Medial Meniscus tear
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wannalosew82
Posts: 97 Member
I have a Medial Meniscus tear from doing jumping jacks, confirmed by MRI. The doctor suggested surgery. I decided to wait and see. I am slowly beginning to walk for about 30 mts a day ata brisk pace. Afraid to do any squats even without waits. Am I done for life with strong lifts? I enjoyed lifting and miss it dearly. I have 80+ lbs to lose. Do you guys think, losing some weight first and then easing into lifting is an option? Not a fan of surgery and definitely don't want to worsen the tear.
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I tore my medial meniscus in my left leg years ago in a high-speed horseback riding accident that luckily did not end up much worse (I tore that, and fractured my pelvis). I was young at the time, and my doctor opted not to operate. Recovery was a *kitten* and I rested a lot, eventually they had me in physical therapy for a while. I seem to have healed completely on my own as I have no ill-effects from any type of workouts now (including squats). I hope you get some relief soon, and hopefully surgery is not on the horizon!0
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Had some knee issues since January and went to a physiotherapist who determined it was probably a minor tear of the meniscus that was causing me the knee pain. He told me not to squat beyond 90 degrees (that is NOT even parallel) and to bring in my stance more, and to avoid doing anything where I would put rotational force on the knee to avoid reinjuring it.
He also told me to keep moving on it and while being smart about it, to keep pushing a bit. I went back a few times and the massages did help, I learned to tape my knee, too. It's still not 100% and was relatively minor to begin with. I ended up listening to the narrower stance and feet not as turned out advice but am still squatting as low as I can get without issues. Starting to think about starting soccer again (which might've been a precursor to the injury).
My own research on the internet has led me to believe most tears can heal on their own, but can take A LOT of time to do so. Squatting is good, it reinforces the muscles around the area so your leg stability is better so your run less of a chance of doing one of those moves that will aggravate it. But you have to listen to your body (and possibly your doctor(s) too) first and foremost. Start with bodyweight. See how you feel. Maybe get a second opinion on that surgery. I wouldn't expect jumping jacks to have caused a tear *that* bad but you never know. I personally like jump rope better, anyway xP (No wait, I HATE jumping rope. lol)
I hope you can figure it out and that your knee gets better quickly (relatively to what time these injuries typically take at the very least)!0 -
Thank you WillRun4Bagel and Krokador. Appreciate your input. I am not in pain per se. I rested quite a bit after I initially twisted/tore it doing Zumba. After about 6 months tried to do the jump moves in the 30 day shred video and definitely heard an audible pop. I rested again for a good 6-8 months and recently got back to walking for 30 mts a day. I did pretty well for 2 weeks and this past weekend tried to walk in my hilly neighborhood for an hour and feel a dull pain in the knee. It is not bothering me physically. Here I was thinking I could get back to where I was before and being unable to handle a one hour walk makes me worry if I will ever be able to do Zumba or lift again. I am 50+ years old, luckily no arthritis but realize with the excess weight I am carrying I really really need to nurse this knee.0
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My husband tore his at work 2 years prior to his surgery. Then one day he was in horrible pain at work. The doctor showed us where the original tear was and where the new tear started. The pain was from the meniscus hanging in his knee joint and that caused inflammation which they had to scrap out. His surgery was much more involved than it would have been had he taken care of it sooner.
If you don't trust the first doctor, get a second opinion from another surgeon. A good one can generally tell if the injury will heal itself or not.0 -
@wannalose, i'm 49 so we're in the same kind of bracket for age . . . i wonder if anyone's suggested taking glucosamine sulfate supplements might help to support your healing? i have rheumatoid arthritis, so i know more about cartilage breakdown than i really want to. gs doesn't do anything about my underlying condition, but it does seem to be effective for helping your body to regenerate cartilage so since i started lifting i've been using it on the principle that my system probably needs all the help it can get. plus, y'know. i'm older; body doesn't do some of the housekeeping/maintenance stuff quite as well as it used to even without my immune system trying to eat it alive.
anyway, glucosamine is often recommended to/by people with osteoarthritis, so it may help with meniscus issues as well.
http://www.runnersworld.com/injury-treatment/can-supplements-cure-your-knee-pain0
