Discussion
First off I just want to make it clear that I am very much aware the my knee problems are triflingly small and insignificant compared to the health issues many others are dealing with, this certainly isn’t meant to be a tale of woe and self pity.
Long story short, I had a meniscus tear 3 years ago that was operated on and the affected part of the meniscus removed. Zoom forward to this Spring and I get out of bed in the morning with a very painful, unstable knee. A scan of my knee earlier this month revealed several tears in the same meniscus; my consultant advises against further surgery as I’d be left with less than 20% of the meniscus and highly likely to develop arthritis later on.
So I’m in the position of having to live with it essentially. I wondered if any fellow PH’ers live with tears and if anyone has had success treating the injury without surgery? I know it sounds silly, but I’m “only” 41, was always very fit and healthy, loved running and hill walking and the idea that I’ll not be able to run again or take my kids walking in the hills one day is pretty depressing. Interested to hear how others have got on when in a similar position.
Long story short, I had a meniscus tear 3 years ago that was operated on and the affected part of the meniscus removed. Zoom forward to this Spring and I get out of bed in the morning with a very painful, unstable knee. A scan of my knee earlier this month revealed several tears in the same meniscus; my consultant advises against further surgery as I’d be left with less than 20% of the meniscus and highly likely to develop arthritis later on.
So I’m in the position of having to live with it essentially. I wondered if any fellow PH’ers live with tears and if anyone has had success treating the injury without surgery? I know it sounds silly, but I’m “only” 41, was always very fit and healthy, loved running and hill walking and the idea that I’ll not be able to run again or take my kids walking in the hills one day is pretty depressing. Interested to hear how others have got on when in a similar position.
Hi Mikey I feel for you I have a torn knee cartilage currently which I'm really struggling with and have been told similar in terms of an operation they don't want to do one as I have severely worn cartilage and I'm a high arthritis risk also at "only" 44. Its the worst injury I've ever had I'm 2 months in and not really anywhere near better.
A Good physio is probably number one priority they might be able to pick up some cues in your walking etc that's putting the pressure on your other leg.
A Good physio is probably number one priority they might be able to pick up some cues in your walking etc that's putting the pressure on your other leg.
I had surgery 5 years ago for a torn meniscus and had most of it taken away.
Unfortunately my knee has never really recovered despite physio etc and a scan 12 months ago has revealed arthritis.
I’m in constant pain albeit probably a three out of ten so it’s liveable but any sport or a long walk results in a lot of discomfort and I’m always fearful of injuring myself further.
I’m only 52 and way too young to have a knee replacement so i just live with it for now.
I’ve also had to be removed from front line duties in my chosen career which isn’t the best .
Unfortunately my knee has never really recovered despite physio etc and a scan 12 months ago has revealed arthritis.
I’m in constant pain albeit probably a three out of ten so it’s liveable but any sport or a long walk results in a lot of discomfort and I’m always fearful of injuring myself further.
I’m only 52 and way too young to have a knee replacement so i just live with it for now.
I’ve also had to be removed from front line duties in my chosen career which isn’t the best .
I have just been told I have a meniscus tear too, keen to avoid any intervention so I’ve been taking glucosamine supplements and it does seem a bit better. I’ve not yet seen the consultant only my gp and an mri so not sure what’s next. I’ve kept up my cycling without issue fortunately.
I had a meniscus tears and spurs. I had also cracked my patella. I had landed knee first down some rocks. After speaking to my Consultant I refused surgery and instead I used resistant bands and let it heal with time.
Do you do football or any contact sports? Completely lay off football, running etc in my opinion. It takes a very longtime to heal. Mine took over a year before the knee 'ache' and judder stopped.
Do you do football or any contact sports? Completely lay off football, running etc in my opinion. It takes a very longtime to heal. Mine took over a year before the knee 'ache' and judder stopped.
OP, I had my meniscus tear operated on 3 weeks ago today. It was a recurrence of a tear I did in late 2015 playing squash. At that time, I went through about 6 months of physio, all to no effect, before having an MRI scan and then being operated on in mid 2016.
Like you, it was absolutely fine post op, I went back to walking, cycling and swimming, then in spring this year, it suddenly started to hurt. I'm not sure what I did to repeat the injury, it was nothing specific. Following more physio, I had a steroid injection in the summer which achieved nothing. I had an MRI scan in November which revealed the tear had got bigger, so I had a full meniscus repair done with the meniscus being stitched back together and the knee cleaned out of all the loose bits.
The surgeon was reluctant to remove more tissue for exactly the same reasons you cite, so instead he has stitched the tear up to help it heal. Perhaps this might work for you? I was told the op went well and the constant pain I’ve had all this year has already gone. I’ve got a long way to go with the physio (and have to wear the knee brace another 3 weeks) but I’m hopeful for the longer term. For reference, I’m 47.
Like you, it was absolutely fine post op, I went back to walking, cycling and swimming, then in spring this year, it suddenly started to hurt. I'm not sure what I did to repeat the injury, it was nothing specific. Following more physio, I had a steroid injection in the summer which achieved nothing. I had an MRI scan in November which revealed the tear had got bigger, so I had a full meniscus repair done with the meniscus being stitched back together and the knee cleaned out of all the loose bits.
The surgeon was reluctant to remove more tissue for exactly the same reasons you cite, so instead he has stitched the tear up to help it heal. Perhaps this might work for you? I was told the op went well and the constant pain I’ve had all this year has already gone. I’ve got a long way to go with the physio (and have to wear the knee brace another 3 weeks) but I’m hopeful for the longer term. For reference, I’m 47.
