Torn Meniscus

[jamiep123]

Hello,

I have issues with getting pain in my knees after using the erg when I can't fully extend or bend my knee. The knee feels weak as well. After a few visits to the doctor and several painkillers I decided to have it fixed properly. I saw a knee specialist who said I probably had a torn meniscus and had an MRI scan in July but I don't get the results until November. I've already been told I will need surgery. I could ask this question to the specialist in November but I'm guessing they will not know much about using the erg and how this affects the body so I'm trying to get some advice on here. Seeing as the meniscus is damaged is this a minor injury that rowers often get and after surgery and a few days off I can row again. Are my knees telling me that I'm putting too much strain on them and I should try another sport. Is the knee now weak and will give me further problems or is it a case of having the surgery using the erg again and seeing how it goes? I'm trying to get an idea of how major or minor this is in terms of using the erg again.

Thanks for any advice.

[joeevans8]

I tore my ACL in the late '70's and never had it fixed (it was pre arthroscopic surgery days). I ran many marathons and did a lot of biking. Eventually I tore my meniscus slightly and needed surgery to trim it up. Ran a marathon on my repaired knee pain free but took up erging. No problems whatsoever. If anything, I think my knee appreciated the lack of impact of my slightly heavier body.
Regards
Joe

[mchase]

You said "knees", not "knee" and so I'm going to take a leap of faith here and suggest that if it is bilateral, not unilateral, then you might consider another cause.

Without getting into the torn meniscus problem itself, i can relate my experience in coaching many hundreds of kids on the ergs over the years. Nearly all who complained of knee pain had several things in common. First, they did not have the pain with rowing and secondly, they tended to hyperextend their knees at the end of the drive while on the erg. In the boat, the decking prevents their knees from hyperextending, but on the ergs, there is no such stop. We constructed an inverted "L" shaped bar that clamped onto the bottom of the rail and pressed upward against their calves to prevent hyperextension at the end of the drive. That solved the knee pain pain in nearly all of them.

[jamiep123]

Thanks for your replies. The meniscus was torn on my left knee only. I had surgery yesterday and now there is no exercise for six weeks until I see the surgeon again. It may have been caused by me reaching too far forward at the catch so my legs bowed and left my knee in a weak position when taking the weight of the stroke. Needless to say I will not be doing that again. It just feels a bit sore but I'm relieved it's done.

Jamie