Meniscus tear experience?

Callie

Always Dreaming of Disney Magic
Joined
Mar 31, 2005
Messages
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Anyone ever deal with a torn meniscus? I've been having knee pain recently, and the past few nights, when I roll over in bed, I get terrible pain in the knee. It feels like being stabbed. I decided to google, and it appears this is a common symptom of a meniscus tear, as well as some of the other times I feel pain. I due plan to visit a doctor, but was hoping to hear other's experience.
 
I had one years ago and the doctor said since I was going to be a professional athlete I could just wear a brace and let it heal up on its own but it never really ever felt right. It always felt "loose" or maybe a little weaker than the other. I never really had sharp pains though except for when it first happened when someone fell on it during a basketball game. If they offer you surgery to clean it up I would take it. I wish I had. Good luck.
 
Had a tear and arthroscopic repair and clean up about eight years ago. Best move I could have made!
 
I had one years ago and the doctor said since I was going to be a professional athlete I could just wear a brace and let it heal up on its own but it never really ever felt right. It always felt "loose" or maybe a little weaker than the other. I never really had sharp pains though except for when it first happened when someone fell on it during a basketball game. If they offer you surgery to clean it up I would take it. I wish I had. Good luck.

I'm going to try to avoid surgery, since I've already had a shoulder fixed. That was awful. I also can't chance missing work. I think it might have happened at work actually, when loading something heavy.
 

Knee pain is tricky. Googling is no substitute for an exam and diagnostic tests. While it may seem like a meniscus tear, there are many different causes of knee pain that have similar pain.

I ended up with a meniscus tear a couple of years ago. All I did was a small jump from a squat while demonstrating a dance move. Most likely, I'd already had a small one, and that particular move - and landing - made the tear larger and extremely painful.

The pain was enough that just living with it was not going to be possible, and I did end up having surgery. It was as an outpatient arthroscopic procedure and done under general anesthesia. My recovery went smoothly and quickly. I was able to walk out with the support of crutches, and stopped using the crutches by the next day. I teach, so I waited to have the surgery until after school ended, but had I been working I would have only missed a couple of days. A month later I was walking around a very hilly town on vacation.

Good luck!
 
I had mine surgically repaired a few years ago. Had to, the pain was too bad. Was able to walk out of the recovery to the car on my own. Never really felt any pain.
 
My DD has ACL and meniscus surgery 4 weeks ago. As I understand things, they can repair the meniscus or they can "trim" it. My DD had hers repaired so her recovery is longer. Apparently there is very little blood flow to the meniscus so a repair takes longer to heal. She was finally able to unlock her brace this week.

If you injured yourself at work wouldn't it be covered under Worker's Compensation?
 
Happened to me last year about 6 weeks before my summer vacation. I did some physical therapy but it's still not back to normal :/
 
My DD has ACL and meniscus surgery 4 weeks ago. As I understand things, they can repair the meniscus or they can "trim" it. My DD had hers repaired so her recovery is longer. Apparently there is very little blood flow to the meniscus so a repair takes longer to heal. She was finally able to unlock her brace this week.

If you injured yourself at work wouldn't it be covered under Worker's Compensation?

I can't really prove it happened at work....I just know I first felt pain one day, but figured it was just a sting.
 
I would definitely have a doctor image your knee. I fell and ripped my meniscus in two places. A piece of the meniscus kept getting caught in the knee joint and was getting pinched when I straightened my knee. This had to be cut away, that type of tear would not heal itself.
 
I can't really prove it happened at work....I just know I first felt pain one day, but figured it was just a sting.
I'm not sure what you need as "proof". Did you do anything else that might have caused it outside of work?
 
i must be a wimp........

i tore my meniscus in half, had the surgery and 4 months of physical therapy after surgery.

it hurt.
 
I've had meniscus tears in both knees - went to PT 6 times to strengthen my leg muscles and have been relatively pain free. I get a twinge every once in awhile but not too bad. I figured that I was pretty lucky to not to have had surgery.
 
i must be a wimp........

i tore my meniscus in half, had the surgery and 4 months of physical therapy after surgery.

it hurt.

No, you're not a wimp. It's different for everyone.

My mother (late 60s but in VERY good shape) had it done. She had a moderate tear. They first tried the whole physical therapy thing which did nothing (but it did get her knee in good shape prior to the surgery).

She did have the surgery and it took her ONE FULL year to really feel normal. She wasn't doing well for a long time. She also did close to 4 months physical therapy and then continued on her own in a gym (which she still does). She did finally get better but not as quickly as she had read on the internet.

OP, my mother didn't have any significant pain as you are reporting but she certainly had discomfort while walking. Prior to the surgery, she had a significant limp and instability of that leg so she started tripping often if the ground was uneven.

Everyone I know personally who has had this, never really complained of stabbing pain but they all ended up with some abnormal gait prior to the repair.
 
My DD has ACL and meniscus surgery 4 weeks ago. As I understand things, they can repair the meniscus or they can "trim" it. My DD had hers repaired so her recovery is longer. Apparently there is very little blood flow to the meniscus so a repair takes longer to heal. She was finally able to unlock her brace this week.

If you injured yourself at work wouldn't it be covered under Worker's Compensation?

