Knoxville – Tennessee newspapers are reporting that UT quarterback Erik Ainge had surgery on his right knee Monday. His torn meniscus cartilage was removed instead of repaired. A full recovery is expected in three to six weeks. Ainge will miss the remainder of spring practice, but is expected to by 100% by August.
I'm no doctor, but GOD DAMN sports medicine has come a LONG way in a short period of time. Just 15 years ago, something like that would seem to require a full year rehab. Now, it's 3-6 weeks. Even more amazing is something that I was told by a friend's dad who is an orthopedic surgeon. We asked him what are they doing now that they didn't do 15-25 years ago. His answer was "NOTHING". According to him, they are perfoming the same procedures that they've always performed. It's in the rehab area where they've made great strides.
I had my remaining meniscus removed last summer, along with a "scraping" of the knee joint to relieve arthritis pain. This was the remainder of two devastating cheerleading (don't laugh) injuries in high school 20 years before. For the other two knee surgeries I had in '86, I was in a brace, with no weight bearing for 10 weeks each. This time, I walked out of the hospital on crutches, bearing weight, was walking the next day, and was in therapy five days later. In my opinion, the rehab made all the difference, and it was really rigorous by the end of the summer. I've maintained that to this day, and my knee hasn't felt this good since before my first injury.
No more basket tosses for you girl! :grin: I had some friends have the same procedure from steer wrestling -knee injuries from hitting the ground off of a horse @ 30 mph-and had the same speedy recovery.
