Tiger Woods has had trouble with his left knee for some time now. He underwent surgery back in 1994 to remove a benign tumor on the knee; then, in December 2002, he had arthroscopic surgery on the same knee. He got through the surgery and rehabilitation process and went back to playing golf, but the pain kept returning. Tiger continued to compete in spite of the pain, which was exacerbated by his powerful golf swing, which incorporates every muscle in his body.
In 2007, a jogging injury made the pain unbearable, so he scheduled arthroscopic surgery once again, after playing in the 2008 Masters. Tiger quickly recovered from his second round of arthroscopic surgery and jumped back into action, only to battle the pain once more. This time he continued playing for at least 10 months, knowing he had a torn ligament, until sustaining a double stress fracture in his tibia, just below the knee, in addition to the ACL injury. This happened two weeks before the U.S. Open, which Tiger was determined to play. He did compete, though obviously in immense pain, and he won!
In June of this year, Tiger underwent his fourth surgery on the knee. Orthopedic specialist, Dr. Lanny L. Johnson, warned Tiger to take plenty of time to heal from the operation or he could be facing permanent damage. Dr. Johnson estimates it will take 2 years for the injured knee to completely recover. Tiger’s surgeon, Dr. Tom Rosenburg, agrees. Even Tiger has decided it’s finally time to listen to his doctors. He ignored their advice in his decision to play the U.S. Open. Now, he plans to “follow through with this surgery, and focus my attention on rehabilitating my knee.”
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