Meniscus Injury during sport

I tore the medial meniscus in my left knee while dancing on-stage back in 2008. Tore the right one in 2010 playing football. Left came back quickly, strong as ever. Right never did, and still feels... I guess "shaky" is the word. Moral of the story: even in the same person, no two tears are the same. The size and location of the tear can make recovery difficult to predict. But the odds are good that, with proper physical therapy, you should recover and be at or near 100%.

 

I tore the left medial meniscus when I was in high school. Kept working out through it and it got better. Finally, I quit working out and tried to start back up a few months later and it was really bothering me. Doctors said it was a meniscus and possible ACL. I figured it wasn't an ACL since I played two years of football on it. MRI confirmed the meniscus and no ACL injury. Finally I had a meniscectomy and not a repair. I walked out of the hospital, with a tiny bit of help from crutches, about two hours later. No real problems since. I was back at work and school in about three days. Pretty bad tear, too.


If you opt for the repair, recovery will take a while, as there is very limited blood flow to that area.

 

Tore my meniscus a few years ago and it wasn't until a year after that I had it looked at and confirmed. Basically the torn section kept popping out of place until finally it overlapped itself and wouldn't move back. When that happened I couldn't move at all. Up until that point I was moving pretty good and exercising like normal, except my knee would pop a lot.

I ended up getting that piece removed because the tear was so bad and in a location where a repair wouldn't get enough blood and oxygen flow to heal properly. I could walk slowly and only for short distances a few days after surgery. About a week I was walking much bettter and then about a month later I was slowly getting back into my workout routine. I'd probably say it was a good 3-6 months until I truly felt 100%.

A year later I did Warrior Dash and 2 more mud runs since. And I'm slated to do Tough Mudder, if I can recover from hernia surgery in time. The knee has held up just fine.

 

Yes.

I tore the meniscus playing soccer back in 2002 or 2003, I can't remember, and then had surgery. Now the whole knee isn't the same. I also had an MCL tear of 20% which I think was the cause of the tear or the other way around. I think mine may have been worse than you, but arthroscopic endomeniscectomy to repair it only evened out the torn pieces that were causing the pain. The meniscus isn't 100% anymore.

The good thing that came out of it was that I could kneel and squat perfectly again when I couldn't before that. You can expect your knee to not ever be 100% or even close to it for the rest of your life, unless you get reconstruction.

Recently I've been having pain again and I can run but with pain the next day or when the knee cools. Do you feel well while playing, but then have the pain later?

 

I apologize. I misread initially and thought you already had the MRI. Yeah, that's the only way to be sure. If you experience no real pain, you're going to be way better than what I thought you would be and you're way healthier than me. Hope it's nothing serious for you and you don't need extensive work. It will help if you strengthen the quads and hamstrings, though, that's what I've read in years after my surgery.

 

Had meniscus tear in January playing basketball. I did finish out the game, but knew something was wrong so I stopped after that. Had the clicking, slight pain, and felt weakness in the knee. Thought I was well enough after a month to play flag football in February; bad idea. Maybe I could've healed without surgery before, but after that, had pain when doing anything but walking. Found out I tore both the lateral and medial meniscus and had a bone fragment probably from football. I would recommend you get the MRI and try the PT route if it's not a bad tear, and don't play any sports for until they think it's safe.

Decided to get surgery in late April to snip off the flaps that were causing the clicking and inhibited movement and remove the bone fragment. Crutches for a week. Did a couple weeks of PT. 3 months later played soccer. Played ultimate last Sunday (3.5 months post-op) and went hard like I used to. Although I felt a little uncomfortable jumping off that leg by itself, no major issues or soreness afterwards so I'd say I'm 80-90%.

I still feel like I don't want to play flag football or basketball quite yet since they require more quick movements and cutting, but I should be ready soon.

 

How did you guys tear it? What movement were you doing and how did it happen?

 

I've torn it in both my left and right knee. In the right knee it required minor surgery to remove a lose body created by the tear and I was good to go in six weeks. However, the tear in my left knee was accompanied with an ACL tear as well. Much different story there. To sum that up... Lets just say that whenever the weather is about to change, I'm among the first to know.

Both injuries happened by landing awkwardly while playing basketball several years apart.

 

I am so glad the worst injury I have ever received was a high ankle sprain. Can't imagine tearing my meniscus or acl. Sucks OP.

 

It's not painful at all when it happens. I bumped knees with a dude in soccer, and I wasn't aware of the tear until later. Just imagine a bump, and slight swelling, and that's it. Then it hangs around.

 

Well, its not the pain I'm worried about, its the possible permanent loss of athleticism and the psychological damage it does to you (you'll never be the same type of confident player again). Maybe I'm just a p***y, but I would imagine if I ever got an ACL tear or meniscus tear I'd always have it in the back of my mind whenever I play again; overcompensating, etc.

 

Sometimes I wear protective gear when playing sports, just in case. I look silly, but it protects me from injury.

 

I definitely felt that way in the first year after surgery but now I hardly even think about it. Went indoor rock climbing in July for the first time since my surgery and no problems at all. Hasn't affected my athleticism one bit, although I suppose over time I may be more prone to arthritic problems in that knee.

Damnedest thing. Was teaching frog hops to my students and stood up from a squatted position and bam. Now I never stand from a squat without finding some leverage with my hands. There's too much stress placed on your joints in that position to not do so.

 

Usually it's when your leg twists as is planted. I believe I did mine doing dead lifts.

I've been okay since mine. Was nervous to squat and do leg press for a while, but I can now.

 

I had tears in both knees and had surgery two years apart. Also had a lot of bone work done so a little different. Right knee took a year and a half to recover and not be painful in everyday life. Left took a few months and then I was fine.

Knees obviously are not 100% but I am much much better overall. Can run and play soccer with minimal issues. Before surgery I could play but then take about a week to recover.