Busted foot/ankle a couple of years ago (garden decking should be banned), still loose bits of bone and cartilage floating about inside which is painful at times so tomorrow they are being hoovered out. One day keyhole surgery. Surgeon says it’ll be fine but there are risks of infection etc etc. Feeling nervous now. 10 days no weight bearing and then 6 weeks taking it easy allegedly. Anyone else been there to make us feel better, or worse?

yes a few years ago. it resulted in this in august.

[url=https://flic.kr/p/MDd54G]2016-09-28_08-44-27[/url] by 20ston, on Flickr

Not on the ankle but I’ve had a couple on my knees. Was up and about within a week and cycling within the month both times. Pretty straight forward. Just do as the Dr says and put your feet up over Christmas.

Had it on my knee 13 years ago. Was walking that day- surgeon encouraged it within reason to aid healing. Wasn’t allowed to drive so had 2 weeks off work. Got back to exercise by swimming and gentle rides a bit after.

sorry, mine was a arthrodesis. had arthroscopy on both knee. was back riding steady within a month.
ankle was somewhat longer.

I had an arthroscopy on my shoulder 20th September. Feels tip top now – having to hold myself back from doing too much with it too early.

Ton, that looks rough in pic, better now? Thanks for the other positive stories

redstripe…….it is indeed mate. back riding, and i can even use spd’s.

good luck mate, do what the doc says, do your physio and then crack on.

Shoulder here, was about as straightforward as you could hope an operation/recovery would be.

@Joe/Chaka

I’m having one possibly on the shoulder in February. Ok if I shoot some questions nearer the time?

Have some fentanyl and propofol and enjoy the anaesthetic!
Had knee arthroscopy in Jan this year, am pretty much 99% now, so am v glad I had it done, and loved the drugs

Yeah NP Jamie.

I had a shoulder key hole surgery on 2nd Dec ( no repair work done though as not a lot of damage found) – off work for2 weeks and physio going well, was back on the bike after 12 days – was as good as an operation could be – I wouldn’t worry about it

I had one on my shoulder about 18 years ago. It was easy but listen to the doctors and nurses when they tell you how long before you can do stuff again. I went on my bike a couple of days after the op. It pulled my stitches and left me with a tell-tale blood patch on my t-shirt. Mum wasn’t impressed.

On a more serious note, the first night was fairly uncomfortable and I didn’t sleep. But after that it wasn’t much trouble.

Good luck.

Jamie – yes feel free to ask some questions on shoulder when you want. I was really nervous about having it done, but so far really glad I did. Recovery hasn’t been too bad – better so far than I thought.

Had one on my wrist having damaged two joints, was better for a while and then just went back to being uncomfortable but still better than before. Have to ride with a wrist support forever more. Unless I get a fusion

Knee done (removed ACL) 6.5 weeks ago ………

Riding after 10 days……pootling.

Up to a 2hr 70% ride avoiding too much jolty stuff…..

Testing it out in Peak on 29th with a steady one…….

Just don’t get greedy on the rehab stakes

Yeah NP Jamie.

Jamie – yes feel free to ask some questions on shoulder when you want. I was really nervous about having it done, but so far really glad I did. Recovery hasn’t been too bad – better so far than I thought.

Cheers. I have meeting with surgeon on 23rd, so will now for sure then. What worries me most is recovery time, and when I can get back to driving etc.

Had it done yesterday, went in in the morning, back home late afternoon. Bit sore obviously but not as bad as I thought, not neeeded the painkillers yet. Surgeon said I could start putting weight on it after 4 days and should be pretty mobile in a couple of weeks which is much better than I was initially told, we’ll see. He also said it would be a good excuse to play on it over Xmas period to get pampered, the thought never crossed my mind obviously

had a PCL refurb 4 weeks ago, been resting on the sofa, non weight bearing and getting driven out of my mind with boredom !

Jamie – officially it’s 4 weeks until you can drive I believe. Although you should check with the surgeon and your insurance co. I really needed to drive for work so did exactly on 4 weeks but have to admit it wasn’t that comfy. From 5 weeks felt much more stable for me.

