while snowboarding in eastern europe over the holidays, i managed to tear my meniscus in a few spots, will probably have to have it scoped, and probably have to wear a brace in the water…at least through spring.
anyone got any recommendations?
Howzit surf, Get it fixed ASAP, you could be back in the water in about 3 weeks depending on how bad it is. Don’t wait to long, waited to long and a piece of the torn cartilage broke off and in a matter of days it had cut half way through a ligament which made recovery longer. They have pro football players back on the field in 3 weeks after the op so get a sports doctor to do it.Aloha,Kokua
Just some feedback from someone who just had a meniscal repair :). I had my surgery in September, and I’m just now at 100%, although truthfully it’s better than before surgery. I was surfing in about 5 weeks (a repair is more complex to rehab than a meniscal trim or removal) and wore a simple waterproof brace for a few weeks. The PT was VERY important, and I never would have recovered as well without being really compliant. They gave me a brace at the Dr., and it worked just fine - the bracing needs for a meniscal problem are quite a bit different than for a ligament repair - you don’t need as much lateral support, but the padding sure was nice the couple of times I banged my board with my knee.
Be prepared for a fairly long recovery, but I’d for sure get it done, because if you let the tear enlarge, you’re in for a heap o’ trouble down the line…
As someone who’s lost almost all of the meniscus in both knees alot of it has to do with age.
PT is important
as is getting as light as you can to take the strain off the knees
but as my surgeons have all told me surfing is just the wrong sport for knees that eventually may turn paralyzing arthritic.
the best braces will run you in the thousands and are carbon fiber or titanium reinforced. You can also get some Don Joy braces relatively cheap and they aren’t too bad.
But again as my surgeons have all told me braces are the wrong thing for your knee as it doesn’t help the knee get better. Only PT and time will heal the problem. Going back to early is the wrong thing to do. Water running is a good exercise and will get you back in the water for some PT.
If you’re young enough a menicus tear will mend by itself or they can just stitch it back togethor again. The pills and the glucosemine stuff are just sugar pill therapy.
I abused both knees till there was nothing left in there except shredded cartilage which they cleaned out leaving bone to bone and now I need to wait for artificial or cloned cartilage for a transplant or knee rplacement surgery sometime in my soon to be 60’s since it’s only good for 10-15 years…
Try to get your docter to get your insurance company to pay for a custom brace but if your in an HMO like me you’re out of luck.
Like Kokua said Get treatment early and do your PT religiously. Braces help but they aren’t the right answer and will smash apart any board with frequest use. That’s the exact reason why I bought my Surflight…
Donjoy Legend is rubber coated and does minimal damage to a 6-4 deck.
Thats as much of a knee brace you will need .
If you need more you wont be able to surf.