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Riding on road bike 1+ year(s) after partial meniscus surgery

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Riding on road bike 1+ year(s) after partial meniscus surgery

Old 10-16-19, 02:23 AM
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Tendollars
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Riding on road bike 1+ year(s) after partial meniscus surgery

Hello everybody!

I had meniscus tear and eventually surgery where it was partially removed.

I am 32 years old and before the surgery I had around 2 000 kilometers on my road bike this year.

Did my therapy, slowly but surely back on road.

I am very interested how road cyclist performance/accumulated kilometers per year change after 1, 2 or 3 years in comparison to prior surgery period.

Sorry if there is a topic about it already, but I couldn't find similar discussion on this matter except "getting on bike after surgery" (which is usually around up to 3-4 months after surgery).
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Old 10-16-19, 08:18 AM
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Anecdotal, I was on a bike 3 months post knee total replacement. But I was on an exercise bike in about 4 weeks. Now, 3 years ago I had a torn meniscus in my other knee. And used the bike on an indoor trainer within days after surgery. Now I am looking at replacement for that knee. the meniscus is gone. Bone on bone wearing groves... I do know the bike helped preserve that knee for a while. But I had to get off the bike a few months after the meniscus surgery, due to a heel spur, that was destroying my achilles tendon... That was fixed, but didn't get back on the bike for quite awhile. Too many injuries in a row after that surgery...
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Old 10-16-19, 09:21 AM
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Tore ACL, PCL, MCL, LCL, Medial and Lateral Meniscus transplants (tore so much couldn't repair). If your keeping count, the only thing that i did not tare was my patella ligament.

This was back in 2004, i was 25yrs old.

Was told to never run again, ever, unless someone pointed a gun at me. I followed this advice and only did low impact stuffs until picking up a road bike last year. Did 1200miles my first year, on pace for 2500 this year. I spin at 80-105rpm at all times. Ive found that keeping my rpm in check is critical to preventing knee pain. I also discovered that my cleat position (SPD-SL) needed tweaking with my bad sides having toes a slight couple degrees outward.

I am so excited to be on a road bike, this is really the first time since my wreck that I can push myself physically without pain. Its been the best thing to happen to me in many many years.

Listen to your body man, it will warn you if anything is amiss. Rest days are critical. Also I started with 3-5mile rides, and only increased maybe 10% each month, tops...now i ride 45-55 miles 2x per week.

I know i was 10+ years post surgeries, but thought maybe my input might be of some use to you Sir. Good Luck!

JAG
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Old 10-16-19, 09:34 AM
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I had my meniscus surgery about 12 years ago. I took me a month to be able to do group rides again and maybe a year before I was back to full strength, mostly due to having to go easy-ish until I'd broken all the scar tissue loose. But then no change over the years other than normal deterioration due to age, no knee deterioration at all. Normal weight work, backpacking, running, riding, etc., although I've been careful not to repeat the movement which caused the injury in the first place.

I think results are individual however. They may depend on the injury, the surgeon, and the recovery process. There is a large longitudinal study out there which found that 15 years later, those who had surgery were no better off than those who didn't. That has certainly not been my experience. Before surgery, I had to drag the bad leg behind me. I doubt that would have turned out well over time.

Maybe I should mention that I've been dong weight work in the gym since 1979 and taking glucosamine sulfate and MSM.
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Old 10-16-19, 09:46 AM
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I had an arthroscopic meniscus debridement along with an open-incision removal of 1.5 cm of my fibular head. I was back on my bike in less than 2 weeks, seriously training around 1.5 months post-op, and won a state champ road race 7 months post-op. The knee that had surgery is better off than the knee that hasn't had anything done to it.

The biggest advantage I had was going into the surgery in shape. It made recovery way easier and faster.
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Old 10-16-19, 11:32 PM
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Thanks everybody for sharing, this makes more optimistic towards future!
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Old 10-17-19, 09:33 PM
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4 surgeries on my knees for meniscus tears around 2008 timeframe. Starting serious biking in 2010. Some years I've done 8000 miles others only 3000. I'd say I average probably around 5000 a year. To be honest, riding keeps my knees pain free. When I miss too many days the knees get stiff and ache. I do find bike fit matters to being pain free. I have a lot of bikes but the saddle height and setback is the same for all of them.
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Old 10-18-19, 07:18 AM
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I had one surgery on my right knee and two on the left, all for torn meniscus. The best advice that I could have gotten was to quit doing heavy leg presses and knee extensions on a weight machine. The last time my left knee started hurting, at age 57, l got an MRI and was told there was nothing that could be done and I should wear a heavy leg brace until I got the knee replaced.

I quit cycling after a short season in 2010. I took up other hobbies and finally got both knees replaced in 2017. In July of 2018, I got back on the bike at age 65 and I've now ridden about 5,000 miles with no problems.

Removing meniscus accelerates the wear process, but so does arthritis. Combine the two and early knee failure is inevitable.
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