r/MeniscusInjuries

As im laying here on the couch day three after surgery i really really feel the internet is the worst echo chamber of negativity.

I had to remove 35% of my meniscus the inner, he preserved the middle and outer layer. This surgeon is the best in my country, no one comes even close because i did not want to take any chanches, regular rehab had failed and the knee locked two times.

But reading about menisctomy on the internet i only hear fucking horror stories and to be honest i am scared now.

Im gonna post description of what my surgeon did here:

Procedure

Diagnostic arthroscopy, medial meniscectomy, and partial synovectomy of the left knee.

Indication

Reference is made to previous notes showing a complex medial meniscus tear as well as synovitis, no significant osteoarthritis. Persistent symptoms without effect from exercise/rehab, as well as locking symptoms; operation is indicated.

Surgical Note

General anesthesia. Stability testing unremarkable. Surgical safety checklist performed. Local anesthetic administered intra-articularly. Lateral camera portal, medial working portal. Suprapatellar region calm without synovitis or loose bodies. Patellofemoral global grade 1 degeneration of the patella; trochlear groove looks good.

Moving down medially, placing the leg in valgus. Moderate but irritated medial plica is removed. Immediately observe a posterior medial meniscus tear with 2 large flaps divided down the middle extending from the posterior horn to the junction of the middle third, featuring both vertical and horizontal tear components. Trimmed clean, edges smoothed, examined thoroughly with a probe. Joint surfaces minimally uneven femorally, but no deeper than grade 1 changes at most. On the tibia, clean without osteoarthritis. Inspected behind the meniscus: no loose bodies and no irritation.

Removed a portion of Hoffa's fat pad to gain intra-articular visualization. Normal PCL, normal ACL. Laterally, with the leg in the figure-of-four position, a normal meniscus and clean joint surfaces are observed. Inspected behind the meniscus here as well, with no findings of loose bodies or irritation. Checked through the joint once more with no findings of loose bodies or other visible pathology. Procedure concluded. Portals sutured, local anesthetic injected intra-articularly. Dressing applied.

Plan / Assessment

Intraoperatively, both a large medial meniscus tear and solid anterior synovitis were found as potential causes for the symptoms. The patient may bear full weight on the knee from the start. Physical therapy rehabilitation is recommended.

Im really really thinking i just fucked up my life by reading on the internet. Im 38 years old

I have been living a very active lifestyle all of my life...

Went in for posterior horn root tear of medial meniscus, wake up out of surgery and they say “no root tear!”Crazy because the mri picked that one up and confirmed by several opinions.

Obviously this is a good thing and they said the surgery went great, but how? Doc said it was a small complex test they sewed up and I’m not in a lock out brace and he wants pressure on crutches starting right away.

That seems optimistic no? 4 weeks planned 0-80 degrees with my follow up Sept 2 ( 2 weeks) .

Most confusing, I talked to him coming out of surgery and didn’t get to find out where the tear was and how it wasn’t the root.

Should I just heal up and move on or be worried something could have been missed?

Also, owie it’s sore!

I have been diagnosed with a large lateral meniscus tear involving the root with a meniscal fragment trapped in my joint as well as extrusion. Anyone been in the same boat as me? What ended up happening and how was your experience.

I am 6 weeks out from a medial root repair and was cleared today for weight bearing. The doctor checked me for range of motion, which was fine, then told me that I should be walking every day to build back strength, and then left the room without watching me walk.

While I can walk, and the original pain that sent me to the doctor is gone, there is definitely pain on the medial side of my knee -- achy soreness. Is this normal? Or are people just coming off of NWB and feeling fine? I'm using my walker still, and I have a cane. I'm icing now, and hoping that tomorrow things feel a bit better, but can anyone give me a sense of whether this pain is normal, and how long it might stick around?

A search on these boards doesn't really deliver many people reporting in right after weight bearing, so anyone's experience would be great!

I was diagnosed with a partially healed medial meniscus tear of the posterior horn OR mucoid degeneration - the report said it could be either but ultimately concluded it’s the former.

