i am nervous on my meniscus tear...please help and advise

We are not medical people here.Only a doctor or surgeon can advise yu whether to have the operation or not. We do not want to be giving wrong advice.

Hope you manage to do the right thing for you.

Take care and keep in touch

Sarah

I tore my meniscus about 3 months ago and went to see my physio for advice. She said that there was no need to operate on the tear because of the fact that i'm young (20) and it will repair itself naturally. 3 months down the line and it has pretty much healed fine, with a bit of scar tissue troubling me, but again my physio has said that will heal itself. I can't help with the MRI scans, but i was adivsed against surgery becasue of possible complications and the fact that I think it will increase the risk of ostearthritis in the future. I just rested my knee for 3 months, doing occassional exercises to keep the muscles around the joint strong and it has healed well! I hope this helps!

Meniscus tears come in several varities....simple which can be healed through physical therapy (swimming in your case) or surgery. The surgery is with a scope(3 small incisions). The surgeon goes in and trims up the damage, cleans out all the debris, puts in a stitch here and there to tighten things up and then you start immediately with physical therapy and use either crutches or a walker for a brief period of time (usually a week or 2). There is no bed rest. You are active immediately. My sister in law tore hers in late summer of 2014. They had already financially committed to a river cruise in Europe so she received an injection to help reduce the pain, took the 10 hour flight but limited herself on the walking tours so as not to irritate it, packed it in ice several times a day and took the return flight without issues. This was in early November. She had surgery within a week of returning home. By Christmas she was completely through therapy and back with her usual routine. She was 75 at the time. Anymore, as painful as it is, it is a routine repair and really doesn't cause much of a slow down in life as long as you follow the protocol established by your Dr. You may not be able to jump right backwards into sports for a few months as it does take time for it to completely heal as does all joint problems, especially the knee.

Now I have a question for you....I'm in the USA and we have a guy in the white house over here by the name of Osama and he is trying to cut health care costs. You aren't really him just looking for free help are you..LOL a couple of times.

Just have patience and you'll be back strong as ever in a short time and no bed rest will be involved other than giving the leg a chance to heal without steady and heavy strain in the beginning.

my personal view is leave well alone you are only 30  id say surgeon is right leave it and build up muscles ,       my meniscus tears were operated on and cutting away the tear just hurried up the arthritis  mind you i was 50 and by 55 id had knee replacements .so maybe that might give you some thought good luck

Hi I injured my knee playing .netball & after waiting 3 months for a MRI finally found out I had torn my meniscus. Depending

Hi I injured my knee playing netball just over a year ago. After waiting 3 months for a MRI finally was told I had a tear in my meniscus, I had to wait and see my consultant about 8 weeks after and if it hadent improved they would go in with the camera thing. I dident need to have it done and was told it wouldent need surgery, not all of the meniscus has a blood supply so depending were the tear is depends if it will heal on its own or not. The area where my tear was dosent have a blood supply, so It will remain torn but is small. I go to a pysio class once a week and also do exercises at home. Keep exercising your knee and it will strengthen it again eventually. Your consultant will be able to tell you all the results of your MRI.

We are not doctors here just people with their own experiences with health, injury and healing.  I would if possible get a second opinion. If you are not comfortable with the first. Many times the Meniscus can heal on it's own but sometimes surgery is required. I, myself would go for the second opinion then decide from there what treatment to take. Good luck to you and let us know the decision you make. We are here to give encouragement and support.