r/kneesurgeryrecovery

Hello I’m just putting this out there because I’m curious if anyone else has experienced this. I’m 22 (M) and just had a complete ACL reconstruction using the patella tendon as well as a medial and lateral meniscus repair about a month and 2 weeks ago. So far up to this point I am doing fairly exceptional according to my doctor who says I’m ahead of pace. Something that I just recently started to run into was that every time I would bend my knee inwards or move it up and down I would get/feel a squeaky sensation coming from inside my knee. Sounds like if you step on an uneven peice of wood on the floor. There is no pain behind it more or so just annoying to deal with. I’m just curious if anyone else has experienced this and if so what helped get rid of the sound or is it something that just goes away over time. This surgery was my first ever surgery and obviously not fun but I’m hopeful to make a full recovery and continue playing semi professional pickleball that sadly put me here.

I have knee ACL grade one and meniscus grade 3 which doc said need not require surgery after he clinically inspected it

Its been a while the knee is fine but time and again after pushing it a bit it makes me feel a sensation of uncomfort .. but yeah with the same knee i have run 5-10-20-40 km with 24 kg load it was good but when i play any sports like basketball or volleyball for 3-4 days it creates discomfort what to do

How hard is it to drive for a performance car with a weakened left leg? It’s strong enough to walk on not strong enough to run with. Is this a concern in anyway? I’ve never driven manual before but I wanna trade my auto for a manual but if I have to do physical therapy first I’ll just wait.

This is my first post on this site ever. I have been lurking for a few weeks trying to learn about ACL surgery and now want to post my own questions and hear experiences from others.

49F taekwondo martial artist. Chose allograft after very strongly considering BEAR due to some feedback from my surgeon over limited flexibility and a more truer 18 months + to return to sport with the BEAR amongst other reasons. I am not interested in an autograft due to donor site issues affecting my legs. I train hard but realize I will need to slow down for the next year.

Here are my questions/concerns in no particular order:

1. My biggest concern is post op pain. I had a medically induced labor with my son with horrific back labor that failed two epidurals and all IV pains meds. It was a traumatizing experience and I am nervous the nerve block won’t work for me. I do understand it’s different but I have also read several accounts from people where their nerve blocks didn’t work. I am trying to get an extended one to last hopefully 2-3 days. Did anyone get an extended nerve block? Did it help w the pain? How soon after surgery did your start layering in your oral meds? If your nerve block failed, what was the back up plan?

2. I told my dr I get nauseated w pain meds so he LOWERED my dose of Norco from 10 to 7.5 and also rx me journavx which is not an opioid. Anyone have experience w this pain med and did it help? Wondering if this is enough w Norco 7.5. Wondering if I should have him increase the Norco back to 10. I am reading horror stories about post - op pain from this surgery that has me scared to death.

3. Has anyone used a cold/hot/compression therapy machine? Did it help a lot w managing pain?

4. My dr didn’t rx me ibuprofen. I’m worried about the swelling. He gave me a higher dose aspirin for DVT prevention but I’m wondering if that’s enough for swelling. I know this is a question for my doctor but wondering if anyone didn’t use ibuprofen and was ok w the swelling on aspirin alone. Since increased swelling increases pain levels, this is a concern for me.

5. Tell me about your immediate post op experience days 1-3. How bad was your pain honestly? There are horror stories here. I realize most people post when it’s bad and maybe less when it’s good. I would love to hear the good stories. I prehabbed for 2 months and got my quad strength back to 85+% and already have a very strong athletic baseline in my legs as a martial artist. I really hope this helps!

6. If you are a martial artist and had an allograft, tell me about how soon you returned to your sport and were you ever able to get back to your prior performance level? Did you return to your studio in a modified way before full re turn to sport and if so, how soon was that?

7. When did you ditch crutches, walk, drive? It’s my right leg. Assume no meniscus involvement. We won’t know till surgery but functionally don’t suspect it. 10 weeks post injury I am walking 2 miles a day; single leg pressing 120 lbs and single knee extensions at 40-50 lbs. I don’t have any popping or catching or joint line pain so really hoping no meniscus involvement. 🙏

8. What things helped you the most post op and what advice would you give?

Please share your allograft surgery experiences—the good/bad/ugly all welcome.

