Question
Mark
I am 55. Three years ago I tore the meniscus in my left knee. The X-rays looked OK and my family doc said it would take time to heal.
Three years later I was still limping and it still got stiff after sitting for long periods, so I got acupuncture. This helped the pain and stiffness a bit, but I wanted full function. I am a bus driver, and the sitting and then the  stiffness upon rising no fun and a bit dangerous. So, I booked a visit with an orthopedic surgeon.
He said he could fix the tear and remove some arthritis, but the surgery was up to me if I could live with a bit of pain and stiffness. I decided to go ahead and book the operation.
I have a tendency to be a bit nervous around doctors, so I did not ask all the questions I should have. Can you help?
1. I am definitely a 'slow healer'. After the surgery, how long until I can resume normal activities?  In other words, how much time off work am I looking at?
2. Will this help ward off any future arthritis?
Thank you so much, and have a good new year!

Answer
Dear Mark,

Sorry to hear about your knee issues.  The good news is that I do think I can offer you some real help with your knees.  I am not a surgeon, but I'm pretty sure the answer to both of those questions from a surgeon is "it depends.  Everyone is a bit different".  "Arthritis" (inflammation of a joint) is mostly caused by the shortening and tightening of tissue around joints, and I can definitely show you how to fix that whenever you desire, so you don't need to worry about that too much as long as the rest of your knee (meniscus aside) is healthy.
That said most meniscus surgery is pretty minor and you can be back to regular activities within days or weeks as long as "regular" means things like walking or driving your bus.  And if you have a pretty big tear then it's probably a good idea to get it fixed if you can.

So, all that said, I do think you could benefit from going to my completely free website, Do-It-Yourself-Joint-Pain-Relief.com,
http://www.do-it-yourself-joint-pain-relief.com/  
where I show you how to provide your own pain relief with certain very simple techniques.

If you go to my main Knee Pain Relief page,
http://www.do-it-yourself-joint-pain-relief.com/knee-joint-pain-relief.html#.UtL
and just follow along with the videos I think you will be pleased with how much you can help yourself.
You can also visit the Chondromalacia Knee Pain page,
http://www.do-it-yourself-joint-pain-relief.com/exercises-for-chondromalacia-pat
for a lot of the same techniques, but explained a little differently.

I do hope I answered your questions, and I do hope you will visit my free website and give it a try.
All the best,
Gary C.