torn meniscus advice?

I'll be following along on this thread. About once a week my left knee...gets out of alignment....and is painful to take steps on.

I end up laying on the floor , face down with my leg splayed out to the side of me, pushing, pressing ...till it pops back in.

Everyone has had a meniscus tear; I tore mine hop scotching with the grand kid. 

Some will heal on their own, mine did - I was lucky  --- 

if you need to have the surgery - 4-6 weeks depending on the extent of the tear, if it has overlapped itself, if they clean up arthritis while they are in there, how good your condition was before the tear - lots of things will determine your recovery time and rate. 

I tore mine, or maybe it was a partial tear, about 4 years ago.

Knee would get out of alignment, pop, then I wouldn’t have pain or discomfort for a while and it would come back. But pretty much always had some level of discomfort in my knee, and would randomly pop.

it FINALLY healed on its own about a year ago. I would say I’ve had zero discomfort or pain for the last year. I don’t understand how it took 4 years for it to heal, and tbh I thought it never would.

Someone told me to never get surgery because it made theirs worse.

Personally I would look into physical therapy and take it seriously. Mine probably would’ve healed much faster had I taken the proper procedures. I was 25 when it happened and I’m 29 now.

My recommendation is to follow your doctors advice not anyone on a message board. 

Agree with following your orthopedist advice. 

Be prepared that full recovery time is wide ranging variable. 

I had a meniscus repair in my mid 20s.  It is not 6-8 week recovery to get fully back to sports.  More like 3-6 months until fully healed, depending on age, diet, etc.  

With a small tear and a meniscusectomy, the recovery is minor, about two weeks for the wound to heal and external sutures removed. 

Good luck with your Dr and the best thing for recovery is to put in the work on pt. 

What is wrong with people giving their feedback on their medical care?  I am a medical professional myself and find it helpful to ask others what they did and if they'd do it again.  None of this is to say someone shouldn't listen to their doctor, but even two good doctors could have two different but legitimate opinions on how to manage something.  

I personally had a lateral meniscus tear and had a partial menisectomy to remove the damaged portion of meniscus.  After talking to others and researching it later, I'm not sure I needed surgery.  At minimum I would've gotten a second opinion or maybe tried conservative treatment and then got surgery if I didn't get better.  

All good advice.  I'd add to try to talk to an ortho who is not inclined as a default 100% towards surgery.  Sometimes it's the only option, but not always.

I first damaged mine in 2015. I could live with it, but it wasn’t right. I’d have to be careful with my feet, be cautious when twisting and running was out of the question. You don’t appreciate how it affects your posture and gait when you are living cautiously for a long period of time. I didn’t realise, but I adopted a style of walking using small steps rather than confident strides. In turn my groin and knees tightened up I got so stiff! 

I finished it off properly in 2022, had surgery to fix it and the ACL later that year. 

Recovery was long but well worth it. I wish I’d had surgery years before rather than live with it for all those years. 
I’m now back running and feeling confident & strong on my feet. Still a bit stiff and stretching is hard, but it helps. 

Get under the knife.

Have you reached out to the McGinley clinic in Casper WY?  I believe they can review your films and give you treatment advice.  Im not sure of the cost or time frame but it might be worth looking into.  They seem to be very up to date on the best current minimally invasive treatments.

Damaged mine and didn’t find out it was torn for probably 3-4 years when the pain became sharp and hard to deal with. Originally when I had the MRI done it was torn but the plan was to clean it up and let it heal back to normal, but because I continued riding, bmx and other activities it got worse so by the time surgery came around they had to sew it back together. 

Crutches for 3 weeks, walking after that and back on the bike at 3 months. I was 21 so healed a lot quicker back then 

Follow the orthopedist advice to the letter.

The best things you can do during your consult is to bring a specific list of questions you want answered and have that conversation with your orthopedist.   When will I get back to walking without crutches?  Will I be in a brace?    When can I get back to sports?  Any orthopedist worth their weight will have very honest answers for you.