Had a racer on the turbo for exercise fromabout 3 weeks ish – but had to pedal sat upright for the first couple of weeks and then started doing a couple of mins on the bars then 5 off and built it up.

Been road riding on a hardtail for about 3 weeks ish now I think. That feels fine now – planning a flat / easy off road ride towards end of Jan I reckon. So about 4 months post op.

Good on you getting it done! My understanding is that they’re much more cautious nowadays compared to when they used to just remove most of the cartilage and leave people arthritic – surgeons sometimes open up knees and decide to leave torn menisci rather than remove bits. There seems to be a greater recognition that decent outcomes can be achieved through keeping active and specific exercises. On other hand, this (and budget cuts) does mean it’s incredibly hard to get to the stage where surgery is considered an option, even when physio etc hasn’t worked…

Shoulder arthroscopy set for next Monday (adhesive capsulitis). Surgeon says he can knock me out or I can watch on the big screen. I’m not sure how brave I am.

He has promised some pain and discomfort during recovery and emphasised the need for physio (and to do the exercises) to ensure new tissue grows and avoid ending up back at square one.

Feeling ill thinking of you watching op on screen 😐

Can’t over emphasise the imprtance of physio / rehab. It will not just “come back” on it’s own.

Yes apparently the shoulder capsule should be a nice thin silky membrane and mine is like a hessian sack. So it has to be cut through and separated to allow a new section to grow between them. Not doing the exercises will cause the two old halves to join back together making the operation worthless. Oh and a bit of bone needs cutting out.

Maybe I should ask if I can have a DVD?

Had my knee serviced via arthroscopy about 15 years ago. They thought it was a meniscus tear but found it was just debris when they went it. Bit of a clean up, some follow-up steroid injections and was back driving within a few days.

Still running and cycling happily on it 🙂

Had the ankle done just over two weeks ago now, one day in and out. Bit sore at first but able to put weight on and walk about after 3 days and now feels pretty good, although I did ride my bike today (in low gears) and probably over did it still as hurting a bit. Overall though glad I had it done after 2 years of pain. Just need to work back into bike riding more gradually and less bull at a gate probably.one thing I wasn’t told was the after effect of anaesthetic, lots of fruit and Alpen needed to get things moving after a few days…

So I had the shoulder arthroscopy and I watched it! It looked like he was chopping through some tatty old net curtains. It was actually a lot less unpleasant than having teeth cleaned with ultrasound. Currently on nice drugs and started exercises. First trip to physio in a couple of days which I’m led to believe to be the painful bit.

I’ve had one of my knees done and, more recently, a shoulder. Knee recovered pretty quickly and I was encouraged to start walking within hours of the operation. First couple of nights were a bit uncomfortable, but improved fairly quickly. Surgeon suggested getting back on the bike (with flat pedals) to do some easy flat rides, gradually building up strength. Getting regular physio was a real help, and as others have mentioned, don’t slack off the exercises the physio gives you. If it’s any help, I was advised to keep the joint iced for two-three days after the op until the swelling had reduced (I was given a Velcro on ice pack that I had to fill with busted up ice and apply in 15minutes on/off). The icing business is supposed to speed up the recovery ….according to physio & surgeon who treated me.

Shoulder has been more of a problem (top tip – don’t break your shoulder!). The broken bones led to ‘frozen shoulder’ and capsular release operation. Again, as people have already mentioned, if you don’t do the physio exercises, it can end up as bad as ever. As the discomfort of the frozen shoulder was 9 months of hell, I persisted with the exercises! According to surgeon & physio the shoulder is way better than they were expecting – but both said it’s probably down to me sticking with the exercises, which most patients don’t.

Anyway, hope some of this is useful. Best of luck.

Cheers bowglle. Yes icing included for me too. I’ve done my first two sets of 4×10 reps for today, iced and popped pills. A bit sore but OK though I suspect the physio will up the ante on my first visit later this week.