Knee Surgery

I had a complete tear of my right acl and a bucket handle tear of right medial meniscus last july, went to A&E the next morning after as I had massive swelling and couldn't walk. Saw a physio and had an xray that day, a surgeon for the xray results couple of weeks later.

Had an MRI in August which confirmed that it was a complete tear, surgery in November - ACl re-construction taken from my hamstring and removal of the torn bit of meniscus so around a 4 month wait from injury to surgery.

I was having physio around every fornight until a couple of months ago and I have to say they were great, my main physiotherapist had undergone the same surgery herself and was a runner so pot luck i guess.

My knee isn't fully revovered yet but is certainly better than before surgery, i suppose theres a point where there really is no other choice than removal regardless of the arthiritis risk.
To be honest the NHS are only going to be keen do something if you can't perform regular day to day tasks or the injury affects your job (mine did), so if you decide on getting cut up you might have to stress that it's ruining your life to get them to something!

Mine took ages. Injury in march 2009, scan in late june. Got to see crap bell end moron doctor regarding scan at the end of July.

This would probably be different based on where you are. I think the NHS are running the choose and book system now, so if you have a referral you can check the wait times yourself.
Injury march 2009, scan June 2009, consultant July 2009? That's pretty good.

I had a complete tear of my right acl and a bucket handle tear of right medial meniscus last july, went to A&E the next morning after as I had massive swelling and couldn't walk. Saw a physio and had an xray that day, a surgeon for the xray results couple of weeks later.

Had an MRI in August which confirmed that it was a complete tear, surgery in November - ACl re-construction taken from my hamstring and removal of the torn bit of meniscus so around a 4 month wait from injury to surgery.

I was having physio around every fornight until a couple of months ago and I have to say they were great, my main physiotherapist had undergone the same surgery herself and was a runner so pot luck i guess.

My knee isn't fully revovered yet but is certainly better than before surgery, i suppose theres a point where there really is no other choice than removal regardless of the arthiritis risk.
To be honest the NHS are only going to be keen do something if you can't perform regular day to day tasks or the injury affects your job (mine did), so if you decide on getting cut up you might have to stress that it's ruining your life to get them to something!
Well I can't walk properly, can't walk fast, can't do any sports. That should be enough shouldn't it? If the NHS don't offer treatment then I'll have to go private and get the woman's insurance to pay.

A friend of mine did his knee in a while ago, sounds similar to this. He went private right away, costed a fortune but everything happens in days / weeks rather than months / years

A friend of mine did his knee in a while ago, sounds similar to this. He went private right away, costed a fortune but everything happens in days / weeks rather than months / years
I would do this immediately, except I have to wait to see if it can be done (relatively) quickly on the NHS first. Basically from the insurance company's point of view, if I am gonna be cripped for many months, it's gonna cost them more in settlement than if I had surgery privately.

Well I can't walk properly, can't walk fast, can't do any sports. That should be enough shouldn't it? If the NHS don't offer treatment then I'll have to go private and get the woman's insurance to pay.

You'd think so wouldn't you! If you've got an MRI booked then at least they're taking it seriously, when you've got the results you can weigh up the options. If you definately want surgery work out your arguments in advance (can't work, can't drive, chronic pain, depressed etc).

Recovering from surgery is when the slow recovery begins tho. 9 months after surgery its my meniscus rather than the ACL that causes most bother if I walk too much or lift heavy in the gym.

Good news is, cycling was the least painful exercise to do. I was back on my bike - gently! - 6weeks after surgery.

You'd think so wouldn't you! If you've got an MRI booked then at least they're taking it seriously, when you've got the results you can weigh up the options. If you definately want surgery work out your arguments in advance (can't work, can't drive, chronic pain, depressed etc).

Recovering from surgery is when the slow recovery begins tho. 9 months after surgery its my meniscus rather than the ACL that causes most bother if I walk too much or lift heavy in the gym.

