Torn meniscus - what to do? (And how much??)

[damemaggiescurledupperlip]

The physio at my GP surgery has confirmed a meniscus tear. She has booked me in for an injection and if that doesn't help I can start the long wait for an orthopaedic consult/MRI/ possible op.

She is adamant that no NHS doctor will look at an MRI done privately, so it is either one route or the other. The NHS wait for ortho will be 6m+

Can I ask: has anyone had the injection and found that it helps?

Has anyone gone privately for MRI -> operation, and if so what did it cost?

Bumpety bump

I am being treated at the moment by NHS physios for an ankle break. After the cast was removed they found a knee injury it is suspected meniscus tear and ligament damage.

The physio said this can only be confirmed by an MRI but he can only order an MRI for meniscus if the Knee is actually locked.

In the past I have had an arthroscopy (other leg) which worked really well but it was suggested this would no longer be done on the NHS.

I had torn knee cartilage (running v v fast intervals, not really properly warmed up, silly me) and I simply had (private/paid for) physiotherapy and a very slow "kneehab" overseen by my personal trainer who works with the physios. It took about 18 months before I felt really safe about doing anything & everything with my knee, and now that side of my body is stronger.

I did a lot of kneehab things, but a lot focussed on strengthening glutes, quads and calves - very slow step ups and step downs, really loading the leg, and eventually onto quite high plyo boxes in the gym, one-legged squats - (supported not pistol squats); squats on the TRX, so the TRX ropes took a lot of the weight - you can do a Spanish squat variation with bands as a substitute.

I stopped running for at least a year, and also stopped ballet class for that time.

I know am back to box jumping, broad jumping, short bursts of running, and ballet class. But I now take extra care getting the knees warm - as well as my standard warm up (30 minute walk to gym, a sequence of bodyweight squats & burpees) I add in about 5-10- minutes static cycling, to really get the sinovial fluid in my knee joints juicy.

My physio kept reassuring me that a) cartilage likes being stressed by things like jumping b) a certain amount of age-related wear & tear is normal, and needs attention in terms of warming up & staying strong, but it shouldn't stop me being insanely active & fit at my age (I was 65 when this happened).

But it's scary - feeling the Ping! of the tissue tearing ...

I did mine in August; medial tear. I paid £600 for MRI and consultant and another £200 for the follow up. It shaved 4
months off my wait for a diagnosis but to what end! Not sure really; still cannot walk the dog or drive very far but overall it’s improving. Pain was so bad I couldn’t sleep properly for the first two months. Apparently stabbing pain is trauma and aching is healing: I found that reassuring.

Nevertheless, hands down the biggest improvement has been seeing a sports physio for three sessions, he really helped reduce the pain right down and permanently so after a brutal massage.

i’d head to the best sports physio local to you: some are advanced and can order private MRIs and they are often much cheaper - I was told off for spending so much - he said I could have done mine for half the price.

DH was referred to consultant and had a private MRI in the meantime, which meant they could put him straight on the list for NHS surgery when he had his first appointment with the consultant. Waited 3-4 months for surgery. Surgery has helped a bit, but meniscus tears are tricky as we get older as the tissue is more fragile.

Knees are my families nemesis. Collectively we have had 4 meniscus tears. I have had two of them . For Both of mine I avoided surgery and resorted to private physio after getting a MRI .
The first one the surgeon was reluctant to operate due to my age (Late forties) declaring it would be like frayed jean material in my knee until he saw my MRI. At which point he declared it was a “young” tear and he could operate. (Tosser!)
But by then I was 3 months into physio and seeing improvement so I declined his kind offer.
The second one (opposite knee) I did the same . Both have healed well and I run 3 times a week on them although I don’t think I would risk a marathon
Both my children have also torn theirs and both had surgery quite quickly My daughters was a complete success. My son not so much and he is looking at surgery again
not sure about the injection my concern would be it would numb the pain so you could risk further damage without feeling it. I was never offered the injection but if I had I am not sure I would take it for this reason. Physiotherapy works on strengthening the muscles around the knee to support it and I think this would be my first port of call

Thanks all. Seems to be a bit of a lottery…

any more?

My knee has been painful for years
I've self referred for physio, done all the exercises. Had an MRI done privately about 3 years ago which didn't show anything of note. I play a lot of netball so I'm used to knee pain. I finally went back to the GP in October last year. At this point I was unable to walk without limping. I was referred to MSK, who then referred me for a 2nd MRI. This one showed multiple issues. I had a follow up appointment at a local clinic with a consultant, and will be having arthroscopic surgery soon (hopefully)

I had a severe meniscus tear in 2022. I was in agony. I also had a Bakers cyst. Self referred to a private consultant (nhs not interested - said it was my age and osteoarthritis not an injury). Private mri showed a severe lateral meniscus tear. No idea what caused it (consultant siadn towts quite common). I had steroid injections and once that kicked in I paid for a private physio and did all the exercises. Pain has resolved, but my knee still clicks and gives way occasionally if on uneven ground. Going down slopes/stairs isn’t easy.
I know I’ll need a partial knee replacement sooner rather than later (this is what the consultant said). I’m on the waiting list to see him for a consultation on the nhs. May end up going for the op privately depending on timescales.

