I've had meniscal tears in both knees and arthroscopies to fix both. They scoped one knee to see the beginnnig of a tear once and then did the meniscal trim later that year. That first tear was in my freshman year of college and was the result of the body wear from high school wrestling. That recovery sucked and took about 10 months. My range of motion was bad and I couldn't take that knee down into a catcher's stance. The knee was also very swollen for a while. I wasn't in my best shape then though (lots of bong hits and brew-has). Sophomore year in college I started playing rugby and got very fit. My knee lagged with the running/lifting I had to do, but I think it forced it to get better. I was an alternate on the A-squad of a Div. 1 rugby program that next year(just to show you it bounced back). Two more years of rugby followed.....until I blew out the other knee in a practice. No more rugby. I rehab'ed that knee on my own too...in fact I was in such great shape I was gingerly shooting hoops solo the hour after my surgery. I DON'T RECOMMEND THIS...lol. I was up all night writhing in pain when the anastheia wore off. Anyway, this knee came back quick. Not as bad swelling and faster back to normal range of motion. I started playing very physical and very competitive touch football a few years after graduation. Loooong tournament one day and our O-lineman got injured. As DL I stepped in and was blocking two fucking ringers..a DL from UConn and a MLB from Virginia. They rushed me together down after down and slayed me. At the end of the game my knee gave out. Bottom line....for me, no more real physical sports where I can push the knees. Cardio is fine, anything lineal is cool, but I can't cut anymore...I had a good run though. I'm slightly bow-legged and this may make it worse for me, but my knees are definitely ginger. When I go to rugby alum events now, I'm that douche on the sidelines who can't play. Ohh well...