Torn medial meniscus?

STGRule · 02-18-2008, 05:27 PM

I have an MRI tomorrow night to see how bad it is. Anybody have any war stories? Life without surgery? Working problems? I'm depressed over this one. It hurts and I've been told that surgery isn't an option unless it is really bad. How do you cope if you don't have surgery?

TheCamel · 02-18-2008, 05:33 PM

Ruth:
I have lived with a "radial" tear that the orthopedic surgeon advised that I should only have surgery if I were a professional athlete.............I wish. I have to be extra careful about making a twisting move with my right foot planted, or the knee gives out and I go down in a heap. I also have to be extra careful when wading in streams/rivers, as the slippery rocks can make life miserable, which is why I mostly fish out of my inflatable pontoon boat. You can live with it, if you are careful.

burnsfactor · 02-18-2008, 05:36 PM

I had Surgery on mine and was running two weeks later. It depends on where the tear is and if it's a complete tear or not if they will scope you. Mine was a loose flap that made my knee ache. After they cleaned it up it felt great. I wish I would have done it sooner! If they feel it will heal on it's own they go with that.

Your local MRI TECH. Pat

Pete · 02-18-2008, 05:36 PM

I had lots of pain in my right knee after years of cycling. My (ex) regular doctor played with it and gave me creams and junk to treat it. None of it worked. A change in health plans sent me to a new doc who remarked, "that seems like a torn miniscus, we fix those all the time". Not only did I have constant pain and reduced mobility, but my knee would just collapse periodically.

Treatment was day surgery with arthroscopic equipment. I have 3 little bumps from where they went in. I walked out of the hospital after the happy drugs wore off. I expected a lot of post procedure pain, but there was none. I had about a month of physical therapy to regain strength. Now, six years later, my knee isn't perfect, but it's 95%. If I do a lot of walking with turning and twisting, my knee feels a little sore, but an advil and a night's sleep make it good again.

Good luck with your procedure and know that your knee should feel a lot better very quickly.

wannacatchem · 02-18-2008, 05:48 PM

Torn meniscus left knee ten years ago. Couldn't walk 30 minutes after it happed.

Scoped surgery 10 days later. 5 days after surgery I was back at work and installed a security system in the new New Mexico State Library and Archives (not a small job).

The only time it bothers me is if I sit for long periods of time like driving back to New Mexico

In my mind, doctors are smarter than certain things than I am. I take their advice

Cliff D. · 02-18-2008, 05:51 PM

My doc told me it would only get worse, never better. He was right. Wish i'd had it scoped sooner.

jmike · 02-18-2008, 07:21 PM

I'm next ..been hurting for years long periods of sitting are the worst........on the up-side my 300 lbs father in law had his done and was up and about in 2 weeks still snow and water skiing ..........mike

crittergitter · 02-18-2008, 07:47 PM

My daughter tore hers playing basket ball, couldn't walk on it at all 20 min after the injury. Orthroscopic surgery, and a month and a half of physical therapy, and you wouldn't know she had gotten hurt at all. She's even got pictures that they took during the surgery.
If it's an option for you to get it done. She says take it, beats the heck out of alot of pain you could possibly avoid down the road.

CW59 · 02-18-2008, 07:48 PM

I had this done in High school, and when they went in they found a little tear in the ACL. Sure glad I had it done, my knee is way better now I do get arthritest (sp) but not as much since I quit construction........

CW

StickFish · 02-18-2008, 08:15 PM

I have a small lateral meniscus tear according to one Doctor. Friend who is one of the best racquetball players in the state has 4 different opinions on his - see a couple different doctors who specialize in sports medicine.

Mine only bugs me if I stand on it for long periods of time like this weekend at the Convention

MsOutdrs · 02-18-2008, 08:42 PM

My husband had orthoscopic surgery on his knee...simple process and he was back at work (he stood on his job) in 4 days. That might have been a little soon...that's a GUY thing, me thinks. He still has a little trouble with it sometimes but he's 15 yrs older. His was pretty bad tho...he couldn't walk, stand the pain, etc. Surgery was a must!

greenbuttskunk · 02-18-2008, 08:44 PM

Ruth, I had two tears on my medial meniscus. Had surgery dec. 7th. Its' doing pretty well. I even went skiing last two weeks ago. I have about 90% range of motion back, and about 70% of the strength.

Duckwheat · 02-18-2008, 08:53 PM

The trouble with a torn meniscus is they can lock up the knee. Floating debri can cause additional injury to the joint.

I have had surgery for lateral meniscus on both knees in the good old days when they opened you up. Now days the surgery should be minimal, recovery minimal.

I would not ignore it. It is not an emergency, so get it sone on your schedule.

DW

djb · 02-18-2008, 09:10 PM

I had a torn medial meniscus about 8yrs ago. I had arthoscopic and all is well. I cant even remember wich knee it was. One thing I would suggest is taking a glucosamine supplement. Costco has their own kirkland brand, its cheap.

STGRule · 02-19-2008, 04:17 AM

Thank you all for the advice. If they say surgery I'll do it in a heartbeat. I'm more concerned that they will say it isn't bad enough for surgery. I already have a bulging disk that "isn't bad enough yet" to fix so I live with that pain. I really don't need another one.

Cliff D. · 02-19-2008, 04:43 AM

I don't understand "bad enough yet", like my doctor said "it will only get worse". When i first had my MRI i had to stop once on my way to the coast and walk around the truck or my knee would lock up. By the time of my surgery i could only get about 15 mi. You might want a second opinion. Does your doctor specialize in sports medicine ?

SlimeyLimey · 02-19-2008, 05:50 AM

Defintely get a second opinion. I posted a while back on total knee replacement surgery (I had both of mine done, http://www.ifish.net/board/showthread.php?t=180509), and it all started with torn ligaments back in the early '70's.

Check with Dr. Ronald Teed in Hillsboro, as I've been very pleased with his approach and attitude. He replaced my daughter's ACL last October and she is doing great.

Being limited in what you can do is not an option, if there is a chance to fix it, at least in my opinion.

Good luck.
S