knee problem ends my triathlon participation?

Very sorry to hear that. 

I'd say you definitely still have a few options to keep up with triathlon. 

You should ask your ortho if you would be able to speed walk on a new knee.  That might be an option.  You won't be challenging for any podium spots generally, but it'll get you over the finish line in decent time.  I'm currently fighting bad achilles tendinitis and am working on increasing my walk speed so that if I have to walk the run on my 2 races I have planned this summer, I'll be able to finish as fast as possible.

You could also find one or two others and form a relay team.  And then there's also the chance to do some aquabike races (sadly not that many of them around, but they're out there).

I don't think triathlon is worth totally screwing up your knee.  Having functioning knees will make a world of difference as you get up there in age. 

Ok First of alll FYI I am a sports trained ortho myself.  Things to take into consideration 1- the ONLY indication for a knee replacement is PAIN. 2- your age 3-exactly how much of your meniscus is missing? and 4- do you already have degenerative changes?

This is what I would tell you if you were my patient......You gotta choose how you are going to use your knee miles.  Certainly the younger you are the longer you want your knee to last.  The more meniscus youare missing the more at risk you are for early arthritis.  If you already have degenerative changes I would discuss that as well.  If you have ligamentous damage in the face of the other 2 problems it also make you more predisposed to degenerative problems.  Things you can help your self are to be at a normal wieght for your height and keep your legs strong.

 Just because you have had a partial menisectomy I don't think it precludes you from running.  I think a sport like basketball or soccer would probably use up your knee miles more quickly than straight ahead running.  Now that said training sprints and olys and shorter runs are going to be smarter than training longer stuff.  Some people have terrible arthritis and run anyway.  I persoanlly would rather see someone more active and healthier all around and have a little knee pain than be unhappy on the couch.  Now if you are having incapacitating knee pain on a daily basis that is another story.  If you are pain free and happy and choose to run I mean hell its your body!!!  Maybe 10 marathons a year arent' in your future but there are a lot of options.  If you tell me where you live I most likley can suggest a name of someone for you to see and get a second opinion.

my hubby had this done.  It was a Workers Comp case.... they paid for it.   He's doing good, he ran a 27:xx 5K a few weeks ago.  He has good days and bad days, he is coming up on the one year mark from this surgery.  it's a slow process but worth it because he is young- 45.    He is also going on a five day 56 mile trek with the Boy Scouts this summer up on the Appalachian trail.  

His doc is here on BT.   :kiss:  !!! 

I had a car accident 20 years ago and my left patella was shattered into about 40 pieces.  I already have some arthritis and have constant pain.  Although the pain does not seem to get worse (or better) with more (or less) activity, so I continue to train and race and plan to do my first HIM in early September.  Essentially I believe it all comes down to how much pain you're able to handle while considering the potential longer term damage.

It has been a long time though since I've seen an ortho about it, so it's probably good time do that now for me.....

My problem is that my knees pain me after a run and walking up a single flight of stairs also causes pain. Someone suggested I try wobbling(?) my knees to build strength. The first time I did that I felt my knees creaking like crazy. When I asked family members to try it, I put my knees on theirs and couldnt feel anything. When they put their hands on my knees they felt the creaking feeling.
 

So I go to my regular doctor, he told me that my knee pain might go away and just gave me a prescription for 800mg of motrin 3x per day (as needed). Ive been trying to drop my weight so I dont stress my knees. He didnt want me to go to the ortho right now because they would do a scope procedure to see whats is happening. He thought that the problem might be just me finally getting in shape and my body just having normal adjusting pains.

Im unsure if I should go and do the scope procedure, is it something that takes time to recover from? Should I wait another few weeks and see if the pain goes away? I know that I havent given a lot of medical info, hope that someone of you might point me in the right directions.

thanks 

Hi Rich,

I live in the Netherlands and in two weeks i'm going in for a meniscustransplantation. In the Netherlands there's only one doctor who does this kind of operation, so there's not much information.

Almost 6 years ago my lateral meniscus was removed after a ski injury, i've been living with pain ever since. Not very severe, but it's a constant nagging pain. Through the years the pain kept getting worse, so I fully stopped running and sports for the past 5 years.

At first my doctor told me there was nothing he could do for me and that i was too young for a knee replacement (i'm 35).  After some research i found this other doctor and i'm very happy that there's a solution for my problem. Although he warned me that there's no guarantee that i'll be totally pain free after the surgery.

I'm wondering; how is your knee doing right now and are you able to do everything you want  (without pain) with your donormeniscus?  Are there any limitations to what you can do? I read about someone who had this operation done and wasn't able to fully stretch his knee...

kind regards,

nathalie