Parents Success/advice after second meniscus tear

[mrmojorisin]

Hi Everyone, 1st time poster. Our background is that my daughter is a training level 8 gymnast. In Oct 2012 she tore her meniscus in her right knee on a tumbling run. She had surgery to stitch/repair the meniscus in Jan 2013. In July she was about 70% back and had been cleared by her doctor to do pretty much everything but tumbling and dismounts when she re-tore the meniscus landing a straddle jump on the beam. She had a second surgery in early Aug and the tear was in the exact same place as before. She is beginning the road to recovery with light PT but for now she is still on cructches with no weight on the knee.

My wife and I are very distressed by this and wondering if this is the end for her. In my daughter's mind she is expecting to eventually fully recover and return to gymnastics. Does anyone have experience with multiple meniscus tears in the same knee? Any success stories or words of advice regarding rehab? The first time around we all felt we followed the doctor & therapists instructions to the letter but still had a bad end result.

Thanks.

 

[bookworm]

If she's torn the same knee twice, in the same place, i would call it a day in this sport as she reinjured in on something very basic (straddle jump). I've been around the sport for 15+ years and the girls who re-tore their knees usually ended their gymnastics careers after the second or third time...it seems as if those prone to this type of injury have it happen again.

You don't say how old she is but hopefully she can get involved in something else, maybe a school sport? I don't mean to be Debbie Downer but this has just been my experience with this type of injury..

 

[mrmojorisin]

Belated thanks for the reply bookworm. She is 13 and we are thinking along the same lines now. Trying to get her interested in some other transition sport/activity.

 

[gymdog]

I would get the advice of another PT. And if she wasn't cleared for dismounts and tumbling, I don't think straddle jump on the beam was a good idea as this is a skill where the lower legs must closed inward at an angle from the hip with one leg in front of the other almost twisted...which one of the worse things you can do with a knee injury as far as I know. In fact, if she returns to gymnastics, I would assume she should avoid straddle jumps all together.

Propensity to knee injuries is often structural though. A higher "Q angle" (basically how much the knee goes in compared to the pelvis) is associated with more knee injuries.

 

[gym law mom]

I would see another orthopedic surgeon for a 2nd opinion. It should not have taken her 6 mos to get 70% recovered from a meniscal repair unless more was done than you were advised of. Gather up her records and MRIs and get someone else to look things over.