Riding before being fully healed post op is a recipe for disaster.   Imagine how much longer the recovery is if you reinjure the meniscus and require a second surgery. 

I had mine fixed 2 weeks ago. Slowly getting better but I had him clean up some arthritis too.

Longer story here to add context:

I've had a couple run-ins with ACL and meniscus back in high school. In August of that year, I did my ACL and partial tear of meniscus playing football. The meniscus tear was kind of a hang nail looking tear on the innermost edge of my knee (from what I can remember). Doc stitched up the meniscus in hopes of it healing, took 6 weeks of no weight bearing and a long time for rehab (essentially 7-8 month), since that with the ACL made my knee stiff and weak. Fast forward 9 months later, around March/April, I was cleared to go back to baseball and retore the same meniscus at the spot that was supposed to be healed up. I opted to get it "scoped" aka they snipped off the hanging piece. That was much less awkward of a recovery, maybe 3 months before I was back playing and able to ride, but I didn't have trust in that knee for a long time. It was awkward to have my leg rotate or twist in any way, even just moving around the kitchen or other simple tasks like that. 

My take: getting a meniscus repaired is a much longer recovery than you'd think and you still have risk of retearing if you're back at it quick. If you can and do get it scoped, the recovery is much faster. They say you're at risk for arthritis as you age with that option, but meh we'll see with time. Its been about 10 years now and my knee does ache after a long tough day of riding sometimes, but it's just normal now. Get your quads and hamstrings strong and it'll help you out with keeping your knee stable. Best of luck to you sir!

Will be curious on that MRI result. Pop could be ACL or both.

There are new advancements in options. There are stem cell type injections that will help or fix it. For instance, read about Wharton;s Jelly. I have used it several times with great results. https://steelcitymedicalcenter.com/ 0is where I went.

Tomorrow will be six weeks since meniscus surgery, my second surgery.  This time was what doctor called a flap, he trimmed it off.  Time before, 4 years back was a double tear.

This time hurt way worse than last 4 years back.  I still can’t kneel and put much pressure on my knee but it’s getting better.  My knee is still sore, but getting better.  

I’m of the opinion a tear is about 6 months to heal.  A flap like my recent surgery is a couple to three months.  I may try to make some easy laps at the track next week.  Headed to the doc tomorrow for my 6 week checkup.

I’d make sure I had the best knee guy I could find.  May even want to get second opinion.  Not all these orthopedic guys are created equal.  I’m lucky, I live 15 minutes from some of the best doctors in Texas.

My wife has had 3-4 knee surgeries, one doctor wasn’t all that good in my opinion.  Same for her first Achilles surgery, doctor went to the airport and missed the boat.  She had to have it redone by different doc.

I plan to learn to comer feet on the pegs which I’m not all that good at.  This last surgery was caused by rear end stepped out on corner exit, I dipped a toe trying to recover.  Maybe I should blame that dang 24 Honda lol.

Knee surgery of any kind is not fun.  

The pop is usually the acl…the meniscus will be collateral damage…..you are about to see what commitment is all about…..sorry

I tore mine back in 92. Didn’t heal and would keep locking my knee out at random times and that hurt like a mother effer so ended up getting surgery and never had an issue after that.

Get at least three opinions from three different organizations or doctors, even if you pay for the consultation. Don't blindly trust what any of them tells you without doing research yourself. 

Use AI to study what the MRI tells you is damaged, possible treatments, and then make a decision as to the best approach and doctor. 

There is a huge difference in doctors sometimes. Look for ones who have done a lot of sports injuries. Remember, they get rich doing surgeries.

Because you don’t know who the person giving you an opinion is or any sort of details on the injury other than what they are claiming. I would think someone in the medical field would know the source of information is very important and clouding judgment with potentially poor or unreliable information could be an issue. If his dad, brother, friend, or other first hand person had a similar issue, sure ask away. Asking on a message board? Not sound advice. 

