Meniscus tear

jemhh

First off--I'm not asking for a diagnosis. I'm asking for personal experiences.

It looks like my husband has a meniscus tear. He saw an ortho today and will get an MRI next week if insurance agrees. Then he'll "have it cleaned out." If insurance does not agree, he'll likely do PT for a month and then may still need the MRI and clean up.

I'm wondering if anybody here has experience with a meniscus tear and can tell me if PT helped enough to avoid further procedures or how long it took you to heal if PT didn't work.

My husband's job has the possibility of becoming physical at the spur of the moment so he is off work at this point. The doctor is estimating he'll be out 4-6 weeks if everything goes smoothly but I thought I'd see how it has gone for others.

Cylphin60

I had no PT after my surgery. The doc simply instructed me to use the crutches about 50% of the time, just to avoid aggravating that knee, and to walk normally when I wasn't using them, with a strong caution to "take it easy".

The 4-6 weeks is about right though, although I probably could have gone back sooner. The relief from pain was immediate, but I also have to note that I had a cyst growing off the tear that greatly aggravated the pain prior.

Nikion901

I had a meniscus tear and had microscopic surgery on it to remove the piece that had broken off and smooth the rough edges ... after a month of PT, and followed by a month of PT. The outcome on that knee has been good.

successgal1

I had a minor tear and did nothing but ice my swollen knee as needed and let it heal over a long time as best is possible. Thats what you do when you don't have insurance!

Spliner1969

jemhh wrote: »

First off--I'm not asking for a diagnosis. I'm asking for personal experiences.

It looks like my husband has a meniscus tear. He saw an ortho today and will get an MRI next week if insurance agrees. Then he'll "have it cleaned out." If insurance does not agree, he'll likely do PT for a month and then may still need the MRI and clean up.

I'm wondering if anybody here has experience with a meniscus tear and can tell me if PT helped enough to avoid further procedures or how long it took you to heal if PT didn't work.

My husband's job has the possibility of becoming physical at the spur of the moment so he is off work at this point. The doctor is estimating he'll be out 4-6 weeks if everything goes smoothly but I thought I'd see how it has gone for others.

About fifteen years ago I folded my right knee sideways shifting my weight wrong (we won't discuss how it happened, let's just call it the 'Easter cookie incident' and leave it at that lol). I tore the cartilage on both sides of my knee (medial and lateral Meniscus). I had it repaired using arthroscopic surgery. There was significant pain in recovery and for a week or two afterward. It probably took me about a year to feel good about the strength of my knee and its ability to support my weight. That may have been just me though, I was overweight at the time. Now it's my strongest knee. The left knee which was not damaged causes me pain more often than the right. I do have arthritis in both knees now, but that's been made better by losing weight, taking Osteo Biflex daily, and walking/exercising frequently (I can even run now). The 4-6 weeks recovery is probably accurate. Mine was probably 8-10 weeks, but I managed a hairline fracture of one of the bones as well, so I had a cast and was on crutches for a little over 8 weeks. Regardless, my knee was the size of a football before the surgery from the tear so I can't say which was more painful, prior to the surgery or the recovery from the surgery. But it had to be done.

Goddesskat

successgal1 wrote: »

I had a minor tear and did nothing but ice my swollen knee as needed and let it heal over a long time as best is possible. Thats what you do when you don't have insurance!

I too dealt with a torn meniscus. I didn't have surgery. I did the exercises the PT gave me and went to her regularily and learned through her how to stand, sit, walk and get this, yes indeed dance without reinjuring myself. When we have an ailment it makes us more conscious about ourselves and what we do. I call this a blessing in disguise. That ailment makes us slow down and take better care of ourself. I'm just ever so grateful for the Knowledgable PT I had who took the time to teach me how my knee works. I also have a baker's cyst at the back of the knee which sometimes puts fluid on the front of the knee when there is no sonovial fluid to keep things lubricated. Anyhow, I'll figure out what exercises I can incorprate into my new year journey to good health. Last summer, I did walk a little and to my surprise, no pain from the injury, so I guess I'm good to go.

