Medial meniscus repair & having major troubles now

[LawDogRD10]

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medial meniscus repair problems
From:
Eric Hamilton <ericlhamilton@yahoo.com> [Chat now]
To: Eric Hamilton <ericlhamilton@yahoo.com>; sportsdoc@rodale.com
On November 10, 2010, I had arthroscopic surgery for a medial meniscus repair (1 stitch and no scar tissue or arthritis present) due to having been kicked in the knee while fighting with a combative suspect. I also had bruising into the bone marrow in my femur. I did physical therapy up until the end of February and got my strength back up to where it should be (for a 508, 140 pound 38 y.o. guy). I had pain when I was cleared to start squatting exercises and some with leg press. I did have it lock up on occasion and a lot of pain when doing a forward bent-knee raise on the hip machine. I'm not for sure exactly what you call that. Same thing when on my back and getting my ankle stretched back towards my butt to increase my range of motion. By the time PT was completed, my strength was fine and my flexion was excellent.

Then I went back to the orthopedic surgeon who wasn't concerned with the pain and sent me back to work. He gave me one week to work on kneeling and to try to run. Here's where I ran into real troubles. I can't get on the floor on all fours and put weight on the injured knee (and this is almost 5 months post-op). I tried to run on a treadmill. I got 1/2 mile the first day and had to quit due to major pain, 1/4 mile the second, and now I can run 5 steps. It feels like my knee is going to buckle and is very painful. I feel like it looks really stupid and gimpy. I also have a lot of pain going up and (mostly) down stairs. Leg press and leg extension exercises are also pretty painful. I get a lot of popping and/or clicking in it, too. I can go all day on the elliptical with no problems at all.

Any suggestions? I have a feeling the ortho is going to dismiss it to time or put me off work again, which will go over like a turd in a punchbowl. I'm a Deputy Sheriff, so running is kind of essential, even if just for short distances. I'm not a distance runner, but did run about 2 miles daily before this injury. Any suggestions?

[Heidi]

Hi
You need to go back to the surgeon and really stress the problems you are having and the impact on your job.
He should refer you for another MRI to make sure the repair was successful or that there has been no further injury since.
In the meantime, try to rest and not stress the knee too much. Anything that is painful should be avoided.

[LawDogRD10]

Thanks for the reply. I guess I will have to suck it up and see what the surgeon says. I have a bad feeling that worker's comp. will balk on it, so it'll probably have to be on my dime.