See my suggestions in bold below.

 

The surgeon cleaned up some roughness from the medial miniscus and a tear on the lateral meniscus.  He discouraged me from running much distance.  His suggestion was to stick with 5ks.  He noted that my medial meniscus was a little thin and there's a small amount of osteo-arthritis. Also, he noted a significant spot on the lateral meniscus that looked different than the rest.  It seemed to show darker in the pictures and he told my wife it was not smooth. He also told my wife that I would likely need a knee replacment sometime in the future.  He said running should not happen on a knee replacement.

 

I have tried to go to minimal shoes in the past 1 1/2 years.  I am running in a numnber of different shoes.  Mainly DS Trainers, Brooks Launches, and Kinvaras.  I am very flat footed and started my running career in Brooks Beasts for many years. 

 

1. Does anyone out there think that going to minimal shoes has negatively affected my knees? 

 

Possibly. If you have run for a period of time in beefed up shoes maybe that is what you should stick to. Less cushioning in those minimalist shoes also.

 

My knee has seemed slightly sore for about a year.  I can pinpoint an incident in December when I felt a little something for about 10 steps.  My knee swelled up enough to limit range that day.   It had happened before, but always went down and didn't stop my running.  This time it did not go down.  I have a new family doctor and he finally got the ball rolling that resulted in surgery.

 

2.  Is it true that I should stay away from distance running now?

 

I guess I would listen to your doc or get a second opinion. My personal opinion is that I would disagree with this physician. If you can run and run with minimal pain/swelling then why not.  I would also suggest a strengthening program to stabilize the knee joint. If you have some osteoarthritis consider getting a series of viscosupplement injections once a year. This improves viscosity and elasticity of knee and help preserve the joint and cartilage you already have. Supartz is one option out there www.supartz.com  Stay away from the single injection option as the series provides longer benefit.

 

3.  What is the proper timimg and activity for the best recovery?

 

Take the time you need and then slowly build from there. There is no right answer. Start strengthening immediately

 

I  was at 2,000+ miles for about 6 years in a row but only got about 1500 last year and it's not looking good for next year.

 

 

I would appreciate any input from anyone.

 

Thanks

Tchuck--Thanks for taking time to give input.  I'm looking for the right doc for a second opinion.  I hate to think of going back to the Beasts.  This all started with runners knee when running in Beasts.  The only thing I could do then was run barefoot on the high school track.  The Beasts made my knees hurt.  Anyway, your advice about building up the knee joint is well taken.  I have been running exclusively and haven't done much in the way of strengthening.  I've started some core strength work along with lunges, one leg balancing, etc.  I'm also planning to give the bicycle more attention this year.  Thanks again

 Take a look in the LHR forum. Slow and easy = marathons / ultras

 Take a look in the LHR forum. Slow and easy = marathons / ultras

 runnerclay--I checked it out.   LHR running might be a good fit.  I'll look into it further.  Thanks

Yeah, I was pretty sure you wouldn't want them back. I bet Nobby would be willing to help if you supplied some video. Not speaking for him, of course.

Just thought I'd share my experience from April 2010...Had knee scoped to (1) remove bone chips and fragments from broken tibia plateau, (2) snip out some torn meniscus, and (3) micro fracture for help with cartilage damage. The plan was also to replace PCL, but while in there Dr decided PCL was better left alone at that time.

 

I wont go into all the details of coming back from that, other than to say I really focused on walking a lot for a long time before even considering running. In a nutshell, my feedback is...

 

- do the PT with deep and focused commitment.  Proper form and focus on what the PT knows (versus what you think). Don't overshoot the recommended reps early on.  But push the PT, they do get a bit gunshy about pain avoidance because they listen to people whine about pain all day long.

 

- To this day, I wish I had done more weight work reps. Muscle restoration just doesn't work the same for us 'older gentlemen' than it does for the young bucks, and getting that muscle conditioning and strength back is key to taking load off the knee.

 

- Find a PT / sports doc who is dedicated to getting you back to running or something, rather than trying to "protect you". They will work with you to find the combination of activities, knee braces (I went through 4 different braces as I progressed), and workouts. You want a partner not a protector.

 

(for example, I had broken vertebrae in my neck at the same time...and they would say things like "...let's have you do this...oh..yeah, the neck...well..let's add a neck brace then you can do that instead."  They found ways for me to do things.)

 

And again...get into a constant leg strength workout routine (do NOT do forward leg extensions!) -- rebuilding and improving strength is what will protect the knee from being sloppy and damaging itself more.

 

My 2 cents...