Agter what I believe too much stretching and strenght work on knee I injured myself and ran marathon on it!
I got MRI showing liquid in knee and meniscus crack.
My osteo believes it is mostly a tendon issue and that I should resume training soon (this was before MRI results)
Doctor from MRI labs is saying that meniscus crack is “clean†and that I should be able to run with tendons pain gets better and doesnt seems to worried about future running.
I went to knee specialist (he is a knee surgeon) who is telling me that either now or in few years I should have arthroscopy to remove a part of the meniscus!
Should I wait and see or get surgery now?
I am 60 years old, did many marathons and few IM, have Roth in July 2019 so if I get surgery better now than next year
I feel that pain is more in tendons and not in the knee
i jusr ran Berlin and had pain during the race and afterward but I believe it is more because of elongated tendons (syndrome ptte d’oie in French)
Now two weeks after Berlin, pain is mostly gone but I just biked and didnt run yet!
Would you consider surgery or wait?
For those who had arthroscopic meniscus surgery, how long until resuming normal running and biking?
Thanks
I have never heard the term crack related to a meniscus injury. I tore mine while training for Boston. I had an MRI done and saw an ortho surgeon. He told me to schedule surgery for his next available which was 4 weeks away, rest it for two weeks and try to run. If it was good, cancel the surgery. It wasn’t. I had surgery in April 2014 and did short distance triathlon that year. I was super cautious in my return to running. Have been fine every since. Did an IM in 2017.
I personally wouldn’t do the surgery if I didn’t have pain in daily life or during my favorite athletic activities.
I had mine done March 2014, completed IM Chattanooga September 2014. If it is just a scope and trim, and depending on where the tear is, you could be back up and at it pretty quickly. I was running in 6 weeks, swimming and biking in a week post op. I did develop a drift toward that knee when swimming, wasn’t kicking as hard. It went away though.
I agree with what others have said, give it some time, but be ready to pull the trigger on the surgery if it doesn’t improve. I injured mine in December, and gave it until mid February before seeing the doc and scheduling surgery, couldn’t run more than a mile though without it being unbearable.
Surgery is less and less indicated for this type of injury. More and more research is indicating that after 1 year the outcome from physical therapy and surgery are identical.
Meniscus cracks and tears or whatever creative term is used merely indicate arthritic changes within the knee. If this is truly the reason for pain it will likely resolve with time and PT as the meniscal changes have been there asymptomatically for quite some time.
MRIs don’t show pain and can’t typically tell you the pain generating structure. Bottom line is go to PT and don’t rush into surgery.
Surgery is less and less indicated for this type of injury. More and more research is indicating that after 1 year the outcome from physical therapy and surgery are identical.
Meniscus cracks and tears or whatever creative term is used merely indicate arthritic changes within the knee. If this is truly the reason for pain it will likely resolve with time and PT as the meniscal changes have been there asymptomatically for quite some time.
MRIs don’t show pain and can’t typically tell you the pain generating structure. Bottom line is go to PT and don’t rush into surgery.
This!! Sham controlled studies (fake surgery!) shows that it is not effective to remove the meniscus in many cases. Supervised neglect and/or physical therapy/activity is just as good.
Thanks, in fact when I mention crack it is probably a tear (i am French and the injury is fissure du menisque) and tear is probably a better translation.
I’ve had arthroscopic surgery due to meniscus tears 4 times now, 2 for each knee. My first was in 1984 and I haven’t run since but all of them were done after months of hobbling around in pain. Would they have resolved themselves on their own? I don’t know but my outcome has been pretty good as I can do almost everything except run. That’s why I’m an Aquabiker these days.
I had surgery in one knee at 58, bigger tear. 70% of medial posterior horn removed. Result of bike crash.
At 65 other knee had more of degenerative “potholes”. Got stem cell ( hip bone marrow) and prp. Waited for it to take effect about 9 months and am still running with no pain 70+, but spend more time with mobility drills, massage and better anti inflammatory diet. Work on muscle imbalances and good mechanics/form.
I tore my meniscus training for the NYC marathon. My tear was due to osteoarthritis. After consulting with several physicians and orthopedic surgeons who were familiar with distance runners and long course triathletes I came to the conclusion that the first physician I talked with was right on the money. Finding someone to cut and operate isn’t hard. What’s hard is fining someone to tell you the truth, recognize it and acting upon. I can still run. I am slow now though by anybody’s standards. But I can run and I’ll continue to do so until it’s no longer possible.
Again, I have osteoarthritis and a left medial meniscus tear. For me the truth is that surgery won’t really help me return to my modestly fast running. It can, in fact ,make things worse – sometimes much worse. That’s also going to be true of many surgeries on the knee. There’s very little blood flow to much of the meniscus area and thus it does a horrid job of healing. We could have used a better design.
If your meniscus tear is from an acute injury I’d suggest carefully looking at the prognosis leaving things as is as well as the prognosis over the long term if it’s operated on.
Left medial cracked to hell… 10-15% left. Yeah I can run but I’m slow…even slower then I was before. Surgery was the only choice as I could not walk with a normal gate with a piece of my meniscus restricting movement. I have trained myself over the years to do nothing sudden anymore.
Surgery is less and less indicated for this type of injury. More and more research is indicating that after 1 year the outcome from physical therapy and surgery are identical.
Meniscus cracks and tears or whatever creative term is used merely indicate arthritic changes within the knee. If this is truly the reason for pain it will likely resolve with time and PT as the meniscal changes have been there asymptomatically for quite some time.
MRIs don’t show pain and can’t typically tell you the pain generating structure. Bottom line is go to PT and don’t rush into surgery.
