r/kneesurgeryrecovery

Not sure who needs to hear this, but it's what I really needed a few months ago, so going to put out into the ethers. There is life after TBF. I had an insanely bad TBF with ORIF, detached ACL, tons of soft tissue damage, and was in the hospital for weeks with plates and 17 screws put in. 7 months in and I still couldn't bear weight and continued to be on crutches. Not because my surgeon hadn't cleared me, but because the pain was still so intense when I tried. I'm someone who is generally athletic and hiked multiple times a week previously. I'm also someone who takes rehab seriously and always pushes myself in anything I do. But the pain remained remarkably unbearable. To put this in perspective, I've had multiple children ... the last one I delivered 2 weeks after the ORIF surgery (yep, its been a fun time). But I knew my body, and I wasn't getting better, and I knew I needed to get the hardware out. My body simply did not agree with the hardware. I was initially told that I had to wait 18months to 2 yrs for hardware removal. And the surgeon believed there was very little possibility that the hardware was impacting my ability to recover. I listened to my body and didn't accept this answer. I went back time and again until the surgeon agreed to wait only 1 yr. I still didn't accept this and asked for a second opinion. He finally agreed to remove the hardware at 8 months. The day of the hardware removal surgery I was very afraid. The hospital gown was the same gown I had worn when they brought me into the emergency department for the original injury, and seeing the gown brought back my extensive ptsd over the original injury.

But a few days after the removal, I knew something was different. Within 2 weeks I had made more progress than in the prior 8 months. And now 2 months post removal, I am walking entirely unassisted, able to carry weight, including my baby, do squats, able to go up and down stairs, able to do steep decline/incline walks. These were not possible for me before. I know I am still on my healing journey, and honestly I can't pretend like this injury didn't impact my life massively, but I am on the upswing. I don't know who needs to hear this, but I had some pretty dark days in there, and i hope you know, you're strong, youre capable, and you are going to get through this!

I know not everyone will follow this exact path, and I know that most can tolerate the hardware totally fine. But for me, I listened to my body, and I advocated for what I believed, and I'm so grateful to be on the side making big strides everyday (pun intended).

Just the title. I really want to avoid constipation.

Hi all I appreciate everything. I’ve learned on here in speaking with others and reading. I feel like I’m progressing a little more slowly I did hit 110° flexion at the end of last week but I’m getting a lot of medial knee pain and tightness that’s limiting the flexion and then the day after PT I’ve been having a lot more swelling and my gait is off - causing hip pain and additional pain in my “good” knee- also a lot of fatigue and throbbing by the end of the day even though I’m limiting steps the most I’ve done is 1.4 miles total yesterday and I’m paying for it today😫-I had to go off of meloxicam because it was giving me really bad heartburn. I’m wondering if anybody knows if Celebrex or anything else is helpful for inflammation and what exercises at home have been useful?

TL;DR: I’m 28F with a >1-year right knee issue where I cannot actively fully extend my knee from ~90° of flexion despite 10+ months of weekly PT. MRI shows mild patellar cartilage damage, a small fissure, and signs of patellar maltracking, but no major structural damage, and everything is unchanged from 10 months ago. My surgeon recommends diagnostic arthroscopy and potentially chondroplasty, with MACI/OATS as possibilities depending on what he finds.

I’m 28F and have been dealing with a right knee problem for over a year. My biggest issue is that I cannot actively fully straighten my knee from about 90° of flexion when sitting or lying down. If my heel is supported or I have some external resistance, I can get it straight, but I can’t get my quad to activate enough to fully extend the knee on its own.
I’m fairly active and can generally live normally. I cycle and strength train, but avoid single-leg exercises. My knee tends to feel fatigued/uncomfortable more than severely painful. Running can cause pain/swelling, and I’ve had to modify some activities. Driving distances of over an hour tend to cause it to swell. I’ve been doing weekly PT for 10+ months, including quad activation work, and my PT feels I’m probably at my baseline with conservative treatment.

Most recent MRI shows a 1.2 x 1.2 cm area of grade I chondromalacia on the lateral patellar facet, inflammation, and some clear patellar maltracking, but is otherwise normal and unchanged from one I had 10 months ago.

My orthopedic surgeon recommends diagnostic/exploratory arthroscopy because the inability to actively extend my knee has persisted despite PT and isn’t fully explained by the MRI. He would potentially perform a patellar chondroplasty if he finds an area that warrants it, and mentioned jumping immediately to MACI or OATS if he finds a larger cartilage defect that warrants a more involved procedure.

My surgeon told me that if I have a patellar chondroplasty, he would expect approximately 2 weeks back to a desk job and 6 weeks back to normal activity. This matters because I’m currently interviewing for a new corporate/desk job and am trying to determine whether I could realistically have the scope/chondroplasty done in the ~3 weeks before starting a new job.

For anyone who has had a patellar chondroplasty/debridement, what was your actual recovery timeline? How long was your knee baseline useable before surgery, and did it feel any better after?

I’d also love to hear from anyone who has had MACI or OATS on the patella, particularly if you waited to have the procedure or tried something else first, and what the recovery was actually like.

Thanks to anyone willing to share!