thesnowboarder

iTrader: (15)

I pretty much have all the symptoms

The most common symptoms of a meniscus tear are:

* Knee pain
* Swelling of the knee
* Tenderness when pressing on the meniscus
* Popping or clicking within the knee
* Limited motion of the knee joint

I tore my ACL in my right knee last January, so I am almost coming up on a year from that. 2nd day out snowboarding this season I managed to "hurt" my knee and stopped riding at noon. I typically ride a solid 8 hour day in the park multiple days in a row only stopping for lunch and beer.

The day after I hurt it, I could hardly walk, but it slowly became better day by day. Now 2 weeks after the accident I am still having some pretty solid pain. Enough to keep my off the slopes, and noticing pain on a regular basis.

I have a pretty high tolerance for pain. I have fractured 5 vertebrae (T2-T7) and rode down an 8 mile dirt road after. I have snowboarded on a torn ACL for an entire day. I am currently rock climbing indoors almost as strong as i would without any pain. I would ride with the current pain I have in my left knee (not the torn ACL knee) however I am in fear of missing the entire snow season if i injure it more.

I am wondering, has anyone ever torn a meniscus, and if so did you have surgery? What was the recovery time like? When were you 100% again?

18psi

iTrader: (76)

Never broke/tore anything like that, but I've only snowboarded like 6 times in my life. And this is why

Sounds painful man. Good luck

NA6C-Guy

iTrader: (1)

Don't know how old you are, but your body is going to hate you one day, if it doesn't already. If you damage something, try to stay off of it until it heals. You're going to end up with permanent damage that you may regret.

But no, never had anything like that. Don't make it any worse if you can help it.

thesnowboarder

iTrader: (15)

I'll 23 on Wednesday, I have back pain everyday from my back injury last summer. I realize and know I'll have some issues when I'm older. I am not ready to give my lifestyle up anytime soon. I am pretty good at waiting till my injuries are healed, or close enough to be that is. I've missed 85 inches of fresh powder this entire past week because I am afraid of being out the entire season if i really hurt my knee, or if its already hurt :/

I have lost count of how many bones Ive broken. I don't take pain meds for anything either. The side effects bother me more than the pain of the injuries, or surgery's for that matter.

I am off to the Dr's on Monday, hopefully he's got some good news for me.

buffon01

iTrader: (9)

I've had meniscus surgery before. Recovery wasn't hard. Depending on the weather I sometimes get a pinching pain on the side of the knee. Other that I have no complain about the surgery.

thesnowboarder

iTrader: (15)

This is good to know. Mind if i ask how long it took untill you were 100% or as strong/pain free as it was/is going to be? Was it your inside or outside one? If it's mine, its the outside one that's hurt. Does cold or warm bother it?

Also wondering if you had serious pain when walking, or just minor pain? Main time I have pain is full extension or "full lock."

NA6C-Guy

iTrader: (1)

As long as you know what to expect 20 years down the road, go for it. I used to be kind of the same way, but have calmed down a bit in the last few years. Hope you get your troubles taken care of and get back to doing what you love.

Oscar

iTrader: (2)

Never tore the meniscus. Did tear a tendon about halfway, kneecap that popped out to the side and twisted it too many times. Not bad enough for surgery but still bad. It clicks every time I move my knee though. It'll be a weak spot for the rest of my life I guess.

hustler

iTrader: (6)

These are also symptoms of bursitis...maybe you should consider "active release technique". It helped me a lot on my shoulders and I've hurt them both so severely that I'm going back for more next week. www.activerelease.com

brgracer

iTrader: (14)

Don't skip your doctors appointment. At 23, your knee should NOT swell and have limited range of motion under pretty much any circumstances. It's not the pain that I'd be worried about either, it's the loss of range of motion. IF you need surgery, pain is not the issue, it's rehab. Biggest mistake people make is ignoring the rehab right after the pain is gone. If you want to continue enjoying the active lifestyle you have, after any injury/surgery, work on range of motion first, then proprioception (a huge part of keeping joints stable/balanced), and finally strength. Strength can be worked on anytime, you lose range of motion or proprioception and it may never return.

