4 years ago ( I was 19 ), flowing judo accident I had medial meniscus surgery. The procedure was called Arthroscopic partial meniscectomy ( It means they take out broken part of meniscus but you know that already ). Now I have no knee pain although it clicks more ( just fluid I guess ). A year and a half later I started doing leg training again. My squat is somewhere around 300 ( my all time max but getting stronger ) and I did leg presses with 400 and more with no pain at all. After some reading online I started to wonder:
AM I FUCKING MYSELF UP!?
Is arthritis inevitable in 25-30 years, and should I be doing heavy squats at all?
I have become little bit paranoid, stopped doing heavy lower body, read 18 tips for bulletproof knees article 10 times, doing everything in it. Ordered Bulletproof knees manual and I am planing to order Magnificent mobility and Inside/Out.
Iāve had ann arthroscopic meniscectomy in my right knee and have been told that arthritis is inevitable. Iām 23 now (had the meniscectomy as I was turning 20) and have been told by my docs that by the time Iām 30 I should be feeling at least some of it. I have my worries and doubts, but I love being active and enjoying my youth. Maybe its the wrong decision, but Iām not letting my knee surgery (Iāve had 3 others as well) slow me down.
I have 16years since i had my meniscus cut out, well about 85% anyway, high school football injury. since then the knee has actually been my strongest as its lasted throughout training, while the other hasnt been so lucky. I have some arthritis pain, weather induced, a couple tylenol will kill that. the only ābadā that has come of it are quite a few bone spurs that have grown up to protect the knee-drās layman terms. heavy squats are ok, i prefer box squats as ive aged.
i guess im saying, do what you want to. live your life, theres no reason to hold back. the dr said the bone spurs can be shaved down if they start to bother me, but nothing yet. have at it, streth, work all the leg muscles, lift barefoot at least part of the time, and wear good lifting shoes.
thats all i got. good luck
[quote]macetini wrote:
Thanks for the answer, I donāt wanna slow down either. Did you have partial or complete meniscectomy and was meniscus medial or lateral?[/quote]
I had my medial meniscus completely removed from my right knee. That was the last knee surgery I had and I got into weightlifting soon after. I never really had a knee problem/injury since, luckily.
I had part of my meniscus out, not sure how much. Iām planing to visit doctor that preformed surgery for the future information, hope it wasnāt much. Never felt any pain or anything except my operated leg was somewhat less flexible so it couldnāt be to bad.
bushidobadboy thanks for the input on Adequan. I never heard of it before and Iām very interested, looks very promising. You have any useful links to speed up my research or could you email me some data?
You might consider a leg press instead of a squat, and lower volume, slower speed protocols (like HIT) to protect the bad knee. Of course, you can still do whatever with your good joints.
I would make sure that you speak with a doctor who has an interest or experience in sports. Some docs will tell you to stay away from anything and everything just for the sake of being unknowledgeable.
i had ACL surgery in december of last year for a fully torn ACL and partially torn MCL. i still do leg press every 2 weeks or so at 100% intensity and it never bothers me. im obviously not a physical therapist, but shortly after my rehab i tried to do some leg press with somewhere in the range of 500lbs. this really made my knee sore as hell for like a week, so i waited a few more months before going back at it. i can do around 900lbs. or so now and it is absolutely fine. my point being i think if you just completely neglect it then it will be worse because you arenāt using the muscles supporting it. i would definitely consult a doctor or a physical therapist. i know itās not the same injury or situation, but hopefully my story helps you out some.
Got the procedure twice for the same meniscus cause the doctor didnāt take off enough the first time. Now I have about 50% left. Itās been about 18 mouths since the second surgery and Iām 26.
Now my knee feels good day to day, I can train heavy but not on deep squat, I changed my form to a more āpowerlifterā squat form, my stance is a bit wider than shoulder witdh and I sit back a lot until I reach paralel. This change in form has really helped my knee recover better between squat workouts. Also, single leg movements like bulgarian split squats, reverse lunge and step-ups seem to put a lot less stress on my knee and they really feel good. I guess I train a bit less my quads and more my hamstrings/glutes since the injury. Play around with different form and see if it feels better on your knee.