Did mine 20 years ago. Its about as bad as it was 10 years ago.(Never got it fixed). Dr said replacement knee is needed.The replacement knees have come far in the last 20 years. Cultured cartilage thats reattached to the bones is what im hoping I can hold out for. You can get by but forget about long walks or riding three days a week if it isn't fixed. It'll be a forever thorn in your side. Many people who get a surgery do worse than people who tough it. " basically once the meniscus is gone enough you're in for a replacement knee" and I've heard "to try to wait till you're 50 hoping replacement last till you're 70, and/or only have it repaired once its unbearable." Mine hurt more the first ten years than the last ten. Its definitely still stable. (acl gone since 07 too). Lemme guess: left leg? Good buddy of mine tore his ACL within weeks of me tearing mine and he got his fixed, i didnt. Mines outer meniscus and acl. My knee was better than his. For example he could not stand on one leg and then crouch down and stand back up like a crane  and I still can 20 years later even after gaining 80 lb since then. However. Its is like a thorn in my side that will never go away. Walk 4 miles? Sore for a week and swollen. Riding is actually the easiest thing to do. Better than a bike or walking thats for sure.

A big chunk of my tibial plateau was visibly floating around in the outer compartment in 2016 when I got the mri, and the bones were knuckling up like Lincoln logs. Sometimesl instead of tearing it clean off u get like a flap basically, they go in and port and polish for smoother operation. If its a flap they want to clean up so it doesn't forever tear up that spot id say get it arthroscoped and that way it doesn't pop, click, grind 1000x a day. For the first 6 months after I did mine it would pop out of place while I was standing up sometimes and I would dive on my belly. And it would only close 70%.  Hopefully you just got a little rough spot.

Did it swell up the size of a cantaloupe and get stuck locked straight for a month? Mine did

You've been riding for 26 years, if you want to ride for another 26 years, follow your doctors advice and take your time.

That part of your knee has poor circulation, exercise will increase blood flow and help it recover, but you should avoid any load bearing or impact exercise. Stationary or road cycling is best, if you road cycle, avoid hills, if you can't avoid hills, spin, don't grind up the hills. When your doctor says it's OK and your knee feels better, start load bearing exercises, take your time before returning to impact exercises and moto.

Depending how bad the tear is, it will take months, not weeks to fully recover, be patient.

Look up bucket handle tear. That's probably the most common for us (plant & twist). I don't think it can repair on its own. I got that injury and the piece would literally pop out just like people have said above. Someone right here on vital diagnosed it perfectly. Painful and you had to lie down and massage it back into the crevice. Was terrified all the time that it would pop out . Got surgury to remove the "handle." Super easy, quick recovery and no issues today. 

had a partial tear in mine..swollen and stiff, decreased ROM, not very painful, but would click and felt unstable every so often give out.  Gave it 6 months of letting it heal it self, light PT etc.  No changes except decreased swelling.  Took BPC157and TB500 for 8 weeks and its back to 100%

The older you are and the worse the damage is, it may not be something that heals.
If there's a flap, or a loose crumb in there, it can cause clicking and binding. 
They can buff the sharp edges off and stitch up a flap or tear sometimes...  

Sometimes the best course of action is to leave it alone...  It really depends on your MRI and what your doc is comfortable with.

At age 40, I tore my ACL, partial MCL, meniscus and I have damaged cartilage on the femur...  Some of this is old injury from my time in the Marines and the ACL was from motocross at age 40.  I learned that it is my preference to always find a sports-med focused ortho... My guy out here did an excellent job with my ACL and I feel pretty lucky to be back to all activities except long distance running.

If you don't feel confident in your ortho's opinion, see a second doc.  
I had to do that and I think I dodged a bullet by skipping "Doctor Old Man Shakey Hands" who basically told me my active years were over.
You should also avoid quack medicine...   There are plenty of potions and BS treatments out there.