Torn Meniscus - any advice

[PowerthruIT]

Hi all,

My Husband was diagnosed with a slight tear in his lateral Meniscus about four months ago (after about a year of back and forth with NHS physio and finally given an MRI) and is due for surgery end of August. He is a little worried about the recovery time as he is a very active gym goer/walker (but avoids running or heavy leg weights since being diagnosed). He was debating whether to avoid surgery as there was a period for a few months where the pain completely went, but then suddenly returned and would flare up after a long walk, and would make walking up and down stairs painful, and sitting/sleeping could be painful when the leg was bent...so he thinks long term to go ahead with surgery.

Just curious if anyone else has undergone surgery for a tear and how the recovery was?

Thanks

I had surgery for this when I was 21. Never regretted it.

Recovery near-instantaneous unless there's any complicating factors.

Placeholding as exact same situation, awaiting results of the MRI and next steps.
it’s super painful and can get me down. hoping that surgery will help

My Husband went back and forth with the NHS physio and just kept getting fobbed off that the pain was 'wear and tear' despite the fact he said at the time of the injury, which was an innocuous fall, he had zero knee pain previously and literally could not straighten his leg for 2 weeks. Physio just kept providing various exercise plans that my Hubby is now convinced made it worse. Lesson learnt for next time: go private if you can afford it!

Running is the worst exercise anyway and very bad for knees and joints so he needs to get it into his head to not do that ever again and if he wants to be able to get up and down stairs and get back to the gym and walking then he needs to go ideally privately to the surgeon Andy Murray uses as he’s the only knee surgeon in the uk who is so good he will get husband back to where he was before the surgery - dr Gordon mackay in Stirling or Glasgow - and yes he’s worth every penny!!! I’ve had 4 knee ops on both knees for years and chips etc over the years and the surgery sr mackay did is the reason I’m still walking and still able to get up and down stairs

@PowerthruIT the NHS leave torn meniscus alone with just some exercises for about 3-5 months because often it will sort itself out. If they can avoid operating they will, understandably.

Your DH will be absolutely fine, it's a very minor procedure and it instantly resolves the pain.

Thank you for the reassurance, I’ve been fobbed off for near enough 18 months, physio agreed I need surgery but the clinic lead suggested more physio & turmeric ! Said it’s old age (I’m 47) !

I had GP appointment, who sent me to physio 2 months later. Had 6 months of physio. Went back to GP, who sent me for x-ray, which didn't show much so told to keep up with exercises. Still painful two or three months later, so went back to GP. Was sent for more physio and I pushed for an MRI scan. We're 15 months after initial GP appointment now. Two months later got MRI which showed clear tear. 6 months after that, operated on. Whole thing took 2 years from going to GP to having operation.

Knee was swollen after operation, but pain from tear gone. Was back at work (office-based) two weeks later. Took maybe 3 months for it to feel totally normal again.

Thought I’d up you all after having received results from my MRI, so not only a medial meniscus tear, my ACL & MCL also have tears….. with a little cartilage that’s also broken away …. Suffice to say I feel that I’m finally being taken seriously and have been referred to the knee surgeon…..

Hi, I have a torn medial meniscus and awaiting surgery. I can't straighten my leg at all and my calf can get very painful. I am now starting to get aching in my good leg . Has anyone suffered in this way and can anyone recommend any exercises to do?
Thank you

I tried physio for nearly 2 years trying to avoid a partial meniscectomy on both knees. I’m glad I had the surgery as I’m pretty much back to normal now. However I would say that it took a year to feel fully confident and 18 months or so on I still have some residual post surgical pain. Others I know were fine after a few months so I think my experience is not the norm. I’m far far better off than I was pre surgery and I’m back to playing tennis and skiing etc.

Thanks for sharing. It's good (in a way) to hear your experience. My Husband is coming up to 6 months post op and is still getting quite a bit of pain/flare up when he takes a long walk, or excercises the leg. He said its very similar to the pain 'pre op' so still actually feels like there is a tear and he does have some concerns.

However it would appear this may just be part and parcel of the surgical trauma to the knee area and it will just take time to fully heal. He does have a final 6 month follow up with the surgeon next week so he will discuss anyway but I suspect the surgeon will say no more than it will take a while before there is no pain at all after any moderate activity.

My calf seems to be hurting more than my knee at the moment 😔

I ended up having another MRI as I was so convinced the operation hadn’t worked. Weirdly once it had been JC firmed that everything was fine inside my knee it mostly went away so think it was a bit psychological.

I think also when I was exercising I was tensing up which was making things worse.

I also watched a YouTube video which said that it takes at least a year and that made me feel a lot better. I think that has the surgeon been a bit more honest with me my recovery would have been better.

I found that NOT exercising made things worse. I got an under desk bike to keep my knee moving a bit more rather then being static under a desk all day which really helped.