I'm booked in for one, well actually I am on the list to be booked in for one, probably in February to repair a tear in the cartilage and examine the ligaments before they are reconstructed and I have been told I am likely to be signed off work for 2 weeks. When I told my boss this, his response was, "well it won't affect your mind or hands, take a laptop with you and work from home", is this reasonable?

Friend of mine had one last week to repair torn cartilage. He's been absolutely fine, walking up and down stairs from first day and drove (an automatic) 5 days later. He too was signed off for two weeks but was working at home (only because of the snow) from a couple of days after.

2 weeks off work seems excessive based on my experience.

I had one about 8 years ago – general clean-up and poke about and removal of some loose cartilage that had appeared on an MRI scan. Was on crutches for a day, drove after 4 (was left leg so less important!) and biking after 10 days or so.

Anyone else think the title said autopsy?

I had one and was walking the same day. Had a piece of torn cartlidge removed.

Anyone else think the title said autopsy?

I had one and was walking the same day.

Cool!

I presume your talking knee, not hip?

Two weeks off work is not unrealistic, but you could work from home the day after the op. Not all knee arthroscopic surgery is the same. A meniscal repair is very different from a menisectomy or general tidy up. You are normally on crutches to protect the repair and are restricted in your weight bearing flexion (squatting) for up to six weeks. Each surgeon has their own preferences though as what you can do when. ( Yes I am really a physio, and yes I am also specialist in acute knee trauma and yes I work closely with an specialist knee surgeon). Do not be mislead by other peoples experiences of more simple knee ops, lots of different surgery can be done arthroscopically from simple washouts to ACL reconstruction.

mtbphysio, do you have any exoerience of hip arthroscopies? Had FAI surgery on both hips, xmas eve was last one.

Sorry no direct experience of rehabing this type of surgery anagallis-arvensis, hip arthroscopy is less well established than knee and hip impingement surgery of this type is relatively new. However, I have rehabed some hip impingements that did not require surgery in the end. You need to find a physio with good skills in muscle imbalance re-education as you will need to work a lot on specific exercises for hip musculature as well as regaining general range of motion prior to more traditional strengthening exercises.
Good luck!

Had one on my ankle. Walked in on crutches and out without. Removed loads of gunge and all pain. I will try to dig out some pics

and some more here

http://gallery124018.fotopic.net/c825887.html

Have had 3 of em on my right knee. First one many many years ago and i over did it to soon and ended up off work for 6 weeks.
Last 2, just took it easy for a few days, lots of R.I.C.E and all was fine.

doing hydrotherapy twice a week with nhs physio at moment. How would i go about finding a private physio that nows his or her hips?

Thanks for that mtbphsio, I'm not sure on the technical terms for my op, but basically I have torn the cartilage and the pcl and they suspect a torn or over stretched acl for which I will be getting donor ligament tissue (for both). The arthroscopy is to "burn" off the torn part of the ligament close examine the acl and fix anything else they can whilst in there.

Had an arthroscopy on my right ankle about two and a half years after breaking it to remove fragmented bone from the cartilage. I was signed off for six weeks but could walk around ok after about four so went to the Canaries for a holiday 🙂

Kev

Had 1/3rd of the cartelidge in right knee removed, walked out of hossie
Back at work next day

Ask the surgeon, preferably after the op. Whatever happens you should be working on your strength & proprioception before the reconstruction(s) to speed up your recovery post-op.

I had it on my knee. Was back in the gym after a couple of days but not doing legs! I bend a lot for work so was off for a couple of weeks.

I had one on my knee after getting some sort of tropical infection in the Pacific. Was in hospital for about a week I remember.

As I spent most of the time in bed, was amazed how quickly the muscle function deteriorated. Was on crutches afterwards and visits to the lovely physiotherapists afterwards to build it all back up. A lovely scar to show for it. Hope all goes well.

Just to add a bit of STW wisdom – They could find CANCER and decide euthanasia is best.

😉

I had one and found out my acl was torn{hanging on by the tiniest of threads} I was about 4 weeks off work afterwards and it didn't feel right for ages, never got the acl done as I couldn't afford 6 months off work, it feels pretty good nowadays and has only bit me once in the last 5 years, it just aches a bit when its had enough so I rest a bit for a few days

I got a phone call last night to say they have had a cancelation and was I free Saturday, so time to go under the knife!

Mtbphysio speaks the truth, fat elvis does im afraid take the responsibility of 'doing an stw' – well done that man.

Take it easy, I was told no weight for the first week & elevate, then the 2nd was intensive physio until i could weight bear.

