Meniscus Tear

[jessica47201]

I was wondering if anyone had any pointers when it comes to a torn meniscus? This isn't my first time, actually this is the 3rd time and the 2 prior times I've had surgury to fix and/or correct the 2 time previous torn meniscus. I was just wondering if anyone ever had a 3rd torn meniscus and if they had any pointers. Right now, I can't bear any weight, my leg is bend in the 90 degree position. I acually go in for my MRI tomorrow, I'm just speculating on it being my Meniscus. But as of right now, this knee injury is going along just the same as the prior 2.

[ruffianxc]

I've had three meniscus surgeries but only tore it once. If you have a tear its much more important to get it fixed and avoid it flopping around in there than worrying about having the extra tissue taken out. That is if you had a meniscectomy instead of the much less common meniscus repair where they actually put stitches in but preserve all the meniscus tissue. If you had a repair it could be possible it didn't heal and it tore in the same spot again, thats why the healing time is much longer.

Meniscus repair is much longer recovery. About 2 weeks totally non weight bearing, limited range of motion, and over a month total on crutches. The menisectomy is a much faster recovery as you don't have to actually wait for the meniscus to heal together.

They can only repair it if it is a small area that gets good blood supply.

[jessica47201]

The first tear in 2001 or 2002 they went in and repaired it. The last surgery in 2007 they went in and removed a piece. I just talked to my Dr over the phone today and he verified that it is my meniscus again. I'm now just waiting to see what the orthopedic specialist has to say as to the severity and the course of action.

[jessica47201]

Well I got my MRI results back and it confirmed that I have a torn meniscus. It is actually a torn lateral meniscus and it is also flipped. It also talked about some effusion which I believe is "water on the knee" and it talked about a benign tumor or growth. Right now I am just waiting to get in to see my Orthopedic specialist and see what he has to say, but I'm pretty sure he is gonna say, surgery. I'm just really not looking forward to having a 3rd knee surgery.

[jessica47201]

Well, it's kinda embarassing on how I tore it. All I was doing was sitting on the ground with my left leg bent, my foot in my crotch area and my right let was straight out in front of me and I was stretching before my PT test that I have to take in the military. I was done stretching, went to get up and felt my knee pop, knew what it probably meant. Sometimes when it pops, I can slowly straighten it out and get it to pop again, and fix the problem. But this time I couldn't and the MRI confirmed that the lateral meniscus tore and flipped posterior to anterior. The knee suregery I had in 2001 they repaired, the knee surgery in 2007 they removed the torn part. I'm just wondering how much more meniscus can they take out? The most frustrating part of this whole thing is I was just starting to feel pretty confident with my knee. My husband and I have probably done about 60-100 miles of hiking and backcountry camping and I've put about 400 miles on my bike this summer, lost 25 lbs, and 6% body fat. I had done all of that without hardly and pain. I almost wish they would just give me knee replacement surgery because those are supposed to last around 10-20 years. I would be pretty happy with not having to have another surgery for 10-20 years. But I also do know that knee replacement surgery is alot more evasive than just a meniscus repair. But they don't like to give 30 yrs olds knee replacement surgery. So we'll see what happens but I'm getting fed up with the knee surgeries and pain. My husband and I were hoping to go to Arizona next year and do some real hiking but no so sure now!!

[lo123]

The knee suregery I had in 2001 they repaired, the knee surgery in 2007 they removed the torn part. I'm just wondering how much more meniscus can they take out?

Well, my husband tore his meniscus running cross country in college. only, no one figured out that's what it was at the time. So, he never got it fixed.

3 years or so later, he was still having knee issues and went to get it checked out. The whole meniscus was damaged and pretty much dead. They removed the whole thing. So now, it's just bone on bone. He can still walk and ride his bike and get around just fine, but running is out. Orthopedist said that if he ran, he'd need a knee replacement by 40.

On effusion. Effusion is excess build up of fluid in a joint. I have it in several joints from something similar to rheumatoid arthritis. It's pretty common in inflammatory arthritis.

On the plus side, there's a TON of research going on with cartilage reconstruction and synthetic synovial (joint) fluid replacements. Arthritis and joint problem treatments are vastly improved over 10 years ago.

[SueJT]

Jessica, it's not all doom and gloom. I have had 4 knee surgeries, mainly for the exact same thing you have. My surgeon is very conservative and just trims away the minimum amount the meniscus he can to fix the new tear. Also like you, after my third surgery, I had a benign tumour grow in the synovial space (Doc thinks it was just caused by cell damage from the surgeries). Had that removed, alot of scar tissue and another tiny tear trim in my 4th surgery. My knee has been totally stable since then. It has been 4 yrs since that last surgery.
Make sure you keep all the muscles around the knee strong, that will help greatly with your rehab. Change your bike gearing and ride on compact cranks until the knee is stable and strong again. This took me 2 years and was the best thing I did. I am now back to full on racing, riding big gears, lots of hills, just generally back to normal. It has taken a long time, but can be done.
Best of luck to you, and I am sure you will have a great positive outcome from your surgery.:):):)

[jessica47201]

Well I know it's been awhile but I had my knee surgery and there really wasn't anything different than what I already knew and expected. The surgeon did tell me not to tear it again, because there isn't enough to fix or take away. If I tear it again, he's just going to take what's left. I'm gonna have to do some serious training though, because in June I'm planning on doing the 100-mile track challenge for the Tour de Cure and then in July, I'm wanting to attempt the RaIN Ride for the first time. I need to start riding again soon, so I can dump some of this winter/surgery weight.

[Catrin]

Well I know it's been awhile but I had my knee surgery and there really wasn't anything different than what I already knew and expected. The surgeon did tell me not to tear it again, because there isn't enough to fix or take away. If I tear it again, he's just going to take what's left. I'm gonna have to do some serious training though, because in June I'm planning on doing the 100-mile track challenge for the Tour de Cure and then in July, I'm wanting to attempt the RaIN Ride for the first time. I need to start riding again soon, so I can dump some of this winter/surgery weight.

Good luck with your recovery and training! I am considering doing the Tour de Cure this year - though I won't be ready for a century that early in my first summer, I will do one of the other options....but hope to do RAIN next year. Considering I live 2 miles from the Speedway it seems a no-brainer to participate in some way this year :)

Has your recovery progressed as you hoped?

[jessica47201]

I did the Tour de Cure last year for the first time and loved it. I had such a blast. It was my first organized, event ride. I was at first scared to death about riding with such a large group, hoping that I wouldn't cause a wreck or get lost. But I did the ride with another friend and we had safety in numbers! In the end I never regretted one bit! I'm kinda regretting entering in the 100-mile event for the Tour this year, because of the knee injury. It's not really the 100 miles that scares me, but that I have to do it in 6 hours. Hopefully I can start getting some good training in, since my doc has released me and can now start riding again. I am definately going to continue doing the tour every year. I have already started my fundraising efforts. Well, maybe I'll see you there!