Torn Meniscus

donrhummy

Has anyone here ever torn their meniscus? How did you deal with it? Did the pain go away? What treatment options were you given and which did you choose?

Garry H

donrhummy wrote:

Has anyone here ever torn their meniscus? How did you deal with it? Did the pain go away? What treatment options were you given and which did you choose?

Yes,in the knee. I dealt with it by carrying on training until it got so bad, painful and stiff that I had no option but to stop. In the end, following an MRI scan, I had an arthroscopy whereby they also snipped the torn bit away. That was about 12 years ago now and I've never really had a problem since.

If you know that it's torn, I assume you've also had it scanned?

skavanagh.bikeradar

Hello, I tore mine (a sizeable chunk came off and floated about) in my knee too playing football 14 and a bit years ago. Still got it in a jar, it was quite big! Key hole surgery didn't quite work so left a scar, boo However despite prediction of early arthritis in the joint so far (touch wood) all is well and it isn't affecting cycling at all. However it can't take much running these days or football as it has a dull ache afterwards for a couple of days.

So, I'd say don't worry about it at all. I remember reading somewhere that they put something in your knee these days to prevent the predicted arthritis anyway so should be good as new afterwards.

slunker5

I have just had my 5th arthroscopy and It has now left me with no cartlidge at all. I used to be a footballer then runner now cyclist. Being on the bike is no problem as the cartlidge is basically a shock absorber so if you stay away from impact sports you will be fine.

Recovery time would be between 2-4 weeks maybe sooner depending on the quality of the surgeon.

donrhummy

The doctor's trying to convince me not to get surgery as he says it's invasive and known to cause arthritis after only 20 years. So I've had a cortisone shot and we'll see how that goes.

skavanagh.bikeradar: any chance you could find info on the replacement for the torn meniscus? If I were to get surgery on it, replacing it would be my first choice.

slunker5

You ca't really replace cartlidge. There is a procedure to "replace" cartlidge but I sure this is only done privatley and is expensive. Also not sure how well the "replacement" takes.

Getting keyhole surgery to repair the tear is pretty non-evasive as it's only 2-3 small cuts about 1 cm wide.

The thing with a torn cartlidge is that it may lock your knee or cause clicking when bending. If it is torn I would repair it.

skavanagh.bikeradar

Hello again. Funnily enough it was on a forum post (elsewhere) a while ago. Someone asked the same as you and some fella reported that he'd had a bit of cartlidge from his shoulder stuck into his knee (I think). However he was American so he would have been funding it himself. Not sure what is available over here. But I'd hope that things are better now than they were......oh god! it's a lot longer than I thought, it was 1988! 20 years ago. So I should be getting that arthritis about now then.

If you've got occupational health insurance/BUPA cover I'd use it now for this. Good luck chap.

donrhummy

Thanks! I'm going to look for a second opinion as my doctor hasn't really been that impressive.

lochindaal

just had both knees done last week. one knee the swelling has gone already and the other a bit stiff still.

looking to get on the trainer shortly to continue etape training.

If you have BUPA cover just get referred straight away by your GP. Opp done in about 2 weeks from appointment