[quote]challer1 wrote:
Repairing MCLs, ACLs and torn muscles is one thing, removing a meniscus is an entirely different animal.
When you remove a meniscus, you are practically guaranteed to develop arthritis. On the other hand, ACL tears that are surgically repaired, do not require the removal of a meniscus, and are properly rehabilitated (unfortunately not always the case with the latter) are not nearly as likely to become arthritic.
Also, as much as your doctor/therapist/surgeon would like to pretend to know about arthritis, the truth is we know very little about why arthritis develops. For example, currently there is no reasonable explanation why finger and hand arthritis are so common but the wrists are almost always spared.
What we do know is that when you remove a piece of cartilage from the knee it is very likely to become arthritic.
First off: Get a Glucosamine / Chondroitin supplement along with some type of fish oil and start taking this every day. Take glucosamine/chondroitin 2x a day - morning and night (assuming you aren’t allergic to shellfish, as that’s how they make that supplement) and take a fish oil or two with each meal.
Additionally, you need to restore proprioception to the injured area since arthritis and poor quality of movement go hand in hand. I typically recommend Z-Health R-Phase DVD for this.
Finally, there are some specific strengthening exercises you can use depending on the location and pain type. Typically meniscus problems lead to poor tracking issues - I really like terminal knee extensions in this situation. A couple of sets of 20 reps before a workout is a good way to warm up. This is a recommendation POST-proprioception restoration. Re-read that and let it sink in - any strength training you do will not benefit you if you do not restore proprioception to the injured area.
After you get your rehab ducks in a row, odds are you will be able to at least rack pull and slowly lower the bar over the next month or two.
I leave you with some food for thought - a study in the 1990s took MRIs of loggers (i.e. people who cut heavy trees for a living) with no history of back pain revealed that 85% of them had degenerative disc disease and many of them had arthritic growths in the spine. Yet, none of these people had pain. If you move well, you won’t hurt. If you train properly, you won’t hurt. If you just sit around and whine about how you can’t squat anymore, then go into the gym every 2 months and try to bust out a set of squats without putting any of the recovery work in, odds are you will be in pain the rest of your life.[/quote]
Thx for the input, ive battled with this condition for the past nearly 2 years id say
i did as much hamstring and glute training along with mobility to help out and stopped runnihng and started long distance biking. it want until fall last year that the doc said id need surgery after an mri.
Preconception you say? im aware of coodination and how certain muscular , skeltal and nervous issues can effect the body and joints, but im going to have to do some more research into that term. i will talk to my therapist next time i go see them and discuss this at length with them.
Again thank you for the constructive help