On a side note, I started judo not long ago and my knee is really taking a beating during classes, I have to ice it and take ibuprofen after classā¦will see during the next couple of classes if I should continue.
Good news everybody ( now imagine prof. Farnsworth )!
Had a talk with doctor that preformed surgery and gotten second opinion. They both told not to worry. Had a bucket handle tear type ( which means overall integrity is whole but there is some instability ) and they only had to take small portion, between 15% - 20%. I will have to be somewhat more careful eg: mobility drills, more single leg work, better diet, massage once a week,I put a high hopes in Bulletproof knees manual. Should be alright.
PHGN good luck, see what happens, go easy in the begging.
When i had my meniscus surgery (got 30 percent of the lateral removed), i was worried i wouldnāt be able to do squats or leg work.
And i didnāt get any therapy (i figured out a few good stretching routines) and after about a month of pretty hardcore stretching, my knee felt much better. Now notice i said a month, it took a damn long time for me to get to the point where i could do squats without pain in my hips and knees.
Iām 19 and i didnāt feel like i should be this inflexible this early on in life, so i took care of it. Now itās gotten to the point where itās not bad anymore, but i do have to stretch before and after any practices or workouts.
If i go too long without stretching, the tightness comes back, and i have to spend more time rehabbing.
Finally, would you rather be a chicken legged half-man the rest of your life, or a monster of a man with tree trunk legs and a little knee pain?
I wish to make you aware of an FDA approved surgical procedure (Menaflex) to treat medial meniscus injuries. I am sure you know that the medial meniscus is in the inner part of the knee. If your meniscal loss was in
the inner area, you may want to view the following websites: www.regenbio.com & www.menaflex.com This surgical procedure was FDA approved in Dec 2008. To date there have been 111 U.S. surgeons to be trained to perform
the surgery.
Another website to check is www.stoneclinic.com to read the info Dr. Kevin Stone (inventor of Menaflex in 1986) says about this procedure. In summary, it is designed to regrow portions of the medial meniscus. According to Dr. Stone, there were clinical trials in the U.S. a number of years ago with successful results as well as successful results in Europe (3000 patients in Europe have had the surgery).
Iām planing to inform myself about this new procedure, it relay looks promising!
Question for those who have experienced meniscus issues:
Did you have clicking in your knee before surgery or before you noticed knee pain, or only after surgery? My knee is clicking an awful lot and I suspect Iāve done something to my meniscus.
[quote]Cimmerian wrote:
Question for those who have experienced meniscus issues:
Did you have clicking in your knee before surgery or before you noticed knee pain, or only after surgery? My knee is clicking an awful lot and I suspect Iāve done something to my meniscus.[/quote]
Both.
After my first knee surgery which was an ACL reconstruction and a small medial meniscus repair in my right knee, I experienced clicking in my knee. I then later tore my ACL and meniscus in my left knee and experienced clicking before surgery, due to the torn cartilage creating resistance in the joint. I then had surgery on my left knee and the clicking stopped. I later tore my right meniscus again and had it repaired. My surgeon told me that I had some cycloptic legions (i think thats what he said) which was scar tissue that formed from my first knee surgery that may have caused the clicking. He removed the excess scar tissue and my knee recovered, click free. Of course, I later tore my right meniscus again and just had it removed.
I donāt think I answered the question well. It can result in both instances. Depending on how and where the meniscus is torn it can result in clicking. If a small part is creating resistance or blocking a part of the joint clicking can occur. My last meniscus injury left my knee locked in an aprox. 90 degree angle until I had the surgery. That time a larger part of the meniscus was torn free and got stuck in my joint. Also, scar tissue or poor rehab after surgery can result in clicking as well.
). Now I have no knee pain although it clicks more ( just fluid I guess ). A year and a half later I started doing leg training again. My squat is somewhere around 300 ( my all time max but getting stronger ) and I did leg presses with 400 and more with no pain at all. After some reading online I started to wonder: