So history of my knees are that I have been playing basketball now for 25+years and Im now 44.
I did develop severe patella tendinitis, which ended up having to have a patella tendon reconstruction when I was 33. This was successful, and after 6 months of rehab and rest I was able to resume playing basketball again and my knee was great!
This lasted until I was 43 and I managed to macerate the lateral anterior horn meniscus in my left knee (got bumped while pivoting doing a drop step fade away - bucket was good!). I had surgery a month later where they trimmed the macerated meniscus and was told it was all good, and with rehab I should be back to playing again pain free in about 8 weeks. This didnt happen.
I did as told and came back to basketball gently which lasted all of about 3 weeks. It was progressively getting worse each week, so I stopped and continued rehab for another 8 weeks before trying again. I was only playing 1 game a week, and did this for about 12 weeks till the end of the season but by then it was very painful so I stopped with the intention of taking 6 months off and then trying again. I went and saw another orthopedic surgeon (the one who did the original patella recon), but he told me there is nothing that can be done. He said that the meniscus is like a flat tyre now and gives no support, and that I now have a space between the articulating surfaces and the force transfer with each jump and step is knocking the surfaces together leading to inflammation, pain and swelling. I did try to play a game to help out a friend who was short on numbers, and it hurt to play, and has been aching and painful since.
Im at the point where it is now restricting me from being active. Id like to realistically be able to play basketball again to some extent, but Id even settle for it being pain free just for day to day activities.
Are there any special procedures or operations that can fix this? Has anyone else had similar problems like this before.
Thanks
I played a game last week after 4 months off, and it was still painful, and the next day it blew up
