Torn Menicus

So about four months ago I was running and felt some pain in my knee. Well my stubbornness got the best of me and I kept running for the next few days. The pain never went away, so I went to the doc that comes to our work and he said it sounded like a torn meniscus. The pain is in the side of my knee. He sent me to get an MRI and the results of that were a medial meniscus tear. So, then the doc sent me to an orthopedist who said he could do surgery on it to fix the damage, he also said we could do a cortisone shot and wait 6 weeks to see what happens. He says 9 out of 10 people need surgery for this, due to the fact that there's no blood flow in the area of the tear. I went ahead and took the cortisone shot in hopes that it may feel better. Got the shot and he said stay off of the knee as much as possible for the next 4 weeks and the last two resume normal activity. Well, I'm in the final two weeks of that 6 weeks. On Monday I decided to venture out on a run. I ran maybe 1/2 mile and quit because it hurt. So, its hurting a lot now, and I'm thinking there's no way around not having the surgery. Has anyone had this type of issue, the surgery? How was the recovery? Is this a bad idea? Kinda worried about my knee never being the same and having problems after the surgery.

 

Get the surgery, and do the pt and hit the gym.

I had mine done about 15 years ago. I jumped back on my bike too soon and blew my acl as a result.

 

Did you have any issues after the surgery besides the ACL? I would definitely do whatever it takes to get back to 100%. I used to run a lot and have fallen off of that and I'm looking to get back into it again. Plus, loose some of this gut that's forming haha

 

No, the surgery was pretty simple as it was orthoscopic. The recovery wasn't too bad, just hard to get up to take a piss. The ACL surgery was terrible though. Get the meniscus done before there's any more problems.

 

I had approximately 15% removed from my meniscus. With the same day surgery I walked out of the hospital with the crutches in my hand. Went through 6 weeks of rehab with no pain. Started jogging a few weeks after that without pain. The jogging started real slow going heal to toe for a couple of weeks than slowly stepped it up to a scorching 12 min miles. 6'5" and 290lbs. I'm not setting any land speed records. I would recommend the surgery.

 

Piece of cake! 8 weeks with as little activity on repaired knee " Crutches " 3 weeks PT, do the work! Haven't had a single bit of any kinda of pain! Doing everything i have done before injury! Oh yeah dont do any running for a long while , exercise bike!!!!! Dont pound your knee into worse damage by running get your Cardio from bike or some form of low to no impact exercise!!!

 

If the area indeed has poor blood flow, its not a repair as much as a removal. That would leave you bone on bone.
I have no meniscus in the right leg. Early onset arthritis, and future knee replacement is real. I think 10 to 15yrs is replacement territory, and ive had arthritis within just a couple yrs. I can feel weather changes.

Good luck, get a tens unit, get a large " chatanooga coolpac" to wrap around the knee. Get the black coolpac, not the blue. The black ones are for pt use, the blue is thinner and meant for occasional gentle use and will rupture.

The added pressure of the cortisone caused me mkre pain after the lidocaine wore off. Then again, the same thing happend with my rotator cuff and my neck. Maybe i just dont deal well with cortisone in joints. No problems when used in a bursa sac.
Another thing myself and the therapists noted was heat... heat was REALLY bad on the knee, neck, and rotator. To the point i couldnt bear weight on the leg for a couple hours after having a heat pad on it for 15min.

Take recovery slow and dont push too hard. Watch out for recumbant bikes... they throw the knee closer to the chest and can make things worse than a traditional stationary bike.

Go to rite aid and get 1 of them elastic elephant condom looking things to seal the site while u shower... reinforce the seal with medical grade paper tape. Also go out and get crutches.
My doc said i wouldnt need them... well, it sucks when u wake from surgery and cant walk, then have to be driven around in pain to find crutches.

I had two "bucket handle" tears i believe it was... blood flow was nada.... so, gone.

Good luck!

 

This is encouraging! I know there's no way around getting the surgery at this point. Id just be disappointed if I had problems after the surgery. Just hoping the doc knows what he's doing. I plan on taking some time off work but I cant take a lot of time off.

 

good advice. Ill get some of the black coolpacks. Sounds like you've had some experience with surgeries on your joints

 

Sadly, yes.

The coolpacs can be found on Amazon.. get the xl one so u can wrap around the knee. Put it in a pillowcase when being used, or a thin towel. Coolpacs have some kind of silica and wont freeze solid, you can conform them around things. Just try to lay them flat in the freezer, or atleast no sharp folds while in the freezer.

For now, try things like emu oil, china gel.... and my favorite, Biofreeze. Check their website, they should be able to send a couple samples of biofreeze for free. Also some pt offices carry samples of it.

 

Urbalactiv.com


I recommend the CBD balm, which is an anti-inflammatory and will promote blood flow. Also, ingesting CBD orally will help your entire body with increased blood flow. The anti-inflammatory properties of the cbd will cause the blood vessels to relax allowing more flow.

It helps greatly with pain too. Use it every day for my herniated discs.

Also, it is 50 state legal, and has no effect on any UA.

 

Dont go back to work before Dr. release's you or you are on light duty off your feet! I had 2 other guy's have the same surgery on the same day as i did they thought they knew more then the Dr's , well they both screwed up there knee's and had to have a 2nd surgery to remove what was left of there Meniscus!

 

I also have a few braces.. sometimes a rigid knee brace is needed to keep the knee stable.
Im sure this all depends on how phucked ur knee is once they get in there. Mri didnt show much damage on mine due to the type of tears. Then the doc got in there and it was a mess. I have problems driving more than 50miles.. the gas/brake foot swivel binds my knee. Do that action yourself, pivot your foot right to left while sitting down and mimic gas/brake use. Ya never realize what does what work, until it hurts.

Ymmv

 

Must try... c 5,6,7 are jacked

 

I recommend the hemp drops. They are void of any additives, just water soluble cbd. Can add to any drink, or just drop some under your tongue and hold for 30 seconds and rinse down.

It will drastically decrease your score on the back half when playing golf too

 

I've torn the meniscus in my right knee and also the ACL , MCL , & PCL in my R/knee in the Marines in 1983 . that repair was good until 2.5 years ago when I had that knee replaced

Now in just that short amount of time I've worn out the knee replacement . the lower part that fits over the tibia is loose causing a lot of pain , looseness and discomfort . Now I'm looking at a Revision or new knee replacement

What I'm saying is be good to your knees and don't abuse them or you'll be like me , I'll be 56 in October

The VA has me at 80% disabled from my knee problems and can barely walk and can't even run now

 

That sux.
I had a buddy blowout his acl in basic.... ruined him at 19yrs old.

 

Ive never thought of using stuff like this.

Im betting this will happen to me. They'll get in there and it will be all jacked up in there.

 

Ouch!!!

 

I blew mine out during a CAX exercise at 29 Palms . My Corpsman was shocked when I asked for just a ace bandage to wrap the knee and two aspirin so I could continue with the CAX