Torn Medial Meniscus

[dirtyram]

I just found out my MRI results a week ago and I have a partially torn medial meniscus. Has anyone had this type of injury, how was your rehab, how long til you were at full strength again. What kind of exercises did you do to strengthen your leg back again. Right now, all I am able to do for cardio is a stationary bike, eliptical machine and swim. Its driving me crazy that I'm not able to run and do what I want to do.
Any and every advice will be much appreciated.
Thanks

[HALON]

I just found out my MRI results a week ago and I have a partially torn medial meniscus. Has anyone had this type of injury, how was your rehab, how long til you were at full strength again. What kind of exercises did you do to strengthen your leg back again. Right now, all I am able to do for cardio is a stationary bike, eliptical machine and swim. Its driving me crazy that I'm not able to run and do what I want to do.
Any and every advice will be much appreciated.
Thanks

I know 4 people with this type of injury.

My mother and 3 work friends. Although all of them are over 50.


How did you sustain your injury?

what symptoms do you have?

Does you knee lockup?

I know that with the meniscus depending on where and how severe the tear is they can either stitch the torn part up. This usually happens if the tear is in the area of the meniscus where its has a blood supply. This is around the edges where the meniscus attaches to the bone. If the tear is really bad they usually remove the entire medial memiscus. The only problem is that with no medical meniscus this can cause problems later in life such as arthritis. Sometimes people have a cadaver meniscus transplanted.Although my friend from work had his medial meniscus removed at age 24 he has no arthritis issues even now at the age of 66.

Hope this helps.

[dirtyram]

Mostly my symptoms are that my knee doesn't feel up to strength. I have no pain whatsoever, just not as strong. It has been a month and a few weeks since the injury.
My doctor said I have a small tear on the medial meniscus. My knee does NOT lock up.
I don't think I need surgery at this point if I properly rehab it, but surgery is an option.
I'm just kinda scared because I have never had a major injury or anything like this before and the knee is so important one must it rehab correctly.

I know 4 people with this type of injury.

My mother and 3 work friends. Although all of them are over 50.


How did you sustain your injury?

what symptoms do you have?

Does you knee lockup?

I know that with the meniscus depending on where and how severe the tear is they can either stitch the torn part up. This usually happens if the tear is in the area of the meniscus where its has a blood supply. This is around the edges where the meniscus attaches to the bone. If the tear is really bad they usually remove the entire medial memiscus. The only problem is that with no medical meniscus this can cause problems later in life such as arthritis. Sometimes people have a cadaver meniscus transplanted.Although my friend from work had his medial meniscus removed at age 24 he has no arthritis issues even now at the age of 66.

Hope this helps.

[HALON]

Mostly my symptoms are that my knee doesn't feel up to strength. I have no pain whatsoever, just not as strong. It has been a month and a few weeks since the injury.
My doctor said I have a small tear on the medial meniscus. My knee does NOT lock up.
I don't think I need surgery at this point if I properly rehab it, but surgery is an option.
I'm just kinda scared because I have never had a major injury or anything like this before and the knee is so important one must it rehab correctly.

Well the thing you have to remember is is the meniscus going to heal on its own or will you need surgery to help it heal fully. Important thing to remember is to take it easy and not strain your knee as this could turn into a bigger tear.

GOOD LUCK

[thesparkly1]

If you have a small medial meniscus tear that isn't producing disability or pain then conservative treatment is the best approach for the moment. If you start to develop locking or deformity or difficulty reaching either full knee extension or full flexion, then arthroscopic ('keyhole') surgery may be considered. Put simply, your meniscus has a very poor blood supply which means that it's ability to heal is reduced. Instead, it relies on a very dynamic fluid-exchange mechanism for it's health and longevity. Basically, your meniscus is like a big sponge full of water - it relies on movement of water (containing nutrients) into and out of it to heal and to function optimally. The bike cycling action pumps water and nutrients in and out of the meniscus so this is why it is such a good exercise. The worst exercise would be to do nothing - bed rest has a very detrimental effect on the meniscus which can be seen as early as 24hours in someone who is bedrested, so keep moving. As far as nutrition is concerned, the key to making that sponge hold lots of water (to act like a perfect shock absorber) is to feed it glucosamine sulfate (GS). The availability of GS is one of the primary factors that determine cartilage growth rate and recovery rate. GS is available OTC and should be tailored according to your age, weight and injury severity. A typical starting dose is 1000 to 1500mg a day, increasing to 3 or 4 times this (depending on the factors just mentioned) over the following 2 or 3 weeks. If you are allergic to shellfish you will most likely be allergic to GS, in which case you should get Glucosamine hydrochloride. In my opinion, you should stay on a small maintenance dose of GS after your rehab is complete because this will minimise future cartilage loss. Finally, and this really goes without saying, avoid any manouvres that involve twisting on a fixed knee, avoid ever squatting below parallel in the gym and make sure you practice perfect knee alignment during all leg exercises including leg presses when it comes time to do them in the gym. What is perfect? Perfect means the hip, knee and ankle are all in the same alignment during each exercise. If you cant draw a straight line between the 3 of them, then it's wrong. It scares my meniscus when i see guys doing heavy leg presses with the knees turning in or out. Its a recipe for disaster. The last thing to be wary of is that you may not know you've aggravated your knee in the gym until the following day. Why? Because the meniscus has a poor blood supply which means it takes time for it to swell. It also has a poor nerve supply which means it may not give rise to pain. Therefore, let knee stiffness (rather than pain or swelling) the following day be your best guide to judge damage - if it's stiffer to move or feels 'tighter than normal' the following day, re-evaluate what you did the day before.