Also, in reference to recovery time post surgery, depends on how quick you "heal." One of the reason elite athletes are elite, is their ability to recover from injury/physical stress compared to the average Joe. That's why some pros can return so quick (think weeks) after meniscus surgery and even a hard core weekend warrior rehabbing like crazy takes months, even taking into account the extra resources, equiptment, and money the pros have.

buffon01

iTrader: (9)

I think I only did a month of therapy since the school insurance would not cover more than that. I'll say after month and half maybe two I was playing again. I really don't remember which one it was. I thinking interior by the way the injury happened. I just looked at my scars lol, and I'm very sure it was the interior. The only time I feel a bit odd is during cold weather. However, I think is just a matter of being used to it.

The summer of the year I had the surgery I left to play to Illinois. I don't recall feel any pain and I got to play at almost 0* temps, and I walked in -10* and saw lots of snow.

Also, I only had locking problems while I had the tear, and slightly after the surgery. I had no issues after, as far as locking knee, and pain during walking is concerned.

If you're are diagnosed with a tear, take the surgery- If it doesn't blow a hole in your pocket of course. I was lucky all got covered by the school insurance since my injury steamed from a High School game. Best $15 I have ever spend in my life. It save me $20k

papasmurf

iTrader: (1)

I tore my meniscus and mine actually flipped over jamming up the extension of my knee (i couldn't fully extend). I had surgery and they completely removed the meniscus. Quick recovery, they had me walk away from the hospital. There was some tenderness after the surgery but I quickly recovered.

neogenesis2004

iTrader: (12)

I totally sublucted(sp?) my left knee cap to the left side playing football in high school after taking a low hit from the right side. It popped back into place easily but it completely tore the meniscus on the right side of the left knee. I was in an immobilizer for a good 2 weeks if I remember correctly then I immediately started PT to work on range of motion and then some strength exercises to mainly work on stability. I never really lost any strength because I was able to put weight on it through the entire ordeal. Total recovery time was like month-ish. I remember still being able to finish the season.

Similar with my right knee surgery when I tore my acl, lcl, pcl. I was immobilized for nearly 6 months and only able to put weight on it for maybe 2 of those at the end. Then I immediately started PT focusing on ROM only for the first 2 months. Tons of stretching by literally putting 5-10 lb weights on top of my knee to stretch it out, and also hanging from my knee with it bent with me on my back. I would do those every day, as long as I could stand the pain each time. At first I would be lucky to get 20 seconds. Eventually it would go to 10minutes each time. After I had complete ROM back I started using the colored rubber band things for resistance since my right leg looked like a shriveled up POS. It took me a good 2-3 weeks of those before I could begin doing a squat under my own weight. After 2 weeks of just body weight I was able to start doing weighted squats and lunges. Lunges after a CL tear are ******* HARD when the bad knee is your back leg!

My recovery from that surgery was pretty fast for the PT portion. Like 2-3 months. The reason I was immobilized so long was because of the LCL tear on the outside of the knee. It completely tore from my femur and had to be reattached. I wasn't able to get into surgery until 2 weeks after my accident though and it had already begun fusing to my knee cap (GROSS), so they had to cut it off and then screw it to the femur in the correct spot.

Anyways, Tom is 110% correct. Working on ROM is #1 priority after a joint surgery, preferably using small weights to make it stretch and bite down on something if you have to to help with the immense pain. I had a mouth guard that I bought, boiled, bit, just for PT pain. The strength will come back quickly once the ROM is back.

pusha

iTrader: (5)

I'm currently living with a torn meniscus in some sort of nonsensical attempt to stave off surgery until after I graduate. The only way I can describe the feeling in my knee is like it's inflated, not physically of course, but it feels like there's air in it. It's not really painful, it's difficult to describe. Have you ever shot heroin? Yeah, it's kind of like that.