My understanding is that the meniscus has quite a poor blood supply which makes repair difficult and surgical intervention often the only viable option. It’s frustrating as a good friend of mine had the same injury, had the same op with the same surgeon and whereas I’m pretty much still in the same position I was prior to my op, my mate is fully recovered and runs half marathons!
I don’t play any sport anymore, haven’t really run since the first tear 3+ years ago. Losing weight would probably help, but the injury makes exercise difficult. It’s so frustrating.
I don’t play any sport anymore, haven’t really run since the first tear 3+ years ago. Losing weight would probably help, but the injury makes exercise difficult. It’s so frustrating.
fridaypassion said:
Biggest issue I have is muscle inhibition it's taken nearly 2 months to get a bit of motion back but struggling with bending the knee joint. Those that had surgery did you get any of this and how long was the rehab process?
I’m no expert, but I think it depends on the specifics of the repair and how well the op went. As mentioned above, I had mine done exactly 3 weeks ago and I can now bend my knee to 90 degrees. It’s quite stiff but on the phyio’s orders, I do 2x sets of 10 reps bending the knee through 90 degrees whilst sitting in a chair. I’ve done this 3-4 times per day since the op. It hurt like hell in the beginning but getting easier now. I damaged my knee falling off a hill about 10 years ago, thought it was a sprain so did the usual RICE treatment for a couple of weeks then went to the doctor because it wasn't healing very quickly. He said that there was probably a slight meniscus tear but as it seemed to be improving (albeit slowly), to carry on in the hope that it would heal itself fully but to come back to him if there was no noticeable improvement in a few months. Other things got in the way of doing anything about it and it was a few years before I realised that it wasn't fully healed and not getting any better.
I went back to the doctor who confirmed that it was a meniscus tear but that operating at that point was likely to do as much harm as good so I carried on, trying to "walk it off".
It was another two or three years before I realised that not only was it no longer slowly improving, but it was actually getting worse and my mobility was starting to suffer.
Back to the doctor who sent me for physio, x-rays, scans etc and told me I'd developed arthritis in it and it would only get worse with time but that I was too young (mid fifties) and not bad enough to merit knee joint surgery yet. He gave me advice on exercise, stretching etc and told me to come back when it was seriously affecting my mobility.
I've just turned sixty and retired as I was struggling to stay on my feet all day. Put on the NHS waiting list for knee replacement surgery but with a two to three year waiting time, I'm off to Lithuania to get it done privately next month.
I know my mobility will be limited and I'll never ski again, but I'm very much looking forward to the improvements the operation should bring.
I really should have done something about it ten years ago.
I went back to the doctor who confirmed that it was a meniscus tear but that operating at that point was likely to do as much harm as good so I carried on, trying to "walk it off".
It was another two or three years before I realised that not only was it no longer slowly improving, but it was actually getting worse and my mobility was starting to suffer.
Back to the doctor who sent me for physio, x-rays, scans etc and told me I'd developed arthritis in it and it would only get worse with time but that I was too young (mid fifties) and not bad enough to merit knee joint surgery yet. He gave me advice on exercise, stretching etc and told me to come back when it was seriously affecting my mobility.
I've just turned sixty and retired as I was struggling to stay on my feet all day. Put on the NHS waiting list for knee replacement surgery but with a two to three year waiting time, I'm off to Lithuania to get it done privately next month.
I know my mobility will be limited and I'll never ski again, but I'm very much looking forward to the improvements the operation should bring.
I really should have done something about it ten years ago.
AndrewGP said:
I’m no expert, but I think it depends on the specifics of the repair and how well the op went. As mentioned above, I had mine done exactly 3 weeks ago and I can now bend my knee to 90 degrees. It’s quite stiff but on the phyio’s orders, I do 2x sets of 10 reps bending the knee through 90 degrees whilst sitting in a chair. I’ve done this 3-4 times per day since the op. It hurt like hell in the beginning but getting easier now.
Well best of luck with the recovery. I'm getting quite serve "lockout" where the quads and calf lock up to protect the knee all my nerves are wired up wrong so my physio rehab is relearning use of the leg again which has been really frustrating and very slow progress. Having time off for Christmas has made it worse as well even though I'm trying to keep the exercises up! 
Meniscii have excellent blood supply in children and zero blood supply in 90 yr olds, and a gradient in between.
Tears of meniscii are a normal part of ageing of a knee joint. Normal / inevitable.
As they get older, they get more friable and they tear, usually without SPECIFIC symptoms.
In the over 50s. the chance in percentage of finding on MRI, (or seeing by inspection) ASYMPTOMATIC meniscal tears is roughly equal to your age in years.
So MRI is worse each decade older you are in pinpointing the problematic knee
Repairing a meniscus that can't heal (no blood supply) is pointless.
Removing medial meniscus leads to arthritis 5 times slower than lateral,
There is no point in keeping torn meniscus if it is symptomatic and can't be repaired. It doesn't do it's job anymore, .
You can make a lot of immoral money removing torn asymptomatic meniscii you find on MRI, if your health economy permits it.
Tears of meniscii are a normal part of ageing of a knee joint. Normal / inevitable.
As they get older, they get more friable and they tear, usually without SPECIFIC symptoms.
In the over 50s. the chance in percentage of finding on MRI, (or seeing by inspection) ASYMPTOMATIC meniscal tears is roughly equal to your age in years.
So MRI is worse each decade older you are in pinpointing the problematic knee
Repairing a meniscus that can't heal (no blood supply) is pointless.
Removing medial meniscus leads to arthritis 5 times slower than lateral,
There is no point in keeping torn meniscus if it is symptomatic and can't be repaired. It doesn't do it's job anymore, .
You can make a lot of immoral money removing torn asymptomatic meniscii you find on MRI, if your health economy permits it.
Edited by The_Doc on Friday 29th December 16:20
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