Bearing in mind it was my 4th, and now I am in a really bad position looking at having major surgery to correct a misalignment..we'll see.

Here in Switzerland, the specialist takes a dim view of the British point of attack – removing cartilage..he even said the 4 ops I had were like butchery and not looking at the real problem…so maybe get a 2nd opinion?

Oh, and good luck – i hope it all goes well.

erm, if you have been signed off by a doctor for 2 weeks, i dont think that you are legally allowed to work. You would have to sign a disclaimer or something to say that you are happy to go against the doctors advice. Check with your HR people.

I had mine done about 18months back.

Two weeks was conservative! I walked out of the hospital like the surgeon said, what he failed to mention was that once the painkillers had worn off I'd be in agony!

2 weeks on the sofa dosed up on pain killers, managed to read 14 pages of a paperback zombie novel!

2weeks – pain droped to a level i could manage with paracetamol

4 weeks – enough movement to walk short distances arround the house, and swim front crawl with a pullbouy

6 weeks – enough movement to walk to the pool (half mile)

8 weeks – enough to sit on a weight machine and begin physio

10 weeks – sat on a turbo trainer for 10min at a time

12 weeks – could manage a rower

14 weeks – ride a bike on the roads

did manage a couple of 100mile road rides in the autumn, but think I tore it again in febuary 🙁

Just take it easy after, it sounds like there is a fair bit of disturbance going to take place on your knee. The more sensible you are the better the end result!

FWIW – I drove home after my arthroscopy, it was just an inspection, they couldn't find anything to repair/work on. When I pushed them on this, they then said that there was a small rough patch to the articular cartiledge (lining of the femur)and that 30% of the population, my age (35-6 then) that were into sport in a big way, would have the same, but not all would be showing symptoms! They originally suspected a torn meniscus btw.

8-9 years on and it's not any worse! I can manage it quite easily, with some bike set up changes and lifestyle tweaks etc.

spoon: i think exactly why this specialist thinks of cartilage removal as butchery. The problem is that once they start 'repairing' it, they leave a sharp edge, which is then easier to catch and re-tear..ive done it 4 or 5 times now.

There is a reason why the cartilage tears, it is all about force and load patterns. Ask someone to look at your alignment – for example a simple x-ray of your legs and look at where the force will go..if it passes right thru the middle of the knee then good..but as with me if it goes thru once side well you'll have a tendancy to injure the side with more force.*

*disclaimer – all in my experience and imho also..

I will tell my boss that I need all of the time off then and should I be able to manage the pain and come of the pain killers earlier then I will try and work from home. He's not going to be impressed!

I've had two.
After one, I climbed Mt Everest 3 months later.
(well, I trekked in Nepal, which is sort of the same thing isn't it?!) 🙄

That went down like a lead balloon. "I just don't see why you need the time off".

sick note, dr, shove that up his arse

g_f's brother's had a few, got a pretty nasty infection after the last one sadly and couldn't walk or drive for about 2 weeks. Enjoy!

That went down like a lead balloon. "I just don't see why you need the time off".

Nice boss you have there.

IMHO its not for him to understand, just accept..

I said to him "it might be something to do with the fact that I am having an op and then need to recover, they are the experts and that's what they've said, so I'm having it!".

It's ok, I told his boss that a cancellation had come up and he said great, go for it, you'd be stupid not too.

I've had 3 sets of arthroscopies, although the first two were when I was a student. The most recent one I was signed off for two weeks, and for the first few days I was off my face on painkillers. I actually worked from home during the second week (my choice, trying to get promoted), although I did still feel occasionally a bit trippy from the tramadol. Weeee!

Truth be told, I could have done with another week of working at home, mainly because I wasn't allowed to park in the company carpark and the normally 15 minute walk turned into a rather sore (I had both knees done!) 30 minute trek. -_- As mildly annoying as I found that, the OP's boss sounds like a complete and utter ****.

I think a lot of it will depend on the individual – everyone has slightly different recovery times, or different responses to painkillers. Just do what the doctors tell you to do, and make sure you do your exercises!

My experience was similar to thisisnotaspoon's. Had 4 weeks off work and I needed it too. I had mine done two days before Christmas so a taxi to the pub was in order 😉 even got a bloody seat (that was the only benefit). Couldn't walk without crutches for 3 weeks, was almost 4 before attempted driving and then it was bloody painful. But I do know people who walked out of hospital same day and went to the pub!

"A fit and responsible adult must be with you at home and overnight following your operation", how important is this really?

nah, an ugly one will do