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help--swelling after arthroscopic surgery
by compiler777, Jul 16, 2008 10:50PM
I had scope surgery a week ago for meniscal tear. I think basically it was a clean-out (I have a post-op. appointment tomorrow so I'll have more details). Anyway, while I can now walk without crutches, it is extremely painful and very swollen, despite spending much of my time with the knee iced and elevated. In particular, there are 2 noticeable lumps in the soft tissue on each side of the knee and the back of my knee feels swollen and lumpy. I expected to be much better by now.
It has been exactly one week. Is this still normal?
Mel
It has been exactly one week. Is this still normal?
Mel
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Saw my surgeon today. Got stitches removed. He said the area was very swollen but he is not alarmed about it (while well above average it is within normal range).
He had to remove quite a bit of cartilage (medial meniscus and lateral meniscus I think were the terms). It was really in bad shape -- brittle, hanging down, useless.
He also did very minimal smoothing of the kneecap due to calcium deposits.
There is calcium deposits throughout the cartilage, in other words arthritis. But he said it was moderate, not severe. I am nowhere near a TKR, but there may be one in my future in maybe 15 years, so no point worrying about it (besides, who knows what new developments they will have at that time). However, he did emphasize arthritis is unpredictable. He sees people who look bad, but it doesn't get any worse and people with minimal arthritis yet 2 years later it gets bad. But his best guess is that the arthritis won't be a problem. He did say that my cartilage damage is probably due to the arthritis and it was the cartilage that was producing most of my symptomatic problems. He feels over time I should be fine with the major problems resolved.
We start P/T on Wednesday (earliest they can see me; I'm on a waiting list to get in sooner). Also, he did suggest I get back on anti-inflammatory (ibuprofin or Aleve) for awhile as that should also help with the swelling (I guess lowering inflammation will help lower the swelling). He seems to think I'm doing it right in terms of activity. He says I probably won't hurt the knee by pushing it, but I really shouldn't push it too much since that can set me back.
Overall, a positive result.
Question for this group: ibuprofin vs. Aleve?? Which do I use? Aleve seems like more long term pills (12 hours) but I'm not sure I like that. I would almost rather take more and experiment with skipping a dose.
Mel