Arthroscopy tomorrow

**eyebeams** · Posted On: 8/25/2006 3:43am

Anybody here had it? I'm going in tomorrow to repair a largish tear in my ACL and to remove a cyst on my tibia. If any of you have stories about that the recovery was like and what you could and couldn't do, I'd like to hear it.

**CrapKnee** · Posted On: 8/25/2006 8:31am

Ouch. No experience with that, but good luck. :)

**Tom Kagan** · Posted On: 8/25/2006 10:12am

Your ACL is not completely severed and they still are going to repair it? That doesn't make sense to me. There is already a sufficient framework for your body to grow it back to nearly as good as new.

If you said they are going to go in and clean up up the debris from the ACL injury because it's getting in the way of the joint's movement and/or causing you real pain, that would make some sense. (Removing the cyst makes some sense for this.) Otherwise, I'd seriously consider getting another opinion from another orthopedist, even this late in the game. If he specializes in knees and is an athlete him/herself, all the better. This type of doctor usually has a very different perspective on these types of injuries and probably wouldn't **** with the ACL if it wasn't a complete tear (or it had the complications I just mentioned).

When getting advice from a surgeon, you need to remember: Surgeons WANT TO CUT! It's what they do. But a 55 year old orthopedic surgeon who is also an extreme skier, has had his own knees repaired by his practice's partner, and gone through the trials and tribulations of rehab and recovery just so he could still have a chance to go nuts on the slopes (my doc) has a very different perspective than a garden variety knee cutter.

Good luck, and one last thing: SEARCH FUNCTION FUCKTARD!

http://www.bullshido.net/forums/showthread.php?t=35843

**kravchick** · Posted On: 8/25/2006 1:00pm

Originally Posted by eyebeams

Anybody here had it? I'm going in tomorrow to repair a largish tear in my ACL and to remove a cyst on my tibia. If any of you have stories about that the recovery was like and what you could and couldn't do, I'd like to hear it.

I had arthroscopic to repair a bunch of crap in my knee (it was a ligature reef & release) some 12 years ago. The arthroscopy itself is no biggie. A few puncture holes and general anesthesia (which has gotten better). Whatever repairs they're doing causes bruising & swelling, that's what causes the actual issues.

My biggest bitch was because they immobilized me for 6 weeks to let scar tissue form, and I had 5 degrees range of motion when I got out of the immobilizer. I'm assuming you won't have anything like that, they don't tend to do that stupidity anymore.

Treat it like any other injury, RICE while it's swelling & bruising, then get back on it gradually and as soon as you're cleared to do so. Painkillers as needed.

Good luck!

**Gringo Grande** · Posted On: 8/25/2006 1:11pm

Kravchick,

Just an FYI, I'm glad you are participating in other areas of the forum and not leaving due to other issues or disagreements.

GG

**kravchick** · Posted On: 8/25/2006 1:19pm

Originally Posted by Gringo Grande

Kravchick,

Just an FYI, I'm glad you are participating in other areas of the forum and not leaving due to other issues or disagreements.

GG

Nah... you guys make me feel like I'm back at my old job with the firefighters, cops & medics... lots of old military guys (& plenty of hardheaded, chauvinistic assholes)! ;-) I'll tell every one of you where you can stick it. :-D Of course, that means I won't show up to a throwdown until I can roll with some of y'all and hold my own!! :-D (Or kick y'all's asses and keep you from taking me to the ground, proving once and for all that Krav is **THE BEST** MA! hoo rah!! hehehehe)

Seriously, though, thanks. :-D

**Tom Kagan** · Posted On: 8/25/2006 1:31pm

Originally Posted by kravchick

My biggest bitch was because they immobilized me for 6 weeks to let scar tissue form, and I had 5 degrees range of motion when I got out of the immobilizer. I'm assuming you won't have anything like that, they don't tend to do that stupidity anymore.

Wow. The better doctors don't do anything like this anymore. They have you up and about and starting rehab almost immediately - depending on whether they repaired the meniscus or just trimmed/removed pieces.