Hi, thank you all for sharing. I torn my medial meniscus in November. I've had an MRI and I'm waiting for surgery. I'm in a lot of pain and I can't straighten my leg. My calf muscle is extremely sore aswell as I'm obviously walking or at least trying to alot differently.
I've only ever had one op, appendectomy so I'm a little apprehensive about GA and surgery but I know I can't carry on as I am so surgery is the only option.

I’ve just had knee arthroscopic surgery for a complex meniscus tear. It was done on the NHS (as was the MRI), but in a private hospital. I presume they are using the private sector to get the NHS waiting lists down. It’s been an improvement, but the surgeon said he found a fair bit of arthritis, so some of the ongoing pain is coming from that. I’m walking about half an hour a day (it’s 6 weeks since the surgery). Slow progress but it’s going in the right direction. Worse thing is I can feel the some thing developing in the other knee already!

I'm also having NHS treatment at a private hospital. Roughly how long did the operation take @MimiGC did you have a GA? Did you have trouble straightening your leg before the arthroscopy?

Surgery was done under GA and was quick, about half an hour. I was up and walking/ hobbling about an hour afterwards. I didn’t have any pain after the surgery and didn’t take any of the painkillers they sent me home with.
Before the surgery, I could always straighten and bend my leg (ie it was never locked), it just hurt. It did give way a few times though and made me fall down- once going up stairs at home and once crossing a road (thankfully a quiet one with not too much traffic!) Both times I was lucky not to be seriously injured.

Oh wow that's not good if you were falling over. Glad your surgery went well 😁

I had a severe meniscus tear and the GP kept palming me off with painkillers .. I was in agony and struggling to walk - then I went private through bupa when I discovered I was covered through work. Within 2 months I was operated on and ended up with a complex tibial osteotomy. The first week of recovery was incredibly painful but I did the exercises and was walking within three weeks. That was last March. I’m now in training again for my first hydrox and feeling good. Consultant fee was £250 x 3, operation was 4K and the MRi was £600. If I’d waited it would have been months and months, fortunately it was all covered and cost me nothing. The consultant did NHS patients as well as private and said his list was running at 18+ months via the NHS wait list 😩 If you can go private do it, it’s literally changed my life.

To my knowledge infections are storng versions of pills. They are also less frequent and stronger, but more likely to have adverse effects on the body to tablets. This is what i have learned.

My ds had a private MRI done in 2024, which was then used by NHS consultants. The NHS plan was to wait for physio triage and then refer for an MRI but we knew it was more serious, so got a private MRI done and took it to the GP, who read the summary and referred him for ortho straight away. The orthopods needed the full scan transferrred into the NHS system (they wouldn't look at a link on his phone for example) - this is an established process involving saying some magic words like "initiate image transfer protocol" or something (find out so you can say them when you go for the MRI if you do this - it added a slight complication that ds did it a couple of months later) and giving the hospital trust code. And it then appeared in his NHS records. It was pointed out to us that if someone has had an MRI done privately by a recognised centre it would be unethical to repeat. And wasteful.

So I would have a google and find the evidence that this is an established process - the NHS sometimes uses private centres itself i believe too. And I have done it the other way round - was referred back into the NHS for an MRI by a private physio and I then asked the NHS to send the results to him.

I had an op about 5 years ok and recovery was really straightforward - only got a print out of physio instructions. Ortho were quite dismissive until the MRI scan then I got the op fairly quickly - I had a lateral buckle handle tear and when it happened- woke up with it- I was in agony. I would maybe speak with someone else to see if they would accept a private MRI, as it was the MRI that got me treatment, my MRI was nhs but had to travel outwith my health board to get it.

Well I’m booked in for a private MRI!

Thanks very much everyone… will
see where I go after that

Hooray! Hope it gets the ball rolling for you.

I've recently contacted my hospital to be told the wait time for an arthroscopy is roughly 18 weeks. I'm 3 weeks in 😔
Does anyone have any exercise tips please? I have a torn meniscus and can't straighten my leg at all. My other knee is now starting to come out in sympathy and I'm so worried that will end up going the same way. I'm struggling walking and I can stand up for very long.

Have you seen a physiotherapist? I tore mine and was struggling to walk but had a holiday coming up. The physio gave me exercises to do to stretch out the knee. The best thing she did was give me reassurance that I couldn't "break" anything if I started to feel a particular sensation (not exactly pain) when doing particular exercises.

I've never had surgery but, gradually, my knee did stop hurting. I'm still careful though - no overstretching of my stride when I walk and try not to pivot etc.

I had severe knee pain, saw private physio as NHS wait was months. Had some sort of electrical treatment and exercises, didn’t really improve. Physio thought meniscus tear which was confirmed after private MRI (about £250) so had injection, privately again. Sorted it out within two days, 🤞been okay for three years.Back to tennis etc. and I’m old. All okay if you can pay, not great if you can’t ….

See if you can be referred to Physiotherapy. They can’t help the torn meniscus directly, but can give you strengthening exercises for the area around the knee. If walking and standing is really difficult, they may also suggest crutches, to take the weight off it while you are waiting for surgery. But, as I’m sure you are aware, a problem with one leg, does tend to set off problems in the other. In my case, the other knee and hip. It sucks.

Your GP can probably arrange a steroid injection to make you more confortable