Actually when a repair is possible it is in a area where there is a great deal of blood flow other wise they would of trimmed it out. Your daughter's age and level of activity plays a huge role as well. Younger people can recover so much faster than say a older person.

I have a meniscus tear in my left knee that I am dealing with right now. The position of the meniscus is in the posterior horn, meaning the back of the meniscus on the inside of the knee. I have had to put off surgery for this because of a leg infection that I have suffered, taking two months to heal, along with a bone tumor being removed from my lower femur. Because of where my tear is I am going to have a partial menisectomy, where they go in trim out the bad stuff.

As far as pain, it does hurt a lot while switching sides in bed. My orthopedic told me that the loose parts of the meniscus are moving against your kneecap and femur bone, this causing the pain.
 
If you believed the injury occurred at work, report it to your supervisor now so they can send you for medical attention through proper channels.

There are different types and degrees of knee injuries, so you can't diagnose it based on what others may have experienced.
 
Actually when a repair is possible it is in a area where there is a great deal of blood flow other wise they would of trimmed it out. Your daughter's age and level of activity plays a huge role as well. Younger people can recover so much faster than say a older person.
You're right, that's what I meant :). Her tear was in an area where there is more blood flow and so they could repair it v/s trimming it.

I have a meniscus tear in my left knee that I am dealing with right now. The position of the meniscus is in the posterior horn, meaning the back of the meniscus on the inside of the knee. I have had to put off surgery for this because of a leg infection that I have suffered, taking two months to heal, along with a bone tumor being removed from my lower femur. Because of where my tear is I am going to have a partial menisectomy, where they go in trim out the bad stuff.

As far as pain, it does hurt a lot while switching sides in bed. My orthopedic told me that the loose parts of the meniscus are moving against your kneecap and femur bone, this causing the pain.
*ouch* Good thoughts going out to you for continued healing {hugs}.

If you believed the injury occurred at work, report it to your supervisor now so they can send you for medical attention through proper channels.

There are different types and degrees of knee injuries, so you can't diagnose it based on what others may have experienced.
I agree. OP, I think it's better to go through your work channels than to have your insurance company come after your work to try to stick the cost of your medical care with Workers Comp after the fact. I *just* received a letter yesterday from my family's insurance company asking for details of my DD's injuries so they can recoup some of their costs. The form asked if the injury was at work (to hit up Workers Comp), of if it was on someone else's property (so they can hit their insurance up for the costs), did it take place in a car (to hit up your/their car insurance) or if we sued someone and received a settlement (so they can take some of it).
 
Anyone ever deal with a torn meniscus? I've been having knee pain recently, and the past few nights, when I roll over in bed, I get terrible pain in the knee. It feels like being stabbed. I decided to google, and it appears this is a common symptom of a meniscus tear, as well as some of the other times I feel pain. I due plan to visit a doctor, but was hoping to hear other's experience.

I had the symptoms for roughly 20 years. No way to know for certain that is when I tore it. Had no idea what it was and went in when I did something that made it worse. I was training for the Disneh marathon. Went in and I has a complex tear (a read that look like a "Y" instead of just a simple single line tear). Doc said he could fix it and I could still do the marathon.

In the end, I only rehabbed well enough to do bye half. That was disappointing. However, wouldn't change a thing because that knife in my knee pain I had for 20 years was totally and noticeably absent when I woke up from surgery.

There was nothing they could do back then for it and I had no real action that caused it. My knee popped while curling my hair in 7th grade. The pain was bad--but my mom thought it was kind of silly so we never followed up. Grateful the surgery was developed. I have been pain free for 9 years now.

Oh--and walking was easier post surgery when I was able to walk. My rehab pace was faster than my pre-surgery ability.

My time line:
1987 symptoms began
Sept 2005 ran uphill on treadmill and heard a loud pop and knee was warm and had mild swelling that wasn't there before. Also, pain was more than the knife feeling.
Oct 25ish Surgery -- first 4 days were not pleasant. My leg was jello after splint removed at 24 hours post op, then it stiffened and for stuck into the position it was in while I slept that night. When rehab began, first order of business was to make my leg unstuck. I would have preferred to never do just.

About a week or so into rehab, began walking.
Cleared in November to pursue walking the half.
By January ended up doing a run walk to ensure on time finish.
My PT lasted through January--because I has a specific mobility goal in mind, the Pt worked my knee hard because he could.

And knee still had some popping (expected) and I iced A LOT. By about 4 or 5 months post surgery, that became less necessary.

Best decision was to have that surgery.

The decision to repair or shave is based on location. There needs to be blood vessels for a repair to heal and those are not present everywhere. I had none where my tear was, so they just shaved mine out. The initial rehab is longer for repairs.

*this isn't to say you will be able to do what I did. It is to say that normal does eventually return. And I did take pain meds. :-)
 
Well I've had knee problems before, and have had therapy for them. Never had an MRI done, but I was an athlete most of my life. So it could have been an old injury that is flaring up, or it also could have happened when I was moving some boxes....so I'm not 100% sure if its work related or not.
 
Well I've had knee problems before, and have had therapy for them. Never had an MRI done, but I was an athlete most of my life. So it could have been an old injury that is flaring up, or it also could have happened when I was moving some boxes....so I'm not 100% sure if its work related or not.

If you believe it is due to both, there might be apportionment done. If there's doubt, report to your supervisor.
 














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