Ready2Rock206

My son had a miniscus tear - had the surgery - opted not to do the PT after. Then later it became a big issue, he was trying to get a job, failed the Physical test because of his knee not having enough flexibility, ended up needing to do a bunch of PT in a hurry. He should have done the PT in the first place. Now he's in the military - made it through all their physical requirements (which is a huge pain in the booty).

rileysowner

I tore my meniscus in highschool over 30 years back. It took years before I got a proper diagnosis of what was wrong, and other then when the torn part moved out of place causing my knee to lock, I functioned fine even lifted heavy with it. Usually once the torn part lay back in place I would have a little swelling for a couple of days, but would feel find after that. I eventually had it lock up and stay locked long enough to get into the hospital where the ortho could see that it was a torn meniscus. I was hooked up with one of the best sport surgeons at the time who has done surgery on the knees of many big name athletes and had surgery to repair the tear. The recovery from that was quite long and painful. However, that repair lasted for 12 or so years until it tore again. I knew what the problem was right away, but I put off dealing with it because it didn't flare up very often. As time went on, it got worse and caused issues more often so I got in contact with a surgeon. This time around they did a partial menisectomy removing the damaged part and some arthritic cartage as the same time. Recovery was very quick, and within days I could put full weight on the leg, and quite soon could start using my legs as normal.

Not having experience with physio to deal with this, I cannot say if it would help. It may delay the need for surgery, but I don't think it would remove it. Again, realize I am speaking as one who has not experience with physio to deal with it.

thereshegoesagain

I had a torn meniscus a couple of years ago, and had a trip to Paris planned for 2 months after my scheduled surgery. The surgeon told me that I could still go on the trip, I would walk right out of the recovery room and would have no pain 2 weeks out.
Knowing how much walking I would be doing on the trip, I rescheduled Paris for the following year (last year). I had the surgery and was able to walk right out, due to the pain meds I was on. Once those wore off, I was in a lot of pain but dealt with it as it wasn't much different from what I experienced prior to surgery. He had mentioned that he had removed quite a bit of arthritis while in doing the repair.
I did my PT and a few months later returned to the surgeon, telling him I still had pain and it was no better. His response was that the only other option was a knee replacement. I said, "Screw you", walked out of his office and continued my PT, lost more weight and remained active.
Now, I can do just about anything, except for jumping and I have trouble going down stairs, but going up is fine. I spoke with my GP about it a few weeks ago and she said that my current symptoms are a result of arthritis, not my meniscus.
Whatever it is, I deal with the light amount of pain I still have and keep active. I hope your husband has better results!
Oh, and Paris last year was fabulous!

sijomial

Left knee - bucket handle tear (major impact from a car which also ruptured a cruciate ligament). Needed an open meniscectomy to remove 90% of the lateral meniscus. Prognosis was TKR twenty years later but I'm still going strong 26 years on. Does mean running isn't a good idea and limits my leg press weight.
Didn't stop me from playing ten years of competitive squash and I'm cycling further than ever. Got over the operation fairly smoothly apart from tearing out the sutures in the rehab gym having discharged myself from hospital early. Ooops!
Rehab was focussed on rebuilding awful muscle loss from 3 months on crutches before the op.

Right knee - minor tears. Arthroscopy to tidy up both meniscus and also laser debridement of the patella (old fracture). Got over the op virtually immediately, zero pain or reaction. No sutures to pull out either!
Back to work next day. Doing single leg lunges, jumps and deep squats within a week at my follow up with the surgeon. No specific rehab required.

Hope your husband has the second experience.

jagodfrey08

I'm following. I have what my doc thinks is a medial meniscal tear in my right knee. Just finished up x-rays and waiting on my MRI. Then, we go from there. Right now, I am supposed to avoid weighted squats and take naproxen around the clock for a week...and do the RICE (Rest, Ice, Compression, Elevation) stuff. Hoping to avoid surgery. Hope your SO does, too!

paggorham

I had a medial meniscus tear a couple years ago. PT helped a little, but took a really long time to get back to 100% where I could run or walk without worry of extreme pain. Took almost about 6 months to get back to where I could slowly integrate exercise and daily activities...

My advice, do exactly what is laid out by the doctor. Don't try to resume normal activities too soon or push yourself too hard or further damage will be close to follow.

jemhh

Thank you all for sharing your experiences. It is good to hear that recovery can be relatively quick if the doctor or PT's directions are followed. My mind is set at ease hearing that from people who have been through it.

@Goddesskat, injuries like this really can be a wake up call of sorts. He is very much experiencing that.

Muscleflex79

I literally just got home from knee surgery. I had a different procedure though (lateral release), but initially thought I may have had a meniscus tear so had done a lot of research into that - from everything I've read and heard it is a relatively straight forward surgical procedure with good results - if it does come to that for him.

fittocycle

I've had arthroscopic surgeries on both knees for a meniscus tear, two years a part. Both knees have a significant amount of arthritis. I had some pain the night of the surgery and the next day but minimal after that. I will say that I made sure to get up every hour and walk around a little bit in the first few days afterward.

I did six weeks of PT which really helped. One thing I will say about PT is having the physical therapist massage my knee post surgery for several weeks really helped prevent scar tissue from building up. I hated it in the beginning but it did make a big difference.

