In2016 I had a LEFT  KNEE 50% mcl tear 10acl and tibial head plateau compression fracture , (got cut off by a ski school pack and hit a pole at grouse. No surgery and did extensive rehab on my own mostly. I came back from that and got 30's days bording the following season. 

Cut to this year ,,, feb 8 after a short period of LEFT knee pain occuring at work it gave out stepping out of the mobile kitchen (Been a chef my whole life now 52) I was working in on SET  somehow managed to tear my meniscus and then some. I'm sure wear tear from 30+myears of standing at work played a part.

Fortunately since  it was at work WCB kicked in , I had MRI and surgery within 3 months however swelling was considerable and has taken a very long time to go away and knee still feels like crap when standing for extended periods. The surgery was 25% meniscusectomy , debraiding and scraping , yuck .I have been going to physio religiously (except the last month since I caught pneumonia from someone there somehow) . 

MY ligaments are in good shape  and I have I now have a custom CTI knee brace (matching the my left knee lol) but I have been deemed partly disable through wcb etc ! The knee still feels crappy though I can ride my bike mostly seated without much problem , although I have been only riding climbing trails and xc stuff so I don't wreck it worse.

Anybody have meniscus surgery and what was your experience. Mostly did it get better ? How long?

Thanks

Erik

I did in my ACL in jan 2020

2 months to get an MRI by then we were into full blown COVID restriction, 9 months in total to get an MRI/ get on the OR table which was probably pretty good for canadian HC

another 9 months of not being a dumbass just letting the knee heal itself so

didnt ski 00 or 01, almost quit skiing in 01-02 almost quit again in 02-03 seasons

got a 1 yr gym membership and 115 weight room visits later the knee is taking the shocks & good to go,

so 3 yrs later I'm skiing and there is no pain

I asked the surgeon about a brace and he said "you got a great knee and if I did this right you shouldn't need a brace " and so no brace

No meniscus damage as far as I know or at least recall.  But major cartilage damage in right knee with full repair of MCL, PCL, and whatever the name of that third ligament the surgeon mentioned. Right knee definitely swollen.

All I can say is there is no real answer as to how long it will take for things to get better and so on. Everyone is different to how the surgery effects them and what the end results will be performance wise. Of course follow the instructions of the surgeon for what activities can do. In my case the once he found out rode a mountain bike instructions where "Ride Lots". LOL And post surgery is same instructions.

No idea what instructions you have around knee brace and when to use it. In my case it is when doing anything above daily activities like walking and other basic activities. Wear brace when hiking, mountain biking, lower body weight sessions, and so on. As told by surgeon.

One other thing knee brace wise I would tell anyone requiring one fight to get the moto cap add on. That way you have it for riding if you need to wear leg armour. As most knee armour doesn't fit under a knee brace. Well some do but it takes a hell of alot of trial and error to find one that does. To be honest dealing with knee braces is frustrating as it is too much like a fit you for one, get it, and then send you on your way. No fucking other info. Though depending on one's leg size one could potentially fit bigger size Roach Leg armour over it. LOL yes I have actually tried it in the workshop last November out of curiosity combined with sheer boredom.

Riding wise it again will take time to get further along physically as you have had a traumatic event- major knee surgery. It will take some time to get physically back. It also will take sometime to get back as the brain is still in protection mode. It needs time to slowly process the changes and how to deal with them. Been through that since November 7th myself. Every little thing that feels odd has your brain worrying if something is bad even if it isn't . It sucks but over the next few months it will get less and less of a thing as time goes on.

the PT ( a mtb/ road biker I know well) said an ACL would take 3 yr to fully repair, it will be 3 yrs post op in oct so I might actualy be a little ahead of schedule, I was able to ride thru out the whole thing altho i did quit using clipless on the trails and i bought an e-bike

My surgeon is a skier/ BC skier who had blown/ rehabbed an ACL and he told me he quit using a brace after the 1st year which is why he said " you shouldn't really need the brace if i did this properly " so I didnt bother with the brace and he was right

ime the knee repair was mechnicaly great but the muscles were weak, twice my progress would go backwards just depending on riding the bike and I had to hit the gym