My question is - if it’s an old tear, could I have irritated it to the point of it becoming so painful? Could it be mucoid degeneration and that’s what causing me so much pain?

Sometimes I think that maybe I have become extra sensitive to the pain in this knee - before I knew I had a miniscus injury I was better at pushing through. Now I’m finding it a huge mental hurdle to even walk a short distance because every time I feel the pain I’m scared I’m making it worse. Anyone else feel like this after finding out about their injury? :(

I’m meeting with an ortho and a new physio this week but just feeling anxious and looking for any insight from the community.

I got surgery to repair a bucket handle tear, I was told that I would be on crutches for 6 weeks, tomorrow make it four weeks. I just use the injured leg to like stabilize myself putting a little weight barely on it, However I feel like im behind, am I supposed to be walking by now? or even partial weight bearing.

I've been recently diagnosed with a meniscus tear by my GP and Physiotherapist. I'm seeing an orthopedic surgeon on Friday. The symptoms started 3 weeks ago.

I've had severe anemia in the months before my meniscus tear, so I haven't been very active. However, I had surgery (Novasure) to stop the bleeding, and my iron levels are now on the rise.

I was more than ready to start moving again and going to the gym when the tear happened in an uneventful way. My knee just started acting up all of the sudden and made clicking/popping noises plus it started swelling.

Now 3 weeks later I walk with a walker or crutches and still can't walk for more than 20 meters without severe pain. Not only my knee hurts but my shin, calf and upper leg will sometimes hurt too. I'm unable to drive a car or go do grocery shopping. Is this normal? I read some people "only" walk about 3 mile and I'm like "how in heaven's name?". I feel like I'm doing something wrong.

Can someone reassure me?

So my 18 year old son thinks he may have torn it doing heavy squats. He was in some pain but has rested it for 3 weeks now and is pain free. The PA said surgery but we haven’t met with the surgeon yet (this week). Is there any way to salvage his season? It’s his senior year and he is a captain. He will not be playing in college. Has anyone done PT and possibly injections and played? As he is not in pain it seems odd to jump right to surgery but he has been resting it. I’m so sad for him. Even if he was able to rest it and do PT and possibly play the second half of season or maybe the last few games that would be awesome but clearly I don’t want his injury to become worse. I wonder if there’s any way to put off the surgery until after the season. Anyone have experience like this?

Hi all, i had my 6 week post op appointment today and got the brace removed. My surgeon said im walking like i’ve got a peg leg, are there any exercises or techniques to improve this?

Also they mentioned not having deep flexion for another 6 weeks, what is considered deep flexion?

I thought I'd put an update here since doesn't seem people who are doing well 1 year old op ever update. I had a meniscus repair last year. I will say the first 6 months sucked. The past 6 months are getting better. I won't stay in 100% but I do believe alot of that has to do with the muscle loss I experienced from the 5.5 months between injury and surgery and the slow surgery recovery. My surgeon and physiotherapist was very cautious with my recovery since I had a worse tear than originally thought. Medial meniscus repair with a lateral meniscus trim. Medial meniscus involved 90% and lateral 20%. I had some post op complications nothing insane but lost function of my quad muscle and my knee cap was out of place due to muscle weakness.

Anyways 1 year post op I feel I can do almost everything except running still feels weird and very unstable (might be partially confidence/mental). I do occasionally still not lift my leg enough when walking if I'm overtired ie days I do long walks or bike rides and I have tripped a few times. If I stub my toe or trip my knee occasionally swells for a few hours and is uncomfortable for the next day or two. Mentally this sometimes freaks me out. I should be exercising more but mostly lately I've been rebuilding the muscle living my life ( young kids so lots of outings).

Long story short:::: 1 year post medial meniscus repair and I'd say I'm about 90% back to pre injury. Most days I don't even think about my knee. And really only uncomfortable (not even painful) after tripping or over doing it. Recently moved so lots of bending and lifting has been happening.

For context I am F26, and very sporty usually a runner and am not the most flexible person! I had my meniscus tear surgery at the end of November (9 months ago) on my right knee, the surgeon just trimmed a little bit of meniscus out.

