Meniscus Experiences

[Blue Streak]

A meniscus tear is obviously a very common knee injury.
After a fall at The Jane twenty years ago, two different orthos advised me to undergo arthroscopy. But, at the time, I was a thirty something gym rat, so of course I opted for ice and PT, and I was soon as good as new.
Fast forward to this year: on day one at Loveland, I tweaked the knee, while flopping onto the chairlift after about lap 20. My left boot became wedged under the low chair, and my ski railed to the left for a moment, until the chair lifted away from the snow.
I have skied six days, with manageable pain, but after a day of stomping around in the snow, chasing pheasants, the knee is somewhat painful and swollen.
My doctor of choice is not available, until the New Year, and I have a condo available all next week, so of course I will be skiing.
But I am curious as to how others have fared with meniscus injuries, understanding that healing of the meniscus is largely determined by the type of tear and its location.
What are your experiences?

 

[SBrown]

All of the above?

 

[mdf]

I had an undiagnosed torn ACL with very little pain. On about the third year, I tore the meniscus side-slipping past a traffic jam, and it hurt A LOT. Gave in to reality and saw an ortho about a month later, and then took the first available surgery slot.

Got a new ACL and a meniscus trim, and it has been nearly trouble free.

Of course I did ski a couple more hours the day I tore the meniscus. (Dumb move, ya think? ) I can be stubborn that way.

 

[Blue Streak]

All of the above?

Good idea.

 

[Willy]

For one thing, the meniscus doesn't 'heal', really. In some cases, it can be sewn back together and will heal, with a long rehab process, but requires an area of the meniscus that has good blood flow. In most cases it's trimmed so the flap isn't flipping around and catching in the joint so, not really healed, just managed. I had my right medial meniscus trimmed in 2006, was on the stationary bike in four days and walking the golf course, packing my bag on day 8. I was skiing in four weeks (could have been sooner but the mountain wasn't open yet) with little effect. Within six weeks, no issues at all and, to this day, doing well.

 

[Ron]

the survey is flawed! (epic joke) But seriously every tear is different and will result in a differing treatment and outcome. Like @SBrown said. "all of the above"
I have had 2 meniscus repairs but i would always advocate PT 1st if the OS feels its "rehabbitable"

 

[AmyPJ]

Yep, each case is different and I think it really depends on how bad the pain is or how bad it's catching. I tore mine when I fractured my tibial plateau last January, and the OS gave me the option of seeing how it felt over time because he thought that at least part of the tear was old anyway. I pedaled through a lot of pain on my bike this spring and into the summer, then slowly it felt better. I pushed through a lot of deep knee squats to test it out before skiing and it's been fine. Skiing has also been fine so far. Keep in mind I also have a permanently altered joint space because my fracture compressed the lateral top side of my tibia by about 3mm. So all kinds of funky things going on in there. Anyway, they definitely don't just heal up because they have no blood supply to speak of. If yours is that painful and bothersome, I'd get that crap trimmed up already! I don't think it'll sideline you for too long. As in, a couple weeks til you can start rehab and maybe 4 weeks until you can resume activities. It's not a highly invasive procedure typically.

 

[Core2]

I tore mine in October last year. Doc said I could do surgery or see how it goes. I decided to ski on it and everyday last season I skied fine but would have crazy pain for a few hours on the drive back from the ski area. I kept in shape all summer and haven't had any pain first few days out. I can still feel where the tear is if I tweak my leg the right way but it hasn't really affected my skiing so I guess I am lucky.

 

[Jilly]

Currently 10 weeks out from arthro....skiing, but tentatively....Just did about 15min of heat on it....Add in some arthritis...Sucks getting old!!

 

[James]

Essntially you're screwed if the tear is bad enough. It gets removed. It may or may not always swell up and get stiff after skiing. I found fish oil worked better than chondroiton/glucosomine. That effect may wear off also.
Until regeneration comes of age you're left with removal or "rehab" which has nothing to do withbthe meniscus. No magic yet except knee replacement.

 

[Core2]

Going into last season I was 95% sure I would be doing surgery by January due to the pain I was having but it got to be less and less as the season went on. I'm guessing the tear somewhat healed or my muscles are compensating for the weakness. A couple Aleeve in the morning definitely helped with the initial pain. My doctor said surgery on MCL is totally about pain. If your pain is manageable you really should just live with it and do physical rehab to address. The surgery is not a guaranteed fix.

 

[VickiK]

Good to see that over a year later you and your knee are still ok, @Core2 .

 

[Lorraine 335is]

I'll let you guys all in on a little secret...

EVERYONE has a meniscus tear.
In BOTH knees.

But before you all go out and throw money at a orthopod, try finding a PT who is Certified MDT.
It'll save you a ton of money, time, pain, and time off the snow.

 

[Nancy Hummel]

I have had a meniscus repair. One potential advantage to surgery is the chance to repair it as opposed to trimming it.

I started with PT and it would be fine for periods of time but a wrong step and it would catch and lock.

Left alone, there is potential for the tear to increase in size prohibiting repair.

 

[bbinder]

Studies show that high dose omega-3 has an anti-inflammatory effect. You may need to find a "prescription strength" product to he a high enough dose... Be aware that there is no regulation of the supplement market -- a company does not need to guarantee or substantiate what they put on the label. One study took 20 different brands/bottles of glucosamine/chondroitin off of a pharmacy shelf and measured the amount of active ingredient in each. The measured amounts varied from 0-120% of the amount stated on the label.

 

[James]

What's the prescription fish oil Lovazza? Can you get it prescribed for joints even though it's for heart issues no?

 

[bbinder]

Talk to your dr! OR, use the veterinary product Welactin -- available on Amazon and liver flavored! For anti-arthritis effects, take 2 times the labeled dosage...

 

[Fuller]

I'm 63 and have had 4 separate arthroscopic meniscus trims (2 on each knee). I was about 30 the first time and the most recent was in 2010. Each time I waited until normal walking around was giving me a lot of pain, then I had the surgery. I would say I had good results as the procedure is getting less invasive and it certainly got results I wasn't getting with PT alone.

I skied 28 days this winter with no pain but I tend to baby my knees (no airing it out and minimal bumps). My knee care consists of a lot of cycling, a lot of Concept2 rowing machine workouts and being real careful when I push off the pool wall swimming laps (the hyper extension caused both initial tears).

So my vote is: "All of the above" except for "it never got better".

 

[mdf]

So @Blue Streak , I stumbled on this thread looking for "my" knee thread.
It's been a long time -- what did youo do about your meniscus? How is it feeling?

 

[Varmintmist]

Got my right one hacked on some years ago. I tore it but kept ice and heat and Alieve. Kept working for about 18 months on it and it would swell at least monthly. Knelt down one day and heard (and felt) it rip.

Quite a bit of arthur in there and any running is out. Long walks on a crowned road will cause pain. I can do 3.3 mi on a treadmill @ 4.5%, for 45 min at 4.5 mph (ok a little CDO (ocd but the letters are in the correct order, like they should be)) had to work up to it and if I get a pain, I take the next day off.