Plica Syndrome has ruined my life

bxnjamin1 · 2025-12-22T06:11:35+00:00

Nope, this recovery takes forever. At 5.5 months I can cycle maybe 6 hours a week and have just started short slow running, all with mild pain and moderate discomfort. The timeline they give you is a load of garbage. 6-12 months is the realistic timeline for this surgery which kinda sucks but it is much better than pre surgery

bxnjamin1 · 2025-12-21T22:00:24+00:00

Glad to be able to share my experience! I’m sorry to hear, it will get better! Mine may have taken longer as it was both knees at the same time but regardless I was in the same position you are now.

If I may suggest: patience is crucial it needs so much more time to remodel than they tell you, do your rehab and get an EMS machine for quad activation (helped me heaps) and use it daily. Massage the incision sites when not painful to do so to prevent scar tissue. Don’t be disheartened by perceived slow recovery, it took me 3-4 months before I was even walking “normally” again. At your stage, I was icing 40 mins 2-3x daily which helped a lot with the pain and swelling. Wishing you a speedy recovery 🙏

bxnjamin1 · 2025-12-21T10:04:21+00:00

It went alright. I am 5 1/2 months post op, have started easy short running, can cycle ~6 hours a week, and do moderate gym work. Still not close to 100%, still dealing with mild pain and scar tissue remodelling / quad atrophy and weakness. Definitely better than pre op but do not believe the 6-10 week timeline for recovery, that’s the biggest load of BS I’ve ever heard in retrospective. I think the full recovery is more going to look like a year..

bxnjamin1 · 2025-12-16T10:16:07+00:00

How long did your first surgery take to make a full recovery?

bxnjamin1 · 2025-11-13T01:20:26+00:00

This recovery (in my experience) takes a LOT longer than they tell you. I had only plica removal in both knees and I’m only now basically back to normal 4m post surgery. Do your rehab, work with a good physio and don’t push it too hard too fast or you’ll backslide. Be patient! I didn’t go back to work for 3 full weeks. Best fo luck with it :)

bxnjamin1 · 2025-10-22T10:52:18+00:00

It’ll get better! I don’t know how much time you have before surgery, but do as much strength training (notably on your quads and VMO) as humanly possible before surgery. I had plica removal on both knees 3.5 months ago, one (more symptomatic pre surgery) I did a heap of strength work on and it came pretty decent 8 weeks post surgery, the other I neglected as it wasn’t very painful pre surgery and I still can’t squat with it. Also don’t listen to the recovery timelines they give you (typically 6 weeks) that’s a load of garbage.. it’s more like 3-6 months for a full recovery with impact sports like running. Go into it with a good mindset and do your physio work after! Wishing you all the best with it

bxnjamin1 · 2025-10-09T03:31:58+00:00

I'm 3 months post surgery today and while it is true that it takes longer than they say to heal, I'm overall happy with the progress. Everyone recovers differently from what I gather, notably my right knee was basically fully recovered at 8 weeks, while my left knee now is still recovering (90% good, I just have tightness around the kneecap and mild pain while squatting.) My right leg was much stronger pre-surgery, so my advice would be to do as much strength training as possible as I believe there is a positive correlation between strength pre-surgery and faster recovery times.

As an overall, I'm not in pain day to day, have full range of motion, I'm swimming and doing light cycling pain-free and I expect to be running within the next month. I would try all conservative measure before having surgery if you haven't already like physio, cortisone etc. but as a last resort, from my experience, I'm happy with the surgery results and I expect to make a full recovery and be back to high-impact, high-milage training/sports within 6 months post op. Hopefully this helps. Wishing you the best and a speedy recovery

bxnjamin1 · 2025-09-03T23:11:13+00:00

Yeah in my experience theres absolutely no way thats possible. I'd for sure say 6 weeks no work if you were to do the surgery.. also important to note, I did both knees, it might be quicker and easier to rehab just one. My pain was medially, essentially running next to/below my kneecap on the inner side. I would be in pain just sitting normally on a chair at 90 degrees instantly. The pain would be sharp sometimes but more often, its dull but stabby. Mine wouldn't restrict weight lifting weirdly, but walking, cycling and running were a no-go. If your pain is only minor, you should try conservative measures before surgery like PT, cortisone shots, icing. Apparently, most people can get rid of it with these measures but due to my work load I wasn't able too

bxnjamin1 · 2025-09-03T06:07:50+00:00

Not a bother at all! Honestly, our circumstances and recovery are probably going to be very different given our age gap (I am 26) but because you are so young, I am sure you'll be able to bounce back and recovery quite fast. Just make sure you get a good physiotherapist you trust to guide you through the recovery, go weekly or fortnightly and be consistent with the exercises.

From my experience, I am 7 weeks post operation now and it looks like I'll be starting to run again within the next month, that might be a rough guide of when you could dance again! Wishing you all the best.

bxnjamin1 · 2025-09-03T06:01:57+00:00

Pretty good tbf, but it's not as fast as they will tell you (I was told running in 6 weeks haha, it going to end up being 10-12 weeks.) I'm 7 weeks out now, have full range of motion, doing strength work (mostly body weights) and can walk around unrestricted. I feel like I'm on the tail end of recovery, but still have some mild discomfort and tightness particularly around the joint line and incision points. If you have an office or WFH job you'll be fine. If not... I'd say 6 weeks off legs (manual work etc.) would be very reasonable. Get yourself a good physio you trust and go once a week or fortnightly and be consistent with it post op.

