Lawrence Lee said:So, about a month ago, I took a nasty spill playing soccer and ended up with a torn lateral meniscus. The docs told me surgery is basically the only way to fix it, though they said it’s not exactly an emergency.
I'm trying to figure out which surgeons in the States are actually worth seeing—anyone have specific recommendations? Also, what’s the deal with recovery? How long am I looking at, and can I actually expect to get back to 100%?
Hoping someone here has been through this and can weigh in. Thanks in advance!
First off, every meniscus tear is its own special brand of chaos, so trying to compare one case to another is pretty much useless, isn't it? Plus, everyone’s body reacts and heals in its own unique way.
I'll give you the rundown of what happened with me.
I tore my lateral meniscus five years ago after a bad landing—basically just landed wrong during a jump.
The surgery was arthroscopic (just two little 2cm incisions to slide the tools in), and the whole thing wrapped up in about 50 minutes.
I spent three days total at the hospital and actually walked myself home the day after the procedure. People told me I was crazy, so don't go thinking that's exactly how it's supposed to go.
I started exercising the very first day. They pulled my stitches out after a week, and since the waitlist for physical therapy was a ridiculous month long (!), I just handled my own rehab at home.
I was out of work for two weeks total.
I eased back into jogging about a month after the surgery.
Recovery was totally complete. I have zero lingering issues, and honestly, I can't even tell which knee it was unless I stop to think about it. There aren't even any visible scars.
My surgeon was Dr. Mlakar over in Cleveland.
If I were you, I'd just pull the trigger on the surgery because it really seems to be the only way to fix the problem for good.