by Mike Wills on Wed Jun 11, 2008 10:47 pm
I had an ACL reconstruction done on the left knee in December of 2006. It was a bone-tendon-bone allograft...which means I got a part someone else didn't need anymore! They also did a scope on the knee as a separate procedure during the operation to clean up cartilage and debris.
I had a pretty involved scope on the right knee in March of 2007. Here is what they found and repaired: Major medial plica strip removed, corresponding cartilage damage from plica strip repaired. Removed scar tissue covering entire ACL - must have had a pretty good injury to that one too. Removed multiple "loose bodies" floating around. Excised and "buffed" lateral meniscus tear.
Because the ACL reconstruction was a pretty big deal - with them using bone burring drills to go up into my femur and down into the tibia for titanium screws to attach the pieces of bone - I had to have physical therapy. I was back to walking normal within 6 weeks and cleared for full activity after 6 months. I took an additional 3 months after being cleared to strengthen and gradually build the stresses I would need for throwing. The result was a 35'+ throw with the 56 at Carlisle my first games back!
If all I had was the meniscus tear, the total soft-tissue healing time would have been 6 weeks, and then about 4 weeks to get my strength back before competing. Don't worry at all about the meniscus repair requiring a long comeback...it is simply soft tissue repair. The issue with the ACL is that the nervous system takes a long time to shut down the protection mechanisms, so that's why you don't regain quickness until the 2nd year after surgery...but that isn't the case with a meniscus repair. In addition, the bone has to grow around the insertion points and the ligament itself re-types by basically dying and re-establishing blood supply...so it is most brittle about 6 weeks after transplant.
I know that after the meniscus repair, I walked out of surgery, didn't need crutches, and forgot about it after a week or two. Just give it 6 weeks to heal, start strengthening it per you doctor's/therapist's recommendations as soon as they will allow, and then be prepared to go full bore 6 weeks post-surgery. By 10 weeks post-op you shouldn't have any worries.