Anyone have any experiences with a meniscus tear in the knee? DD says that she is getting an MRI next week and the trainer is concerned it could be a tear. Surgery? Rehab time period? Pain?
Meniscus Tear
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Our trainers and ortho were afraid DD had one a couple of years ago. The doc had the MRI done and her knee problems turned out to be caused by weakness in her hip. Her symptoms matched those of a tear and I had no idea that was possible. After a couple of weeks of rehab she was good to go just had to continue strengthening the hip. Hopefully your DD has something less serious as well.
One thing the doc had told us was unless the tear was really bad surgery would be optional. It could possibly cause arthritis later in life and she wanted us to decide if that was worth it for a 13-14 yo kid. The doctor knew DD would only be worried about her softball career and not the 50 years after college so she wanted to avoid it if at all possible.
I've been living with one in my right knee for several years. Only occasional pain but I am not quite the athlete at 45 that I was at 18. My biggest issue is having my knee lock up while sleeping or stationary for a long time.
One thing the doc had told us was unless the tear was really bad surgery would be optional. It could possibly cause arthritis later in life and she wanted us to decide if that was worth it for a 13-14 yo kid. The doctor knew DD would only be worried about her softball career and not the 50 years after college so she wanted to avoid it if at all possible.
I've been living with one in my right knee for several years. Only occasional pain but I am not quite the athlete at 45 that I was at 18. My biggest issue is having my knee lock up while sleeping or stationary for a long time.
My DD has had two ACL reconstructions (different knees), both had meniscus damage. The first one she was 13 and they repaired the meniscus, which lead to a much longer rehab. If repaired you can't do any weight bearing for arouind 6 weeks, which slows the recovery process dramatically. My daughter did extensive underwater rehab during that time which I believe helped speed the process. The second surgery she was 14 and they said it was not repairable so they just cleaned it out. Not sure how old your DD is, but Dr. explained that they only really look to repair meniscus on very young kids.
Understand that even the MRI can only show so much and they have to make a decision when they get in there how they will deal with it.(some MRIs are better quality so make sure your ortho is good with the one your using or you'll have to do another) We were limited because of my daughters age on who would even take on the surgery. We went with a former MLB sports ortho in our region, and i believe that made all the difference rather than just using any local guy to do the work. The rehab location you choose is also just as important as the Doctor.
I know the feeling of anxiety and frustration as a parent and to the DD. My DD recovered from all, and infact committed last week to her college choice after multiple offers. The point being severaly coaches looked at that as a positive, feeling like it showed how driven she was to compete no matter what. Several also commented that they deal with so many injuries in college and only the driven kids will do the work to come back.
Understand that even the MRI can only show so much and they have to make a decision when they get in there how they will deal with it.(some MRIs are better quality so make sure your ortho is good with the one your using or you'll have to do another) We were limited because of my daughters age on who would even take on the surgery. We went with a former MLB sports ortho in our region, and i believe that made all the difference rather than just using any local guy to do the work. The rehab location you choose is also just as important as the Doctor.
I know the feeling of anxiety and frustration as a parent and to the DD. My DD recovered from all, and infact committed last week to her college choice after multiple offers. The point being severaly coaches looked at that as a positive, feeling like it showed how driven she was to compete no matter what. Several also commented that they deal with so many injuries in college and only the driven kids will do the work to come back.
Hi. I tore the outer part of the outer meniscus on my right knee running on an uneven sidewalk about 2 months ago.
It's still healing up but it's much, much better. I can even run a few miles now.
The meniscus is cartilage. And there are two of them (meniscuses? meniscii?) in each knee. They are shaped like a triangle. The base of the triangle is the lateral meniscus - it is the part nearest to the outside of the leg. The medial meniscus is the narrow end of the triangle and it's on the inside, towards the center of the knee.
Meniscus tears are usually indicated by swelling, and pain when twisting the knee or foot to the side. Can be quite painful.
Healing depends on where the tear is located - the outer 1/3 of each meniscus has a decent blood supply so it's more likely to heal on its own, with rest. The inner 2/3rds doesn't have much blood going to it. But in either case, the need for surgery depends on the type, size and exact location of the tear. An MRI will provide this info.
Good news is that 85-90% of tears heal up, and usually only in a few months. But time to healing depends on the extent of the injury.
In the short term, it's important to keep her knee and foot from twisting to either side. A knee brace or even an ace bandage wrapped securely around the knee will help stabilize it.
Also, please don't take the advice of a stranger over the Internet. Everyone is different and every tear is different.
Young people have way better prognoses than middle aged people like me.
Good luck! Pls check back and let us know how she's doing.
One good resource:
www.webmd.com
It's still healing up but it's much, much better. I can even run a few miles now.
The meniscus is cartilage. And there are two of them (meniscuses? meniscii?) in each knee. They are shaped like a triangle. The base of the triangle is the lateral meniscus - it is the part nearest to the outside of the leg. The medial meniscus is the narrow end of the triangle and it's on the inside, towards the center of the knee.
Meniscus tears are usually indicated by swelling, and pain when twisting the knee or foot to the side. Can be quite painful.
Healing depends on where the tear is located - the outer 1/3 of each meniscus has a decent blood supply so it's more likely to heal on its own, with rest. The inner 2/3rds doesn't have much blood going to it. But in either case, the need for surgery depends on the type, size and exact location of the tear. An MRI will provide this info.
Good news is that 85-90% of tears heal up, and usually only in a few months. But time to healing depends on the extent of the injury.
In the short term, it's important to keep her knee and foot from twisting to either side. A knee brace or even an ace bandage wrapped securely around the knee will help stabilize it.
Also, please don't take the advice of a stranger over the Internet. Everyone is different and every tear is different.
Young people have way better prognoses than middle aged people like me.
Good luck! Pls check back and let us know how she's doing.
One good resource:
Meniscus Tear in Knee
The knee injury known as a meniscus tear can be painful and debilitating. Learn more from the experts at WebMD.
www.webmd.com
She is 20 y/o at college. The school will be paying for the MRI and we have no clue who the Dr is or will be. She will not be participating in practices for the time being and their next games are next weekend. So that will allow some time to heal up...if that helps. Maybe we can do a facetime video call during her appointment.
- Nov 18, 2013
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My son had a miniscus tear. It took about 12 weeks to heal and several months before he got all his strength back. He made a full recovery and no long term damage.
Best of luck to your daughter. Hope she’s back on the field soon.
