Answering: Why You Need Crutches After Meniscus Surgery
If only surgical treatment worked so perfectly that the patient would hop off the operating table, cured, with no painful recovery required.
For knee surgery, that is not the case.
Meniscus surgery, while often minimally invasive, still requires a recovery period including crutches, where careful attention must be paid to protect the healing knee.
Let’s explore why you need crutches after meniscus surgery and how long you’ll be on them following the surgery.
Protecting Your Knee After Surgery
The meniscus, the knee’s shock absorber, is composed of rings of spongy cartilage located between the thigh bone (femur) and shin bone (tibia).
When the meniscus is torn by injury and surgery is recommended, postsurgical measures frequently include the use of crutches.
Crutches help by:
- Reducing Weight on the Knee: Walking without crutches places your full body weight on the healing knee, which can slow recovery or risk damaging the surgical repair. Using crutches allows you to limit weight-bearing on the affected leg, which is especially important during the initial weeks after surgery.
- Preventing Further Injury: The meniscus is vulnerable to re-injury in the early stages of healing. Crutches provide stability and prevent falls or sudden movements that could cause the meniscus to tear again or lead to other injuries.
- Allowing Proper Healing Time: Different types of meniscus surgeries require varying amounts of healing time. The exact duration depends on the type of surgery performed and individual recovery factors, but it typically ranges from several days to several weeks.
Additional Benefits of Using Crutches
In addition to reducing weight-bearing and preventing injury, crutches offer several other benefits during recovery.
– Facilitates Proper Rehabilitation
Using crutches encourages a more structured approach to recovery.
It ensures you move slowly and deliberately, focusing on regaining strength and mobility in a controlled manner.
It also helps you adhere to your physical therapy plan without risking premature weight-bearing.
– Promotes Confidence in Movement
Crutches can provide a sense of stability and confidence, especially in the early days post-surgery when pain and swelling may make you feel unsteady.
This support can encourage more active participation in your recovery, knowing you have the necessary tools to stay safe.
How long will I be on crutches after meniscus surgery?
Your surgeon and physical therapist will determine when it is safe to stop using crutches.
This decision will be based on your progress in physical therapy, how well your knee responds to increased weight-bearing, and the absence of pain or swelling.
Factors That Influence How Long You’ll Need Crutches
- Type of Surgery: Meniscus repairs generally require longer use of crutches compared to partial meniscectomies due to the need for the repaired tissue to securely reattach.
- Your Body’s Healing Process: Everyone heals at a different rate. Your age, overall health, and any pre-existing conditions can influence how quickly you recover and when it is safe to stop using crutches.
- Physical Therapy Progress: Engaging in a consistent and guided physical therapy program helps regain strength, mobility, and function in your knee. Your physical therapist will advise when it is safe to transition from crutches to full weight-bearing activities.
Partial Meniscectomy VS Meniscus Repair
How long you use crutches will depend on whether the meniscus tear was repaired or if, more simply, a piece of it was just removed (partial meniscectomy).
- Partial Meniscectomy: With a partial meniscectomy, crutches may be needed until you can walk without limping (usually five to seven days). This helps prevent too much pressure on the knee while it recovers from the surgery.
- Meniscus Repair: Following a repair, you will typically use crutches for at least three weeks. This is necessary to protect the repaired tissue and allow it to heal properly. Maximal weight training is not allowed for two to three months, and a return to running and agility sports is permitted after three to four months if strength and motion have returned and there is no pain in the joint.
Of course, your pre- and postoperative condition and the progress of your overall recovery will influence that timeframe.
Additional Benefits of Physical Therapy
In addition to using crutches, you may also engage in physical therapy to:
- Strengthen your leg muscles
- Strengthen and regain full motion in your knee
- Return to a normal activity level
Did you know you have Direct Access* to Physical Therapy? No referral, no problem!
Moving Forward Without Crutches
Once you no longer need crutches, you’ll continue your recovery with a focus on strengthening exercises and activities that promote flexibility and stability in the knee.
Your physical therapist will guide you in transitioning to walking, climbing stairs, and eventually returning to sports or other physical activities.
Final Thoughts
While it may feel like a hassle at first, the benefits of using crutches far outweigh the temporary inconvenience.
At The Jackson Clinics, our physical therapists will be happy to work with you and your surgeon to customize a physical therapy plan that will meet your goal of returning to work, home responsibilities and sports as quickly, comfortably and safely as possible.
With time, patience, and proper care, you’ll be back on your feet and moving confidently again.
The Jackson Clinics serves 18 locations throughout Northern Virginia.
Find one near you: https://thejacksonclinics.com/locations/