Good news is, cycling was the least painful exercise to do. I was back on my bike - gently! - 6weeks after surgery.
I don't have an MRI booked, though I probably would have asked for one by now. I am moving to London tomorrow, so I was discharged from the Bournemouth hospital physio unit 10 days ago with instructions to go to a London GP and get referred to London physio. I didn't know precisely where I was going to be living so they couldn't refer me.

I don't have ligament or ACL damage. I guess you must have had fully blown knee surgery? I only have meniscus damage now, so it would be treated through knee arthroscopy (keyhole surgery). There is literally a couple of days recovery time for that apparently. ACL damage is pretty bad though, hope you have recovered from it properly.

Injury march 2009, scan June 2009, consultant July 2009? That's pretty good.

I wasn't given anything to do in the meantime. I had a massively swollen totally immobile leg for weeks throbbing and pulsating in pain.

I evntually developed enough mobility to ride a bike but I still couldn't full extend leg and there was loads of grinding & popping when I bent the knee. For the whole of last year it was somewhat painful for me to walk, which obviously gradually got better.

But to be left between march and july with absolutely no advice or treatment seems a little rubbish. What if it had been a different tear like a cruciate or collateral, or multiple. Im sure all that time with me trying to force me knee to work wouldve probably ended in disaster, or more likely I wouldve been left basically immobile and for months. Needing some crutches, but without anybody giving me any.

A piece of bone to which my anterior cruciate ligament attaches snapped off as a result of a pretty horrific football tackle when I was 12. I went to hospital the next day (my mum thought I was acting up) and I was in the operating theatre the morning after that.

Not sure this helps answer your question..

I wasn't given anything to do in the meantime. I had a massively swollen totally immobile leg for weeks throbbing and pulsating in pain.

I evntually developed enough mobility to ride a bike but I still couldn't full extend leg and there was loads of grinding & popping when I bent the knee. For the whole of last year it was somewhat painful for me to walk, which obviously gradually got better.

But to be left between march and july with absolutely no advice or treatment seems a little rubbish. What if it had been a different tear like a cruciate or collateral, or multiple. Im sure all that time with me trying to force me knee to work wouldve probably ended in disaster, or more likely I wouldve been left basically immobile and for months. Needing some crutches, but without anybody giving me any.
Damn, that sucks. Usually if I don't get the level of care I want from a doctor I book another appointment with someone else. I got crutches immediately when I went to A&E.

A piece of bone to which my anterior cruciate ligament attaches snapped off as a result of a pretty horrific football tackle when I was 12. I went to hospital the next day (my mum thought I was acting up) and I was in the operating theatre the morning after that.

Not sure this helps answer your question..
That sounds awful, but no that is much more serious so it is understandable that you got seen to right away.

I flicked myself off a 125 race bike at 110 and ruined my knee with sideways cartwheels and some pelvis kicking exploits , i waited 4 years to get it seen, cos im hard/ stupid/ was young, the waiting time at the point 3/4 ish years ago was just shy of 5 months from being referred to an exploration op and a clean up of all the mangled cartlidge, which was the size of a golf ball behind my serated knee cap, I still have to go back and have the cruciates sorted, possible reconstruction with bits of dead people, but im still too fat for him to be happy to do it lol, although my girlfriends brother had his knee done about a year ago and he only waited 3 months, i cant remember what he had done but it was quite serious as they just cut a huge hole in the side of his leg to fix it.

slightly different, broke the medial tibial plateau in my right knee, fell off motorbike avoiding chip eating pedestrian crossing between traffic as I filtered through. Broke the bone saturday night, into doctors on the monday after knee swelled upto the size of a grapefruit, sent to hospital the same day, sat in a+e for the rest of the day whilst they waited for doctor to look at knee, admitted that evening, had surgery on the friday, let out on the following monday. Six months on crutches, three months non weight bearing, six months of physio.
Opened up the side of the knee to put a pin in it to fix the broken bone, titanium for the win, plus two little slits for the camera's. Told I'd definitely get arthritis in the knee if nothing was done, and then after operation, when I went for physio, had the physio go all builder on me, as they told me that not may people got the full range of motion back after this sort of break.
Knee's been fine ever since, get a bit of jip when the seasons change, twinge in the knee, dull ache, that sort of thing. The other knee that I dislocated previously gives me more trouble...

know there's a physio on here who can give you some advice and exercises to do, which would be more cycling specific, he started this thread... http://www.lfgss.com/thread29902.html
have a word.

hope your knee gets sorted..

