Lateral meniscus tear in your knee

Justice and peace

You're fricked then

Long as you don't do work for a living you should be fine. Running/Uneven Surfaces/Lifting/Carring heavy objects will be painful but nothing that a man who works for a living can handle.

Just don't wait too long to have surgery. I waited a few months and they ended up having to cut a fair amount out. No real strength issues but lack of flexibility now and my knee will lock-up if in the wrong position. Painful when it pops back. I also did a terrible job of rehab so i'm sure that didn't help.

Had a medial tear repaired recently. By repair I mean he cut away the tear and smoothed out the surface.

Has made minimal difference, so my major issue probably wasn't related. I had ACL reconstruction 15+ years ago, so my knee is basically shot, though somehow the x-ray and MRI both looked "pretty good" aside from the tear.

But it was a simple outpatient arthroscopic procedure. I was up and about a couple days later and never did any real rehab. Dr. told me dealing with it now was better than letting it worsen.

Had this about 9 years ago....

Dr got in and did the scope to clean the torn piece.

Can't even see the 2 small scars anymore.

He came back and said I actually had more meniscus in my knee than most people to start with.

I was biking the next day at physical therapy

I had a partial tear. Hurt like hell for a week or two. I held off the surgery and it got better eventually. My knee would randomly give out on uneven surfaces for about a year. I also had bruised bones and something else in my knee. Not sure which one was causing it.

We base decision for surgery on degree of mechanical symptoms and social factors. In a sedentary, older person,it is reasonable to let them try rehab and see if it bothers them. If young enough and tear is amenable, will sometimes do Repair with small sutures, essentially repairing the tear back down to the root. Every tear is a little different and from my experience, you shouldn’t base your decision on what others say. With that said, many patients who undergo debridement (cutting away tear) do fine and have a quick rehab. All depends on the person and the characteristics of the tear. Good luck.

Before you see a Doctor always remember to have the OT diagnosis the medical condition first just so you have information for the doctor when you meet him for the first time.

Doctors always appreciate their patients who get a OT diagnosis first because it really saves them time explaining the medical condition remedies.

I originally hurt my knee in 2010. I had MCL strain and a slight tear in my medial meniscus. I was eventually able to play sports again, but the more I played, the worse the tear got. As the years went by, I stopped playing sports as much, but my knee would lock up every now and then. A few times it locked up by me just getting into my car. One time, it happened mid coitus.

The last time it happened, I was just getting out of my chair at work. It definitely tore some more because my body went into shock and I almost passed out.

So, the moral of the story is if you can get it fix, do it. Or you can be like me and walk around with a time bomb in your knee.