I had full range of motion in flexion after week 1 and extension in week 3 after my ACL reconstruction (patella graft) and partial meniscectomy. I was allowed, no *required* to put weight on my leg the moment I was cognizant enough to stand after the surgery. I was off crutches after 10 days and I stopped using the ACL brace after 10 weeks.

Pretty much the only people still immobilized for any length of time after knee surgery are usually motor vehicle accident victims with breaks, serious contusions, and arterial & nerve repair. (They actually have patients with FULL KNEE REPLACEMENT walking out of The Hospital for Special Surgery here in NYC... well, limping, really. :smile:)

**kravchick** · Posted On: 8/25/2006 1:43pm

Originally Posted by Tom Kagan

Wow. The better doctors don't do anything like this anymore. They have you up and about and starting rehab almost immediately - depending on whether they repaired the meniscus or just trimmed/removed pieces.

I had full range of motion in flexion after week 1 and extension in week 3 after my ACL reconstruction (patella graft) and partial meniscectomy. I was allowed, no *required* to put weight on my leg the moment I was cognizant enough to stand after the surgery. I was off crutches after 10 days and I stopped using the ACL brace after 10 weeks.

Pretty much the only people still immobilized for any length of time after knee surgery are usually motor vehicle accident victims with breaks, serious contusions, and arterial & nerve repair. (They actually have patients with FULL KNEE REPLACEMENT walking out of The Hospital for Special Surgery here in NYC... well, limping, really. :smile:)

I had wierdness with my knee. I had ligature damage from a blow to the patella that allowed my patella to dislocate laterally, then it was pinching nerves when I'd flex and it would snap back into its "track". The medial ligatures were stretched/ripped and the lateral ones had actually contracted according to my orthopod. Needless to say, it hurt like a son of a bitch, and when it would track outside the norm, it would cause the knee to buckle. NOT pleasant.

So, this guy (NOT a sports orthopod, but he came HIGHLY recommended in the medical community) said the answer was to reef in the stretched ligatures and release the shortened ones. My knee *still* looks like a crazed squirrel got after it with the per-cutaneous stitches' scars. He needed all of that to actually scar over, then the purpose of PT would be to "stretch" the scar tissue to allow full ROM. ::cough bullshit cough:: I'd still not have full ROM to this day if I hadn't fallen, wrenched my knee around and ripped it all to hell.

I've got the weirdest medical history... a doc told me when I was a teen that I had Osgood-Schlatters, but what he described doesn't match what that actually is (now that I have the medical understanding to look it up) and I have crepitus in both knees that is horrible, and positive theatre sign indicating chrondomyletis (sp) but there's not a damned thing to do for any of that according to allopathic medicine (that I'm willing to do, that is.... no more surgery for me) except lose weight (which I'm working on).

So I live with my cryotherapy unit when I'm doing anything that puts a strain on my knee, and my doctor hands out the ketoprofen freely, and I pursue alternative medical options. Cest la vie.

**Tom Kagan** · Posted On: 8/25/2006 1:59pm

Actually, what you had done sounds somewhat similar to what one of my sisters had done to both of her knees at the same time. They didn't even send her home with a set of crutches - just a cane she borrowed from me.

Seriously consider looking into getting an opinion from people at The Hospital for Special Surgery here in NYC. Just about every orthopedic advancement was pioneered/improved in some way by the staff there. It was because of their advanced MRI techniques showing a meniscus tear which a regular MRI already missed that I was able to convince my insurance company my surgery was not elective.

Here is their website: http://www.hss.edu
If nothing else, they might be able to recommend some books on your situation.

**Gringo Grande** · Posted On: 8/25/2006 1:59pm

I've worked out with serious Krav people before and the "wannabe's". It has it's high points and low points. I just have a problem with any organization where you can basically go for a week and be a "certified instructer".

It's been McDojo's quite a bit IMHO.

Sorry for the thread derail, won't post about it here anymore...carry on!

GG