Tried long and hard to find an answer to this on the internet but couldn't. I guess knee cartilage/meniscus injuries are fairly common among cyclists. I am about 75% sure I will have to have surgery (arthroscopy), or at least that surgery is the best option. My question is: what is the waiting time on the NHS to get knee arthroscopy surgery? I am basically out of action for all physical activities indefinitely, and it's killing me not knowing how long I'll have to wait. At the moment I'm going through the motions of physiotherapy. I know I don't need physio, my knee is/was fucking strong, I can feel the muscle strength and the ligaments are back to normal too; it's just fucked up inside. I guess they just ram this physio BS down your throat to try and minimise the amount of surgery they have to pay for.

Sorry to hear your experience. The NHS have an 18 week target for you to commence the treatment deemed neccessary for your condition. If you have seen a Consultant Orthopaedic Surgeon then you are almost there. You also have the right to choose the location for your surgery, along with any secondary care provision, so don't feel that you have to stay put if you are not happy.

As a Physio I'm sorry that you feel you are receiving BS treatment. A large number of people, elite athletes included, can often perform at the highest levels without surgery but if conservative treatment is not beneficial then I'd discuss this with your Physio.

Feel free to PM any specific queries.

I am a commissioner, pm me if you have any problems

Shredded left knee cartlidge playing football on saturday.
MRI on Tuesday.
Surgery on Friday.

all on the NHS.
It was in leeds though.

and the surgery was fucked up so i ended up having to have it done again. But it was all done super fast and has worked out well

I tore meniscus and damaged ACL two years ago, waited 5 weeks for MRI, doing pretty unsuccessful physio in the meantime. By the time I got MRI results knee had healed enough for NHS to be very reluctant to proceed with surgery. Knee hasn't been the same since and I'm expecting to be forced into surgery in the next 3 or 4 years

I had an arthroscopy in mid May this year (knee cartilage/meniscus damage after being knocked off the bike at the end of March 2009). I took ages to convince my GP to refer me to a consultant though once that was done an MRI scan was arranged within a few weeks. Follow-up appointment about 3 weeks after and pre-op appointment for arthroscopy about a month after that. Actually knee op would have been end of March (first consultant appointment just before Christmas) but high BP problems delayed it until May. Actual op very straightforward (day surgery at KCH in Denmark Hill) and I was sent home with crutch and sheet of exercises. Consultant said full recovery in 6 months.

It's been nearly 4 months since op - movement is good though if I do a lot of walking or standing around (i.e. several hours) the knee does ache a bit the following day. I was back on the bike after about 3 weeks, doing very gentle, easy spinning (and initially on a turbo). Occasionally I commute on the singlespeed but I'm still at the point where my knee aches if I use it more than a couple of days in a row. The gear is fine for my commute but the initial effort of pushing off from the lights is still a bit much. Longest geared ride I've done so far since the op is 75km in hilly Kent the day after a hillyish 50km. Did make the knee ache in the evening and the following day though much less than I expected.

All in all I've had a good experience with the NHS. I didn't have any physio lined up for (I've arranged a few private sessions) and my consultant seemed happy enough for me to move from doing the exercises into gentle riding about 2 weeks or so after the operation.

I think the consultant would have suggested a course of physio initally though, but because I'd just started racing and was keen to get back to race fitness we agreed to go straight to the arthroscopy and get it sorted out.

I just went to see a different consultant about my knee, he gave me an examination and assessed the MRI scans in front of me.

It turns out I have severely damaged cruciate ligaments!

This is so much worse than the slight meniscii tears I had suspected and infinetely worse than the "your knee is completely fine" which every other doctor I have seen has told me.

Oh dear oh dear!

This also provides a reason why I may be getting the hamstring tendonitis, he said it must be working extra hard to stabilise the knee. It may have also significantly changed the mechanics of my knee. He also told me that if I am limited in the things I want to do, then cruciate ligament reconstruction via keyhole surgery is the only possible solution.

