Week 4 Rehab After My Second Meniscectomy

by Rashida Bealin Meniscectomy Surgery, monthly updateson Posted on

During the fourth week after my second meniscectomy surgery, I continued to incrementally progress.

Before reading more about this week of my recovery, I highly recommend first checking out:

In this article, I outline my fourth week of recovery after my second partial meniscectomy.

How I Felt During Week 4 of Meniscectomy Rehab

As I continued to progress physically, I certainly felt a bit better during my 4th week of recovery.

I have to admit, I was still feeling pretty down and frustrated at times. The doctor told the team I would be back in 4 weeks, I did not feel anywhere close to playing. I was making progress, but I was anxious to get back on the field.

How My Knee Felt

My knee continued to improve. I was starting to run more than the previous week and increase the intensity of the exercises I was doing.

Still, I could feel a difference in my knee. I felt the most discomfort in the morning, mostly stiffness and tightness. My quad tendon would hurt and did not feel strong, and I still had pain when trying to flex more. I had to continue working on flexion as well as recovery methods (massage, stem, etc).

Major Events

During this week, I was progressing all my exercises, but still working on ROM. My swelling was very minimal, which was good.

Here are a few top events for that week:

  • Continue to progress with flexion.
  • Ran more, up to 30 minutes at a time.
  • Adding small jumps.
  • Starting to integrate into team warmup.
  • Individual ball work (light)

4 Week Post-Op Meniscectomy Exercises

single leg wall sit

I continued with similar exercises from the first few weeks, but I increased the intensity by choosing harder variations, adding weight, etc. I suggest checking out my video about exercises I did 1-3 months post-op after ACL surgery since I did many of the same exercises.

Here are examples of some of the exercises I did that week:

  • Flexion exercises
  • Lunges with resistance
  • Side lunges
  • Broad jumps
  • Running
  • SL wall sits

Meniscectomy Rehab Frequently Asked Questions- 4 Week Post Op

Did you have a full range of motion?

No, I did not have full range of motion. However, my ROM was improving. I had full extension and more flexion than the last week.

Did you have pain?

Yes, I still had some knee pain. I felt the most discomfort in the morning. It also hurt to work on flexion, especially active flexion. My quad tendon felt quite weak during eccentric movements.

Could you sprint?

No, at this point I could not sprint. I was increasing the speed and distance I could run, but I could not run faster than about 65% of my speed.

Could you play sports?

No, I was not ready to return to sports yet at this point. I could not sprint and had not worked on cutting. I was still building my strength and dealing with knee pain.