Arthroscopy, who's had it?

**Liffguard** · Posted On: 11/17/2008 4:31pm

I saw a sports therapist today about my third knee injury in under three years. In the process of checking my knees out he noted that both were, to put it mildly, pretty fucked. They've been grinding away since I was sixteen and my right knee especially has been getting fairly painful after three identical injuries. Part of the problem was that I hadn't been training my legs properly so my muscles were both tight and unbalanced, pulling the patella out of position. However, he also said it might be worth me looking into arthroscopy.

As far as I can tell, it's a keyhole surgery in the knee where the doctors go in and just clean out all of the debris and junk that accumulates from general wear and tear. The therapist said I'm probably too young to worry about it right now, but I should consider it in the future. Anyway, before I go get a referral to see an orthopedic surgeon and get a scan, has anyone had this done? What were the results? Was there any noticeable improvement? I'm just generally curious.

**Ryno** · Posted On: 11/17/2008 7:03pm

I had some moderate cartliage damage on one knee, where a flap of torn cartliage would bind up and hurt like a mofo. They popped the scope in, trimmed out the crap, and I was walking by the next day, training at 100% within 3 weeks or so.

This is a pretty standard procedure, for cartliage cleanup and allows them to do light surgery with minimal cutting.

**BaronVonDingDong** · Posted On: 11/17/2008 7:19pm

I also had one in '98 or '99 . I had a bad knock to the knee that sheared off cartilege and tore the miniscus. I went under full anaesthetic, but was only on crutches for about three days (during which I drank absinthe with a buddy for the first time and must've blacked out, as the next thing I remember was falling out of a tree and my crutches landing on my head. How the **** I got up there, I'll never know.) The dressing was a plain old bandage, and the swelling went down after about a week or so. The knee creaked less afterwards, and I've had visits to the dentist that were MUCH worse.

Since then, I've had a full ACL reconstruction, which was a comparatively big deal, and with my missing cartilege and whatnot, had bone-on-bone grinding which has resulted in arthritis. Now my knee aches almost all the time. But it turns out that the thing about fucked knees is, easing up on exercise out of concern that you'll make them worse will eventually make them worse. Movement is good for the joint, and exercise keeps the weight off, which also alleviates the burden on the joint. Obviously, you have to be sensible about what sort of exercise you do and how much of it. I can't run for more than five minutes without my knee swelling up, and skiing, basketball or soccer is just asking for another ACL tear. Boxing, however, is absolutely fine, as was tai chi, yoga, kung-fu, mountain biking, track cycling, all the elipticals in the world and a bunch of other stuff.

Sorry about the digression, but my point is, getting banged up is part of life, but it's always better to keep on keeping on.

Hope it works out for you bro' :usa2:

**mrm1775** · Posted On: 11/17/2008 11:23pm

I'm in a similar boat. I haven't suffered any catastrophic injury but I have chronic pain from years of writing checks my naturally slothful body shouldn't be able to cash. I have an appointment on Thursday to see how bad the damage is and what kind of treatment I need.

Seems like there is no harm in having an expert take a look.

**meataxe** · Posted On: 11/18/2008 4:07pm

I had knee arthroscopic surgery to clean up some cartilage about 5 years after having major surgery from a dislocation. Prior to scoping, my knee made so much noise that I grossed out one of the student doctors at the clinic. Afterward, it was quieter and generally better. 15 years later, it is not perfect, but relatively pain-free.

However, there was a recent study that questioned the usefulness of scoping. In the long run, it may fair no better than physiotherapy. Personally, I think the followup to surgery is vital and I was very disciplined in physio.

Definitely ask lots of questions and do research.

**mrm1775** · Posted On: 11/18/2008 4:46pm

Originally Posted by meataxe

I had knee arthroscopic surgery to clean up some cartilage about 5 years after having major surgery from a dislocation. Prior to scoping, my knee made so much noise that I grossed out one of the student doctors at the clinic. Afterward, it was quieter and generally better. 15 years later, it is not perfect, but relatively pain-free.

However, there was a recent study that questioned the usefulness of scoping. In the long run, it may fair no better than physiotherapy. Personally, I think the followup to surgery is vital and I was very disciplined in physio.

Definitely ask lots of questions and do research.

As I recall, that study only examined its use as a treatment for certain types of arthritis. I don't think it raised any questions about its effectiveness in cleaning out degree and treating other types of damage.