
While sitting in a chair or over the edge of your bed, support the operated leg with the uninvolved leg. Lower the operated leg, with the unoperated leg controlling it. Allow the knee to bend but DO NOT exceed 90 degrees of bend at the knee.
Don't Overdo It
Although exercise is the key to healing, you could be backpedaling progress by overworking your knee.
Most people can walk with crutches soon after meniscus surgery. Many return to normal activities within six to eight weeks. Your healthcare provider may recommend low-impact activities rather than high-impact (such as walking rather than running). If you have a physical job, you may need extra time off work to recover.
Full weight-bearing is prescribed when your bones or ligaments are too weak to take any strain at all. Walking using the injured limb risks re-injury. This means that you cannot lean on your injured leg even when it is in a plaster.
During weightbearing, compressive forces are loaded across the menisci. These tensile forces create 'hoop stresses', which expand the menisci in extension. These hoop stresses are thought to be helping the healing process in many tears by approximating the tissue.
An uncomplicated meniscectomy will resolve most of the pain fairly quickly, but swelling and stiffness take time to resolve. It may take 4-5 months for full healing.
Depending on the type of procedure you received, you may be asked to avoid fully bearing weight on the affected knee for up to six weeks. You may be able to climb stairs a few days after surgery, but it's important to be careful and go slowly. You should use handrails for support and take one step at a time.
It is common to limp for a few weeks after the surgery and to experience some tightness due to normal postoperative swelling. If you are not using the prescription pain medicine, and if your knee motion permits, you can drive your vehicle as early as the day after surgery.
Avoid any exercise that causes crunching, clicking or pain at the kneecap. Do not pivot or twist on the knee. Stand facing the wall, using the wall for balance and support. While standing on the unoperated limb bend the knee of the operated side and raise the heel toward the buttock.
Everyone's different, so it very much depends on your own situation. A typical case might be 50-60° on day one, 60-70° on day two, and 80-90° on day three. But there's no need to panic if you don't follow this pattern.
Weight-bearing aerobic activities involve doing aerobic exercise on your feet, with your bones supporting your weight. Examples include walking, dancing, low-impact aerobics, elliptical training machines, stair climbing and gardening.
Full weight-bearing: The leg can now carry 100% of the body weight, which permits normal walking.
It usually takes about 4 to 8 weeks for patients to increase weight bearing and range of motion. Most patients can walk without a knee brace and crutches in about 2 to 3 months. Recovery time from a partial meniscectomy (partial removal of the meniscus) is quicker than recovery from a meniscus repair.
You will recover more quickly if you carefully follow all your doctor's instructions. In your first days after surgery, you will need apply ice frequently and elevate your knee above your heart to help relieve swelling. Be sure to get plenty of sleep, to help your body heal.
Walking up or down stairs may be particularly painful, and may also cause increased swelling in the knee.
Make sure to balance your activity with rest and continue with your home exercise program. You will have some pain, discomfort and stiffness after surgery. It is important to create a pain plan to follow at home. Follow your surgeon's instructions for pain medicine.
If the knee does well and there are no significant symptoms, then it follows that the tear must have healed up and the repair was successful. If, however, a patient is unlucky enough to develop recurrent symptoms and ongoing problems with the knee, then the assumption is that the attempted repair has failed.
Ordinarily, your doctor or physical therapist will ask you to reduce your sports activities while your meniscus tear heals. Healing could take between four and eight weeks.
Three months following meniscal repair if pain and disability persist, a failed meniscal repair may be suspected and can be confirmed by performing a repeat arthroscopy. Factors that may cause a failed meniscal repair include: Patients older than 40 years of age. Delayed treatment.