Posts: 40,628
Threads: 1,062
Joined: May 2015
Microfracture surgery is a procedure where they damage the surface of the bone in order to promote the growth of a type of scar tissue that is similar to cartilage. This scar tissue then serves the same purpose as the cartilage that is missing from between the bones.
I heard Mark Schlereth and another ex-player who had both had the procedure talk about it. They said that it takes a full year for all the scar tissue to develop. They said that a player can come back before then but it would just hurt a lot more. In other words the joint is as strong as it is going to get. The question is how much are the bones just grinding against each other. They both also agreed that it is possible for a player to come back pretty close to 100%