I did physio very thoroughly and my muscles are back to normal. However, I still have extreme pain with my right knee, I had an MRI a few days ago and the MRI shows everything normal and healed, but no explanation as to why I have severe pain and still need to click the knee all the time (no locking). The surgeon has suggest a cortisol injection to see if that helps, but I have been reading these are usually only temporary solutions. Anyone else had this or an idea why I still have severe pain when the MRI shows everything normal?

Also I still cannot fully squat down with my knee (as if you were doing an Asian squat on a toilet) is this normal?

Thanks for your help!!

Hi, I’m officially 10 days post ACL reconstruction (hamstring graft) and x2 meniscus repair (bucket handle tear on both sides). I was able to have family visit and take care of me for a week post operation, but now I am on my own and am getting exhausted so easily.

I have time right now to take it slow but I need to return to my normal life soon: 21 y/o university student with 2 part time jobs.

I currently am on crutches, taking ibuprofen and acetaminophen PRN, and have the Game Ready cold machine until Friday. I’m required to have the straight leg brace on for at least 6 weeks total, which limits my mobility a lot :( I’m concerned when the new semester starts I won’t have the energy to get through the day and I want to reduce risk of fall and the stress.

I’m aware I won’t be able to return to full swing of things right away, but I’m looking for any accommodations for home, travel, school, work, other health related issues.

What have you gotten/asked for that makes life easier post operation?

I’m almost a month out from my posterior medial repair (2 sutures/ anchors). I have been fully weight bearing as tolerated with crutches for 3 weeks. I’m locked fully in brace until next week where it’ll be unlocked at 90.

I am planning a week long trip where there will be a decent amount of walking 3+ miles a day I’d say, maybe up to 5 a day or two. My Pt said it should be fine but for anyone else who has traveled and had to walk a decent amount , should it be fine at 4 months? I know I’ll experience some swelling most likely but other than that any other issues anyone has had?

I returned to work (restaurant) fully at 3ish month post acl/ meniscus repair but I was still a teenager and I had less restrictions throughout recovery.

I’m 20 yr old dancer, I was in a car accident last year where I hit my knee off the dashboard, I seen a knee specialists who was concerned about my meniscus, cartilage and ACL. I got an mri and X-ray but they came back clear. I’ve been doing physio for a year that hasn’t helped. My knee locks, instability, in constant pain daily that I’ve now had to finish dance. I can barely make it through a day of work. I’ve now developed a new pain in the medial region that’s sharp when I squat. What do I do

Started having knee pain along the interior of the kneecap and calf muscle, especially down one side on the left side and at the back of my knee. After the x-ray showed mild osteoarthritis I asked for an MRI and this is what the results say:Irregularity and abnormal signal intensity within the posterior horn which extends to the footprint. Suggestive of a tear.

I looked at the MRI with the sports orthopedic surgeon and he said that the root area looked abnormal, the IT band looked abnormal, and the Baker cyst looked abnormal, but he could not confirm a tear and recommended surgery only after I balked at his initial recommendation of a Cortizone shot but told him that my out-of-pocket Max had been met for the year and insurance was ending at the end of the month. Now I’m second-guessing myself to go through all the pain and suffering for meniscus root repair if it’s for no reason? I’m not sure what to do!

has anyone to the surgeon about doing a orthoscopy and just making sure that there is indeed a root terror and would they stop tunneling and repair if it did not show to be torn and would they go forward and repair any injury in the meniscus horn?

I feel like the MRIdoes not clearly show or explain for definitive that I have a meniscus root tear. Any suggestions? I’m planning on trying to get into a second orthopedic surgeon, but my surgery is scheduled for 31 August.

Hello! I am a 51yo F and have a complete posterior root tear of the medial meniscus. Surgeon said I am an excellent candidate for repair surgery. Very minimal arthritis at the moment. (Surprised me. Lol) I plan on getting an ice machine, a raised toilet seat, and bars to help me get up and down on the toilet. Is there anything else you'd recommend me getting for mobility?

Also, how much pain were you in afterwards and for how long? I'm getting pretty nervous. Thanks for your input.