In season surgery
 

Tore my medial meniscus doing a scrimmage 10 days ago. I am having my knee scoped on the 16th and was interested in hearing recovery stories. I've heard 3 weeks and I could be officiating again all the way to 6 weeks and beyond. I'm assuming the difference is in the severity of the tear and what is done in the surgery.
Also, can anyone tell me what the physical therapy involves and how quickly I can begin that phase.

Mux - I'm sorry to hear of your injury and wish you good luck and a speedy recovery. I tore my ACL, and damaged my MCL and meniscus playing hoops two years ago. While mine was a bit worse than yours apparently, I can give you some insight.

First, know your body and listen to it! There is a very fine line between letting your body heal and aggressive rehabilitation. My Physical Therapy was very aggressive (2-3 times a week) for an hr, plus, they give you exercises to do at home – DO THEM! Don't skip any! I started my PT one week after surgery.

Second, be patient. I wanted to go running in the worst way – let yourself heal. It was too early for me. They worked on my range of motion, flexibility, balance, weights, and strengthening the muscles in my leg and around the entire knee. Not just the parts I hurt.

Lastly I guess, if you have a Trainer who you think is abusing you, doesn’t really care about YOUR pain, and appears to be torturing you…….in my case, that was a good thing. :D Great folk who really pushed me and I still correspond with today!

In my case it took me many months completely to heal. Yours may not be so bad. Now, I do everything I did before my injury, but am a little stiffer and sorer than before my injuries. I also developed a little scar tissue which will have to be dealt with later. Modern medicine is GOOD!

Good luck!

This is all good stuff. I had surgery #4 on my knee last year first week of october. I was cleared by the Dr. the day before my scrimmage season kicked off around thanksgiving. I wasn't fully recovered until probably the end of January. I was able to run and get up and down the court at the beginning of the season, but wasn't back to myself until end of Jan. My knee is probably in a lot worse condition then yours however, ACL in '99, again in '01, three surgeries since repairing torn cartilage and removing scar tissue. for what its worth, I'm 28. Work hard at PT (don't overdue it) listen the the therapist and continue all exercises. Make sure that the muscles around the knee are strong before getting back to running and cutting.
My brother tore his meniscus and was back to regular activity within 3 weeks. It all depends on the severity and how quickly your body will recover.
good luck!

Had same surgery last year. Start leg lifts now - before surgery! Squeeze thigh - hold for 10 secs, release and do 15 - 20 reps of these. Again - start now if you can. After surgery don't skip ANY excercises. See pm.

I recovered in about 4 weeks from that injury. I kept working though as the season only had 3 weeks left. I did the pt and recovered after the season.