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Running after knee surgery

Posted on 6/3/21 at 1:07 pm
Posted by LSUtiger17
New Orleans
Member since Mar 2009
3082 posts
Posted on 6/3/21 at 1:07 pm
Is there a consensus on running and knee/joint damage? I had ACL reconstruction surgery in 2007 after tearing my ACL in high school. The dr used the patellar tendon graft method. There was minor meniscus involvement, but the dr decided during surgery that the meniscus was so minimally affected that nothing needed to be cleaned up. I did PT religiously and returned to play high school soccer about 4 months after surgery. The graft healed well and I've had it checked several times over the years with always good reports on stability.

I'm 30 now and am still pretty active. I lift weights regularly, run some (2-4 miles or sprints once or 2x/week) and ride a peloton 2-3x/week. My knee sometimes gets a little sore after running, but its never serious or inhibitive. My question is--would it be stupid to run more than a few miles a week if I want to maintain an active lifestyle as I get older? I currently run about 2-4 miles 1-2x per week. Is that potentially damaging? Would 10-15 miles/week put me at real risk of degenerative changes? I work a desk job and spend too much time inside. I like running because it lets me get outside and workout at the same time, but I don't want to be the dad who can't ski with his kids or teach them how to play sports because my knee is shot to hell with arthritic damage.
Posted by DixonCider
H-Town
Member since Nov 2015
398 posts
Posted on 6/3/21 at 4:49 pm to
25 and had 3 ACL reconstructions.

Current milage 15-18mpw. Peaked at about 30 before muscle imbalances and compensation led to a hip injury. August begins formal marathon training.

Every medical professional I've spoken to has just said do what you want with it until such time it hurts too much to do. Realistically, there's going to be arthritis pain in time. With a little luck, there will be some non invasive procedures available by the time that flares up.

No reason not to run. If you're going to wind up arthritic and in pain, it's going to happen one way or another. Might as well enjoy the pre-arthritis time and enjoy being in shape
Posted by TheZaba
FL
Member since Oct 2008
6181 posts
Posted on 6/4/21 at 5:28 am to
quote:

My question is--would it be stupid to run more than a few miles a week if I want to maintain an active lifestyle as I get older?
No

Previous ACL and meniscus injury is going to increase your likelihood for degenerative changes. That’s not something you can change now though

I would argue sitting on your butt and not doing anything would be worse for your knee than being active, including lifting and running. Just don’t have any crazy spikes in volume or workload, and continue to cross train with lifting to keep your hip (especially glutes), knee (especially quads), and ankles (especially soleus) strong
This post was edited on 6/5/21 at 6:54 am
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