hiking after knee surgery

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wayward son

New member
Joined
Jul 10, 2005
Messages
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Location
port gibson,n.y.
Due to a torn meniscus in my left knee, I'm going to have this scoped in mid April to hopefully correct this. This, of course, will delay my hiking plans for the spring and early summer. My doctor says I will most likely be able to hike on level, non strenuous terrain in 3 weeks and hard core joint jarring Adirondack high peaks hikes in about 3 months (mid to late July). :( I just wonder if anyone else had this type of surgery and how long till they were able to hike.
 
I had arthoscopic surgery on my knee in early November of 2004 and in mid January 2005 I did a 4000 ft mt hike in NH without any difficulty other than I was not in the best of aerobic shape and a little slow. I did several other winter hikes that year in both the ADK's and the Catskills without any problem. I did take a little bit longer to get back into running. I was not totally comfortable with running until Feb 05. Now I am up to 15 mile runs. It makes a difference on whether your meniscus was repaired or if the torn piece was shaved off.
 
I had it done Nov. 05 and when he went in to clip some hard scar tissue out he saw it had worn through the cartilage and into the bone. He poked holes in the bone to the marrow and let it bleed. That technique stimulates new cartilage growth. The spot was the size of a dime.
To make a story short I had to stay off the leg for 2 months to give the cartridge time to grow. After the 8 weeks I could walk etc. but no aggressive hiking until the cartridge hardened which took another month or so.
It worked as it feels great and no more pain and I have hiked quite alot. It does take time through to heal all the way. I did get right out and walked alot after he gave me the go ahead. At first some muscles gave me pain but went away.
So it depends on what he finds and how the operation went I would think but it's great stuff. He showed me the pic's of the inside while he worked on it.
I'd listen to what the doc says to do at least mine was right on.
 
Hey guys, thanks for your responses. Getting back into hiking shape concerns me, but I suppose that just goes along with the territory. And as my surgeon said, a lot depends on how the knee responds. Plus, he also said how much he cannot overstate on giving it as much time as possible to recover and definately not to rush back too soon. Thanks again.
 
We should start a club... I'm in the same boat. Had been planning 2 weeks in the Cascades this summer, but am now having second thoughts. May have to spend the summer kayaking!
 
AMF said:
May have to spend the summer kayaking!

Sounds like a rough way to spend the summer :rolleyes:

Seriously, I should request a membership into this Bad Knee club. I always wear a Neoprene Knee Brace when I hike. It's not too bad though, the brace allows for plenty of mobility and supports the knee very well at the same time.
Whatever it takes to hike the good hike.
 
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