Its been two weeks now since the arthroscopy so I thought it best to report progress. I have lost almost all discomfort from the knee. This is how it all happened:
Since the previous post, the knee got slightly worse until about 72 hours after the op. Walking around was miserable. Getting comfortable in bed was difficult. Lying on back had the duvet falling on the knee. Lying on either side would cause me leg to bend laterally – definately a non goer. Didn’t even try lying on my front as obviously the leg weight would be on the knee. However, after a couple of nights this easied a bit.
Last Thursday, I had my first physio appointment. I was slightly dissapointed in the male physio – only because I was hoping for the pretty (female!!!) physio who assessed my on operation day. Although not pretty, he was friendly and cautiously showed several exercises / stretches that would help recovery. He also stated the importance of icing the knee which i performed more after the session.
Gradually since then, the knee aches / pains and discomfort have reduced. I felt confident to be able to walk up stairs normally last saturday, and by Thursday, I was putting weight on the bad leg whilst walking downstairs on Thursday. Encouragingly, the worse problem this week was my knee stubble catching on suit trousers, oh and the disapproving looks of colleages when they saw my surgical stockings – oh, the embarrasement of white socks! Unfortunately, its too warm to wear socks over the tops of them.
I had my second physio session yesterday. Initial assessment was good. I could bend my leg nearly normally, and had no discomfort with the various leg manipulations conducted. I was then led to the gym, where I did 5 minutes on the exercise bike, and some body weight bearing excercises. This was good, I finally feel like I am redeveloping the leg muscles – its amazing how quickly they can waste. Finally, I was told that I could do easy 10 minute bike rides but NO HILLS and NO FORCE on the pedals – its all about spinning the cranks! Well, suppose I better pump up my tyres and put that XT derailleur on, both of which I have been putting off.
Generally, however, I am happy with progress and will be getting my stiches removed and having a follow up consultation on Tuesday. I can already feel the call of the OS maps, and possible Lake District walk in mid – late autumn.
I am also thinking more about lightweight gear, minimising my pack weight seems all the more important now, reducing load on knees. Also I think some rubber ends to my poles would be a good purchase as I tend to only use poles on softer ground, and I want to maximse their use now.
Sounds like all is going well….
“Encouragingly, the worse problem this week was my knee stubble catching on suit trousers”
Use No. 132 for Duct tape?
Keep up the remedial work, soon be back out on those tops!
Glad to read things are improving – those walking dreams will soon become reality – but don’t do too much too soon…
as a mountaineer i am struggling to find any post-op improvements …. please tell me how long it took you (if at all) to get properly mountian fit again.
thanks.
Hi John,
Following my first arthroscopy, my recover was long and not very successful as you can read in the follow posts I wrote. The reason appeared to be a botched operation by a consultant that did little. Also, this consultant was very over optimistic about a 4 week recovery.
After several months, where I could still not walk much, i saw Simon Moyes in London, and had a further MRI scan and arthroscopy. My recover was still slow, as the swelling was persistent although I started mountain biking after 6 weeks and hill walking about 7 weeks after the operation. After a couple of easy-ish walks (8 milers on the flat), I did a 15 miler in the Lake District, which whilst probably foolish, did prove once and for all that the knee seemed ok. To this day, the knee still seems ok, though I don’t have full confidence in it yet. I have still done 1200 metre ascent 15 mile walks, grade 1 scrambles such as Striding Edge, and look forward to some multi-day long distance walks in a couple of months.