I just went to see a different consultant about my knee, he gave me an examination and assessed the MRI scans in front of me.

It turns out I have severely damaged cruciate ligaments!

This is so much worse than the slight meniscii tears I had suspected and infinetely worse than the "your knee is completely fine" which every other doctor I have seen has told me.

Oh dear oh dear!

This also provides a reason why I may be getting the hamstring tendonitis, he said it must be working extra hard to stabilise the knee. It may have also significantly changed the mechanics of my knee. He also told me that if I am limited in the things I want to do, then cruciate ligament reconstruction via keyhole surgery is the only possible solution.

Sounds exactly like me. I just moved to London on Sunday. On Monday I went to work on the tube and probably walked about 2 miles in total, which isn't that much to be honest. On Monday night and Tuesday morning my knee was killing me, so I went to a doctor on Tuesday morning. He actually seemed to take things seriously rather than the typical "you'll be fine" that I have had from several other people. He says he is going to organise another X-ray and an MRI, however unfortunately this is being delayed because he has to request my medical details from my previous treatment in bournemouth.

:(

8 weeks since the accident now, should have mostly healed.

Looks bloody complicated, DO NOT WANT:

YouTube - Anterior Cruciate Ligament (ACL) Reconstruction Animation

Had a knee arthroscopy for a torn meniscus last week, and am starting to think about a bit of riding (its on the recovery sheet as a positive thing to do). I don't think the original injury was caused by cycling, but any thoughts/experiences on riding fixed after having bits of meniscus cut out? If not fixed, my probable only other cycling option is coaster-braked - not sure that will be much better for it??

had the same op but about 15 years ago after a running injury (can't see how you could suffer this injury while cycling?)

rode geared after it probably not for a month or so though, and only casual/commute short distance

when i began riding fixed it never gave me any problem except when i swapped to a new bike with a few more gear inches, but once i had gotten used to that it settled down

most pain i had with it was a couple of months ago on a new geared cross bike - obviously gave me the opportunity to push much more gear inches than I had been used to on fixed for the last couple of years, and i felt it (while walking the next day, rather than any acute pain while cycling)

You must now consider that part of the knees' internal structure is missing so I would recommend that you optimise your lower limb biomechanics and alignment. When they recommend 'cycling' they are not referring to skid breaking or pulling away from lights / grinding hills with a 48:16.

Graded loading would be ideal (gears) but this may not be a possibility. There would be few risks associated with cycling sensibly but you may want to check how aggressive you can be with your Ortho consultant / physio. Knees adapt well but sometimes respond adversely to quick loading - try to avoid causing swelling or other inflammatory signs as this may time to resolve if you irritate sub-chondral tissue.

I had that done (both knees at once) I could run before I could ride comfortably. Take it easy and do what the physio says. If you're brakeless you'd probly irritate it quickly.

I am about to take up 'city-cycling' to help me get over an injury (torn patella in left knee twice) I got from training prior to beginning the PRMC. My physio recommended cycling as it is a continous but less 'impact-based' form of knee rehabilitation. Good luck with your recovery, I would recommend cycling over other forms of fitness which will cause impact in the knee area. Also do yoga/pilates to increase the strength, this will aid your leg strength (and core) for riding.

Hi Graeme,
I had a arthroscopic removal on my right knee, about half of my meniscus after tearing my ACL about six years ago, I was riding about within about three weeks of the arthroscopy and it didn't seem to cause me any pain that i can remember. However I then had an ACL autograft 6 months or so later which required almost 9 months without any serious physical activity and a fairly strict rehab plan.
My knee is now fairly decent, I am still able to ride my fixed gear (51/20 gearing) without it being an issue, if anything I personally think that it has helped keep my quadriceps strong, as per the advice of my surgeon and physio
Good luck with getting back on your bike,
It was recommended that I look into glucosamine supplements, as there's a greatly increased risk of osteoarthritis with a damaged meniscus. That might be of interest to you also.
Cheers.