There is very little cartilage left and I've been told it's going to take an extensive amount of time under the knife to clear out the scar tissue/bone dust. So yeah, at 22, my right knee is totally FUBAR'd. Go see a good knee doctor, get an MRI, get it corrected and go to physical therapy. Don't be me.

JasonC SBB

I have a degenerative tear in my right knee's inside forward meniscus. It doesn't click or pop but I have all the other symptoms. I can do squats in the gym, but if I flex my knee deeply and put a load on it, yow!

2 surgeons have recommended surgery, but I read about it and the problem is that taking out part of the meniscus means the knee will develop osteo-arthritis much earlier. So I opted for prolotherapy and PRP (platelet rich plasma) injections, to promote healing. I'm 5 monthly sessions into it, and the progress is damn slow, but I'm 41. The injections hurt like hell, and when I stepped up to PRP, the 3 Vicodins for the injections weren't enough...

If you have popping and catching AFAIK you will need surgery to take out the bit that sticks out - but I think you should get the minimum taken out that stops the popping and let the rest heal, as opposed to taking out the whole torn part. I don't though know how you would go about finding a surgeon that would do it that way, because the prolo / PRP is on the "fringe" of medicine.

My prolo doc is in Los Gatos - there is one guy who is a pioneer of sorts, in the East Bay area, and another one in Alameda...

The problem is that the meniscus takes so damn long to heal. The outer portion has a blood supply and heals much quicker than the inner portion deeper in the knee.

Read these:
http://www.prolotherapy.org/prolothe...iscal-injuries

And this, on joint stability and regenerative medicine
http://www.regenexx.com/wp-content/u...s_2_0_v1.1.pdf

There is a 3rd option for me, but pricey - autologous stem cell therapy to heal the meniscus. The above e-book is written by a pioneer of the procedure, located in CO.

fmowry

iTrader: (8)

I had mine scoped 6 years ago to clean up a torn lateral meniscus. When the doc got in there, he found much of the bone in the area ground down. Apparently I really effed it up when I was 9 years old when I twisted it bad skiing. I never had any surgery or even got it checked out when I was young. I lived with pain and swelling whenever I played a sport but got used to it and it sort of healed over the injury. It was torn then and part of the cartilage rubbed against the bone making what the doc called "mashed potatoes".

Fast forward to 6 years ago. I was playing with my then infant kid and while I was trying to stand up from the floor, something in my knee popped and the knee locked in place. Went to the Dr. and he said a part of the meniscus floated and locked up my knee. He removed that and cleaned up the rest. I did PT for a couple weeks. It's stiff and sore for about a week and then I was able to get back to playing basketball after about a month of PT and simply running and getting back to weight lifting. That was when I was 36. I am a quick healer though.

Frank

neogenesis2004

iTrader: (12)

The stem cell therapy, while probably highly effective, is probably not covered by insurance :P

JasonC SBB

Correct.

Idiotic though, that they'll happily spend $20k on surgery but no $8k on stem cell therapy, nor $2k on PRP.

Preluding

iTrader: (10)

I tore my ACL and Meniscus a few years ago mountain biking. I waited 2 years to get surgery and its the worst thing I ever did (wait that is)

My knee was swelled huge and it took a solid 3 weeks for a lot of pain to go away. After that, my knee would randomly pop out and the pain would come back for a day so I had to watch what I was doing.

When I got the surgery it took 6-12 months to completely recover and now its my good knee instead of bad knee. They grafted a piece of ligament near my calves and inserted it as my new ACL. To fix the miniscus, they simply cut away the torn/jagged pieces so that my knee moves smoothly.

Fireindc

iTrader: (13)

Damn, sorry to hear this. I don't know what I would do if this happened to me since I rely on snowboarding for much of my income.

I saw a skier today who tore his ACL and he was in some severe pain, scary ****.