My doctor had me riding the stationary bike for 10 minutes a few weeks out from surgery. I was able to increase my time over two weeks. Biking is great for building muscle around the knee and can help strengthen the knees. Now I can do the elliptical and go to spin class with no problems.

Forgot to mention that we had a trip to Disney World scheduled six weeks from my first surgery. I went with no issues at all. And I walked all day ( but with breaks) and had a blast. For surgery on my second knee, we had a cruise to Alaska planned six week after surgery. Vacation was great and I biked on one of the excursions. I was determined not to let anything stop me from enjoying time with my family on vacation.

Please tell your husband to keep a positive outlook on it. It does make a difference!

Archer2017

I also had a meniscus tear. PT didn't work for me and I needed surgery.
It took longer for me to heal than the average person as it was misdiagnosed for years and I kept trucking along with it. I was probably closer to 8 weeks to walking without a limp.

But once the swelling was gone and I no longer needed crutches, my knee felt fine.
I quit running for a while and did stationary bike for the longest time, mostly because I was scared to reinjure myself. I had the knee massaged for weeks afterwards, too. It hurt quite a bit, but I could tell it was helping. My knee works better than it ever did and I keep it strong with lots of walking, squats, etc. I picked up running again not too long after, and I was pulling out some fast times again, with no pain! It still cracks and snaps often but it probably always will.

I've only ever hurt that part of my knee once post surgery and it was because it slipped really bad on ice. Thanks Canada. But that knee still works great... As long as I tread carefully on ice!!

fitmama282

I tore my meniscus in my right knee during a camping trip in the summer of 2014. Me & my husband and granddaughter went on a camping trip to go on a little hiking trip in the mountains. When we first got there, we were putting up our pop up camper & i laid the awning poles on the ground, i ended up stepping on one of the poles & my knee quickly twisted to the left when i almost fell. I heard & felt a pop in my knee. It hurt. Made it difficult to move my leg or walk on, but i did not want to call off the hiking trip, so we still done the 6.5 mile hike the next day, took us alot longer than usual but we done it. I just put ice on it, because it was swelling. I propped it up ect. I thought it would heal by end of summer, but about 8 weeks later, it was still hurting so i decided to go to the doctor, they had an MRI done to see how big the tear was, it was a small tear & did not need surgery. Doctor did tell me to put ice on it, take ibuprophren, & when using steps to stepdown with bad leg first & step up with good leg first. It has gotten better now, feels alot better, sometimes it bothers me a little just a little dull ache, but it's not bad at all.

Kmore123

I tore (bucket handle) my medial meniscus plus ACL. Had surgery to repair it because it was a large tear and the ortho didnt want to remove that much cartillage. Was in a knee immobilizer for 6 weeks, only taking it off for exercises 3 times a day. Now, 5 months later, I have ful range of motion, no pain, and almost full strength. My surgeon said its 1/3 how well your body heals, 1/3 the skill of the repair, and 1/3 the effort you put into PT.

SingingSingleTracker

jemhh wrote: »

First off--I'm not asking for a diagnosis. I'm asking for personal experiences.

It looks like my husband has a meniscus tear. He saw an ortho today and will get an MRI next week if insurance agrees. Then he'll "have it cleaned out." If insurance does not agree, he'll likely do PT for a month and then may still need the MRI and clean up.

I'm wondering if anybody here has experience with a meniscus tear and can tell me if PT helped enough to avoid further procedures or how long it took you to heal if PT didn't work.

My husband's job has the possibility of becoming physical at the spur of the moment so he is off work at this point. The doctor is estimating he'll be out 4-6 weeks if everything goes smoothly but I thought I'd see how it has gone for others.

Both knees torn and operated on. The first, I tore and had surgery within a week. I was snow skiing 4 weeks later - but it took 6 - 12 months to get full strength back in the legs. I utilized bicycling to rehab. Amazing how fast the muscles atrophy after a tear.

The second one, surgery was several months after the tear. It also took a good 6 months to have full leg strength. Again, used the bike to rehab.

No PT for me on either leg.

Azdak

Three surgeries to trim the meniscus--two on the right knee, one on the left.

Did not know proper care for first one-was not active enough and delayed rehab. Was back to running in 4 weeks, but weakened muscle led to patellofemoral syndrome that lasted 10 months.

Other two: aggressively iced, wrapped, and mobilized the knee starting the day after surgery. Also started doing straight leg quad lifts. Had surgeries on a Monday morning; played golf (9 holes with a cart) the following Saturday. Pretty much back to full activity in 4 weeks.

Did more PT for the first, but did some with all 3.

Can't stress enough the importance of getting the swelling down and mobilizing the knee ASAP. A stationary bike is great for this. Put the seat up as high as necessary so that you can turn the pedals and lower the seat as range of motion improves.