Meniscus :

Lateral meniscus tear - - Posted by canSki (canSki), 18 December 2004

Newbie here, so don't mind if I ask something that's been talked about a lot.

Had some pain in my knee after playing footbal about 5 wks. ago, so after taking it easy for a while (about 3.5 wks.), the pain was gone, and I decided to to very light jogging and lots of streching for few days. Knee felt pretty good after, so I decided it was time start my ski season, went to (dowhill) ski for only about 2 hrs, very light, no moguls, no challenging runs, knee felt pretty good, felt a bit tired after 2 hrs. but no pain at all. However 2 days later, the pain is back, not as bad as before, but it was there, and the knee was a bit swollen (hardly noticable)

It's been 11 days since and I'm almost pain free again, able to straighten my leg and squat with mild discomfort. I went to see two sport medicine doctors and both of them think that I have a small tear in my meniscus... one of them went as far as saying that this is "lateral meniscus tear in the red zone and would heal with therapy within a month or two" ? The other doc. said that I should start therapy and shouldn't be playing sports for 4 to 6 months especially no skiing

What do you think, is this possible, to be so certain about this after physical only? I'll be doing XRays and MRI (hard to get quick apointment for MRI where I live, so I'll start physiotherapy in the meantime)

I'm a little freaked out by the lack of great news on this discussion board, but other than that, this is quite amazing board    

Thanks
Posted by ariel (ariel), 18 December 2004

Hi canSki - my advice would be to completely stop any high-impact sport temporarily while your doctor/OS is assesing the extent of the damage - you'd probably regret it if you exacerbate a problem to such an extent that a potentially temporary issue turns into a long term problem, seriously.

And yes, it is possible for an experienced sports medicine doc to have a reasonable suspicion that you have a meniscus tear on physical examination - in addition,  MRI's can often help with a diagnosis, and ultimately, an arthroscopy provides the greatest accuracy.

Good luck mate, and for the moment atleast, do yourself a favour and stay away from the slopes
Posted by jathib (jathib), 18 December 2004

I agree with the other poster. Give it some time to heal and wait until you've had your MRI before skiing and playing sports. I know from experience that a lateral meniscus tear can dog you for the rest of your life. If it's a small tear and there's a possibility of it healing you need to let it heal. You don't want to risk getting a bigger tear.
Posted by canSki (canSki), 18 December 2004

Thanks for replies, and no, I'm not even thinking about skiing or any other sport until I know exactly what's wrong. I had most of my body parts hurt at one point in my life, gone under the knife 3 times, but never had a knee injury, so I'm pretty worried now.
What's encouraging is that I have no pain at all now, but from everything I've read over the past week, these things don't heal on their own, even small ones and even if it's in the red zone. My understanding is that red zone may heal if repaired... not on it's own (am I wrong ?)

Another thing I failed to ask is how is therapy supposed to help heal this if it's not repaired. I understand that strengthening the muscle and streching will help, but I don't see other benefits if there was no repair done (I'm hoping I'm wrong on this one as well)

Thanks again
Posted by jathib (jathib), 19 December 2004

I walked around on a torn meniscus for 17 years. At times I had no pain at all but my knee would lock up now and again. Eventually it didn't unlock.

Therapy won't heal a torn meniscus. What it will do is strengthen the muscles around your knee and help keep it stable. The stronger it is the less likely you are to injure it further.
Posted by andrewc (AndrewC), 20 December 2004

Hi there canski

A small, stable tear in the red zone (peripheral) of either the lateral or medial meniscus CAN heal on it's own given time (up to 3 months approx I believe), therapy.....and correct treatment of it in between (eg/ rest, no heavy twisting or running etc)

This is why one of your docs is wise to say try therapy for a few months B4 going for surgery. It's ALWAYS best if you can avoid surgery.....that said the Majority of meniscus tears do not heal on their own and require surgical intervention. If that is the case you will know if it has not healed after your two months ~ therapy.

A cautionary tale....!
I myself probably (OS and myself are only about 80% sure) had a SMALL tear in the extreme peripheral (RED zone) of my lateral meniscus from a minor motocross "incident" (I wasnt sure at the time as my knee was only stiff the next day after heavy exercise) about 8 months ago.....I mainly ignored it as my knee was fine 2 mins after getting up......

2 months later during a competitive football match I twisted badly with my studs dug in the turf and caused a massive tear that displaced most of lateral meniscus into my knee joint...It wasn't (isn't) nice and I so wish I had been more careful even though I am on the mend now  

All the best
Posted by canSki (canSki), 21 December 2004

Once again thanks to everyone.

Had my XRays reviewed today, and there are (to quote the doc.) "small signs of arthritis" in both of my knees. Not a big deal says the doc. he's asuming this is result of years of "wear and tear" in the knee    

He's also saying that he thinks that issues with my meniscus are degenerative (again "wear and tear") and peripheral, since I recover quite quickly once I feel the pain in the knee. I don't really know what to think, knee feels good now, but I'm afraid to even walk down stairs in order not to demage anything further (OK, I'm not that scared, but you get the point)

Waiting for MRI to be sure, starting therapy in the meantime, we'll see what those guys think
Posted by bwalling (bwalling), 21 December 2004

on 12/21/04 at 01:04:21, canSki wrote:

This old Forum was so valuable that we have kept it as an archive. It is just for reference. If you want to ask questions or offer advice, there is also a current Bulletin Board which you can access from our home page.

Hunting for information is a slow process. browsing through these topics will probably raise a lot of questions in your mind. Don't forget that there is a whole site behind these forums - just click the 'KNEEguru' home button at the top left of your page when you are ready to access it.