The Microfracture surgury was fine not as painfuld as you would expect. I was supposed to have a miniscus tear fixed leave the torn acl alone because I had enough muscle built up around the knee to support it, from years of running at least ten miles a day everyday however the cartilidge was a disaster. When they got in they found I was bone on bone in one part of the knee which had cracked like an eggshell so surprise I woke up to you had microfacture surgery and you can't run for at least 11 to 12 months. So I invested in an awsome elliptical machine which I could use after six weeks and a recumbant bike which I could use after nine days as much as I wanted. Well I know that when you have microfracure they actually want you to exercise it as much as possible as this increases blood flow and stimulates your bones to grow a different type of cartalidge. So after the first extremely painful cranks around the bike I was able to unstiffen and put a fair amount of time on the bike and elliptical until I was fully healed. However, when I tryed to run just this past January, even though I wore a knee brace I could not find my stride and the knee cap felt weird so I stopped. However my Knee and hamstrings twitched for about 2 days after! So unfortunately, running, one of my greatest loves was lost to me it seems forever. But hey I can still twitch just as much from biking, ellipticaling and walking!Mary