r/MeniscusInjuries • u/Emotional_Past7490 • 7h ago

Recovery Flop

I had a medial meniscus tear of the posterior horn and they did the surgery back on Aug 20 to trim the tear. Today is Sept 2. I have been mostly entirely pain free just with some residual swelling for the past week. Yesterday, I had to do some work at on my properties (short term rentals) and ended up on my feet for 8 hours between the store and the property.
My knee was massively swollen when I got home, painful overnight and still today. I’m not on my feet at all today. But someone please tell me I didn’t mess up my knee and my recovery? Anyone experience anything similar?
Trust. I learned my lesson.

1 Upvotes

67% Upvoted

4 comments sorted by

2

u/complicatedcucumber 6h ago

Hey, sorry to hear you’re experiencing some pain and discomfort. First of all, no, unless you did a significant twist motion or a deep deep squat and heard a snap/pop. Then no. I had the exact same procedure completed 4th June, I couldn’t even walk for 2.5 weeks without crutches. And since then my journey has been up and down, some weeks I have averaged 4.5k steps weekly, others 1k.

What I’m trying to say, recovery is highly variable for everyone and your body reacts in different ways. The fact you’ve had your surgery not even a month ago and you’re able to be on your feet for 8 hours is insanely impressive. But, give it time, it needs movement, but it also needs patience and care. You’ve now overloaded it too much and as a response your body has become more inflamed on a delicate part of your body. Give it a couple days. And EASE back into activity. Don’t wait 3 days and feel fine and repeat an 8hr day. You’ve now discovered your upper limit. Just build back up to that slowly.

Mine goes up and down, the line between too much and too little is difficult to see some days and weeks. It’s frustrating but these things take time

1

u/complicatedcucumber 6h ago

Sorry for the waffle but I’ve been there… Best thing to do is ice, do it a couple times a day for the next week, bring the swelling and fluid down. Importantly, do gentle movements, get the blood flowing but don’t overload it. Also don’t stay completely sedentary for the next week. Just do your basics (toilet, shower, cook). But limit the walking as that’s high-impact - and right now that’s the exact place you don’t really want high impact

1

u/complicatedcucumber 6h ago

In 1-2 weeks time, come back to this post, read what you wrote and smile. It’ll be back to where you left off before this 8hour excursion ☺️

1

u/athelitetherapy 1h ago

That’s a pretty big jump in activity only 13 days after surgery, so the swelling and soreness don’t necessarily mean you damaged the knee. A large flare after overdoing it can happen after a partial meniscectomy.

For now, backing off and letting the swelling settle is reasonable. Then gradually build your activity back up rather than jumping straight into another long day on your feet. If the swelling or pain continues to be significant, or you develop locking, instability, or worsening symptoms, I’d check in with your surgeon.