Synvisc injections following microfracture

Cricket~

I like your nick-name for your knee - Franken-Knee. That about sums it up. Your recovery sounds a lot like mine. Slow, tedius, impatient and annoying. I too had microfracture done on the end of my femur under my kneecap (trochlear groove) and on the inside of my knee on the end of my femur. I had my surgery on Feb 25 and am still not doing the activities I was told I'd be able to do at 12 weeks post up. Very frustrating!!! I still have swelling almost daily, but it's not as much as it was. I also don't have full range of motion yet, especially when walking and trying to straighten my knee out. It just won't do it. I'm kind of worried that the longer I walk around without straightening it the less chance I have of it ever straightening again.

When I go to work out, I can only bike and do the eliptical like you. Well that is, I can only do the eliptical on days that it isn't as painful, because otherwise it hurts too much to do. When I do weights to increase quads and hamstrings I'm doing the leg press, leg lifts, hamstring curls, and step dips from a 4 inch platform. Not much else to do and I agree. It's frustrating because the progress is ridiculously slow.

When I went to see my OS in June for a recheck he didn't seem to think that the microfracture was successful. Great! All he said was to come back in Sept and we'd see how it's doing then, with the option for the injections if I want to try them. I seem to have good days (well, the term "good" being used very loosely) and bad days. My knee problems aren't a direct result of an injury, but wear and tear degenerative stuff over the years from sports and some from heredity. I'm only 37 though, so it's rough not being able to do what I've always been able to do. I'm looking into alternate types of exercise though, such as water aerobics, water walking/jogging and kayaking. Maybe by doing them I'll start feeling like I'm able to do something fun without too much pain. Good luck to you and hope everything turns out well with the injections and recovery.

Hi there,

Has anyone had synvisc (or other synthetic gel) injections following microfracture surgery? I am about 4 1/2 months post op from microfracture and my surgeon suggested the injections since I'm still experiencing a lot of pain and cannot straighten my knee when walking because of the pain. Just wondering if there's been much success for anyone with the injections and if it's worth it even if the relief is short term.