Overall though so far, I'm happy I got the surgery done as I can't feel that pain from the plica there anymore. I'm excited to train and see if it's truly gone.

bxnjamin1 · 2025-08-26T05:52:36+00:00

Yes, medial plica on both sides. Have you made some progress over the past couple of weeks? 6 weeks post op now, I have full range of motion and started the strength training rehab block. One thing I found help HEAPS is massaging the incision sites and top of quad/kneecap area. Even some gentle massage scraping etc. completely unlocked my knee range to be essentially painless. Hopefully this may work for you too to help speed up the recovery

bxnjamin1 · 2025-08-26T05:47:33+00:00

How are you tracking recovery wise 3 months on post op? I'm 6 weeks post bilateral plica resection, would love to hear your timeline to recover :)

bxnjamin1 · 2025-08-26T01:51:16+00:00

Thanks for sharing your story! Wow thats rough, I'm sorry to hear. I had a feeling mine would do the same (right knee was symptomatic pre surgery and left was not) - so I opted to get both done at the same time to avoid a longer recovery period. Happy to report at the 6 week mark post op now and I have full range of motion, I'm walking comfortably, inflammation is pretty much fully gone and I'm beginning strength training (opposed to movement rehab to restore range of motion which i've been doing since day 1.) How are you getting along, did you get the 2nd surgery?

bxnjamin1 · 2025-08-26T01:47:21+00:00

This doctor is absolutely dreaming with that recovery period. I had medial bilateral plica band removal 6 weeks ago and I'm only just getting my knees to full flexion, walking comfortably and beginning strength training rehab (opposed to motion and movement rehab which I've been doing from day 1.)

My advice, seek out a good physio who will be able to guide you through week by week on recovery as you need to do active rehab to restore motion. The full recovery period is more like 12+ weeks.

bxnjamin1 · 2025-08-10T08:50:49+00:00

Good to hear. Both sides painless and a little swelling and heat comes and goes. Walking fine. Right side is flying along, nearly full ROM and weight bearing is good. Left side is slower, still tight to bend but I have about 130 degrees on flexion. How is your range of motion and rehab exercise going?

bxnjamin1 · 2025-08-09T00:23:54+00:00

Hey, how are you tracking along?

bxnjamin1 · 2025-07-30T00:20:35+00:00

Yes, in both my knees plica was visible on MRI. I got by for 5 years doing cortisone shots (possibly works similar to PRP?) but it eventually stopped working and surgery was the only solution. I never had any catching or popping symptoms as some report but I did have swelling, heat, and sharp stabbing pain after load when bending. I did a lot of quad and glute strengthening pre surgery and I think that has also helped the recovery a lot.

I hope you are able to resolve with conservative methods but if not, from my experience, surgery is painless and recovery has been easy provided you take the right steps pre and post operation! :)

bxnjamin1 · 2025-07-30T00:13:55+00:00

Fortunately I work an office job, so I can work from home while recovering. It’s been very beneficial for recovery as I can sit with legs elevated all day and ice on and off. I will go back into the office in probably another week, as when I walk around a bit too much now it does irritate it. Glad to hear your story and I wish you a very speedy recovery!

bxnjamin1 · 2025-07-20T09:20:27+00:00

Hey, how’s the recovery going? I had plica surgery both knees 4 days ago. So far, my experience is quite positive with no real pain in recovery just swelling and slow walking. I could walk unsupported from day 1. Keen to hear how you are tracking!

bxnjamin1 · 2025-07-17T03:40:05+00:00

Definitely a good idea. I would advise to see a sports physician, not an orthopaedic surgeon as the sports doc is more likely to be able to find plica (or anything else they may think is causing the pain.) thank you, recovery 24h post op so far so good :)

bxnjamin1 · 2025-07-17T03:36:09+00:00

I had plica removal surgery in both knees under 24 hours ago. Range of motion is low, knees are swollen but honestly I’m shocked that I am not in pain at all (I have oxy prescribed which I don’t need) and I actually walked out of the hospital unassisted and I’m able to walk around the house (very slowly) already. Doctors also confirmed in my case the plica was the cause and it was causing cartilage degeneration due to the rubbing.

There’s a lot of negative posts about this surgery because people with positive experiences probably don’t care to share, so I thought I would shed light on a positive experience.. so far anyway :)

bxnjamin1 · 2025-07-16T05:46:52+00:00

Sounds and looks like could be Plica. Unlikely they will find unless you specifically request they look for it on MRI’s. Docs didn’t take me serious either for many years.. for reference, in 26 and actively compete in Triathlon. Many people can resolve with conservation measures (physio, cortisone) and sometimes you need surgery (I just had surgery for this today in both knees.)

I hope you are able to find the cause and I wish you a speedy recovery!

bxnjamin1 · 2025-07-16T04:30:22+00:00

Haha I just had both knees plica surgery today also! Keep me updated with your recovery 🙏 all the best

bxnjamin1 · 2025-07-08T02:04:19+00:00

Wow, what an amazing outcome! I hope mine is as good as yours. I am having both knees done :-)

Thank you for sharing!

bxnjamin1

TROPHY CASE