Thank you in advance.

Surgery is in 8 days.

Hi everyone, I had MPFL reconstruction and TTO surgery last Tuesday, and I’m looking for some advice or reassurance. Over the weekend, I woke up holding my kneecap because I was in so much pain. The only way I can describe it is that it felt very similar to the sensation I used to get before a dislocation. It genuinely feels like my kneecap is trying its hardest to pull itself out of place, which is really frightening. The pain when it’s happening is intense, and afterwards the area around the surgical site aches for quite a while because I’ve tensed my whole knee so hard. It happened again earlier today when I was trying to walk up the stairs, and I had to completely stop and grab my knee until it settled. Has anyone else experienced anything like this in the early stages of recovery after MPFL and TTO surgery? I’m starting to worry that the mechanical work has failed, even though I know it’s still very early days. Any experiences or advice would be really appreciated. ❤️

I am 20months post OP (ACL surgery + meniscus tear + chondroplasty). I did recovery for good 5-6months and then I got pregnant post giving birth I have not done any exercises and now after 9months of birth I started doing excessive walking and physical activities I am feeling extreme pain in my surgical leg with stiffness,and a lot of knocking sound the pain is so intense that I can’t even walk long distances anyone has any recommendations? Will this be solved if I start exercising now or do I need to see a doctor again?

Hello\~\~ Please help me with my medical expenses and coming back to life. There is a lot of work ahead of me. Even IF WE WILL MANAGE to get my knee somewhat fixed - my deteriorating mental health condition is eating me alive.

Actually I only just started to collect the funds! I have no idea how it works and If I will manage to get people to donate and help me out. I am no famous, it is difficult to get any traffic. I made couple of paid Facebook ads and the only one thing I got out of it was… a scam 😅

**I already had 2 knee surgeries and I still can't walk properly and I'm only 29y.o...**
I do not even know if this amount of money will be sufficient or not. I want to try with stem cell injections first. I’ve heard that might be a life changer. I have bad side effects after meniscectomy. My knee sounds like old noisy door hinge when I'm bending it. It hurts too… like constantly. For 3-4 years already.

Is the 3rd surgery necessary? I hope we can avoid that. Anyways, whatever has to be done - it is still going to be very expensive.

I also need to take a proper care of my poor mental health, obviously also affected by years of living with pain, but there's many more things that add up to this. I’m diagnosed F31 and F90 and basically trying to survive 🥲🥲🥲

I**f you or anyone you know can help me a bit, l'Il be very grateful! It's hard to manage everything on my own. I can’t do this anymore, I’m done…**

Please help me survive 🥲 Thank you all!

I had my TTO surgery the morning after the injury and it’s been about two days since. The pain has been very manageable, I’ve been trying to take a minimal amount of pain medicine. I haven’t taken not taken my brace off yet I’ve been to scared but I know I need to to look at my scar and shower and everything. Any advice will help

Hi everyone! I’m currently 13 days post-op (ACL reconstruction,harmstring graft, meniscus resection) full weight-bearing with crutches from day 1 ). My natural range of motion on the healthy leg includes about -10 degrees of hyperextension. Right now, my operated leg extends to almost 0 degrees—it's just a tiny bit short of a completely flat line due to swelling, stiffness, and incision pain. ​My official clinic guidelines say to target full extension early on, but I'm wondering how this works for hypermobile knees. For those who naturally had a significant "minus" before surgery: ​Did your physical therapist push to get your full hyperextension back eventually, or did you stop at a stable 0 degrees? ​How long did it take for your extension to at least clear the 0-degree mark and start feeling natural? ​I have my first official PT appointment in a few days to get specific extension exercises, but I’d love to hear some personal experiences or advice from anyone with naturally hypermobile joints! Thanks!

Is anybody faced this issue when i sit and straight my leg and try to tighten my quad muscle of surgery leg i am having a pain below knee i not able to figure it out what happening there.
This pain only occuring when try to full straighten my leg

Any advices