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Medial Meniscal Tear
- Thread starter tinymoose
- Start date
skibum4ever
Ski Diva Extraordinaire
Welllllll, rereading Jilly's discussion of her heart issues has me a bit nervous as I noticed that my ankles were a bit swollen recently. I have a cardiology appointment in early November so wish me luck.
Ugh.
I have no experience but I will be paying attention here.
Does your doctor have any kind of plan of action for you?
tinymoose
Ski Diva Extraordinaire
I meet with my doctor Monday so will find out more then.
@tinymoose Fingers crossed for you. Gymnastics?
tinymoose
Ski Diva Extraordinaire
I actually don't know when/how it happened. I don't remember a catastrophic injury? Last December we canted my ski boots b/c on video my skis weren't even and after skiing on the canting one day my knees were big mad. Then I just kept skiing/doing gymnastics b/c I'm a former competitive gymnast idiot that just keeps strong and carries on. My knees did buckle a few times at gymnastics for me one day on dismounts post canting fiasco, which had never happened before, so I'm assuming that was b/c of the tear. Not the event that caused it. I'd wager my knee was unstable at that point b/c the tear already happened. I genuinely think I did this skiing vs gymnastics. FWIW, skiing has way more pivoting/rotational movements to the knee than gymnastics does.
Bad news: aging sucks! I am so sorry.
Good news (hopefully): Meniscus are generally easy to repair and have minimal rehab time. Of course, it all depends on how bad the tear is and if there is bone on bone. It is my understanding that surgery generally involves cutting out the piece that is torn and impinging and can be done arthroscopically. My husband had meniscus surgery many years ago and was back on snow within several weeks. But the pain can literally drop you to the floor.
Bad news: I believe it's difficult to minimize the pain and instability of a meniscus tear with PT or any other types of therapy.
You'll have to let us know what the doctor says. If surgery is on the menu, it's quite possible your ski season will not be lost and in fact you might be better off having surgery to get back on the snow (and other activities) sooner and with much less pain.
tinymoose
Ski Diva Extraordinaire
I won't know anything until Monday but google says meniscus tear surgeries are a 4-6 month timeline as far as recovery. If that's the case I'm not sure how that doesn't cost me a 2nd ski season even if i get this done asap, which I don't think will be the case my ortho is well regarded as a surgeon and likely has a wait list. FWIW ski season here in PA is somewhere between Nov/Jan -late March. It's short and sweet.
AJM
Ski Diva Extraordinaire
Bummer !! I'm the not so proud owner of meniscus tears in both my knees but they're lateral, my own canting fiasco kick started them, then when I had my accident it took it up another notch, not enough for surgery but enough to make me have to think of every move I make. Any sort of wisting is THE worse and I sometimes get caught out but I've learnt to live with it.
As for skiing, I went to skinnier ski's and have been really working on my technique these last 2 seasons to try and eliminate any bad habits and minimise pivoting/rotational movements that may cause issues and so far so good.
I hope you manage to get it sorted and let us know how you get on xx
As for skiing, I went to skinnier ski's and have been really working on my technique these last 2 seasons to try and eliminate any bad habits and minimise pivoting/rotational movements that may cause issues and so far so good.
I hope you manage to get it sorted and let us know how you get on xx
Oh, that surprises me as the others I've known who've had meniscus surgery had a short recovery. I suppose there are many variables involved--sending you positive thoughts!
Ski Sine Fine
Ski Diva Extraordinaire
Not on the medial side. I have a lateral meniscus tear of the left knee and skied with it for 5 years now. The doctor and I opted for PT rather than surgery. The same knee also has an ACL reconstruction from the mid 90’s. I also have osteoarthritis on both knees but significantly more pronounced on the lateral side of the left knee. The combination means I ski mellow terrain and for only a few hours a day and need rest days. The left knee always get mildly swollen afterwards. A compression knee sleeve and Ibuprofen help.
I thought I might have damaged the medial meniscus as well while exercising recently and went to see orthopaedics. He thought it was more likely patellar tendonitis. Lately my arthritis is also acting up and starting to affect even going up and down stairs.
Different people will adapt differently but getting old sucks.
I thought I might have damaged the medial meniscus as well while exercising recently and went to see orthopaedics. He thought it was more likely patellar tendonitis. Lately my arthritis is also acting up and starting to affect even going up and down stairs.
Different people will adapt differently but getting old sucks.
After doing a little basic research, it can be a 4-6 week recovery, or the longer 4-6 month and it depends on if the repair is a trimming of the meniscus to remove the "flap" or piece that is troublesome, or to try to repair it by stitching it back together.
I had an MRI on my knees 20 ish years ago and have meniscus tears in both but they are not bothersome (knock on wood.) I believe the biking like I do 6 months out of the year has a profound impact on my knees being happy. Now, if I could do the same for my feet!
tinymoose
Ski Diva Extraordinaire
Well that's good to hear I may not be automatically looking at surgery, but I am concerned now my knee may not fair any better this winter than it did last. It swelled up pretty bad at Alta to the point I was done after a few days. I was hoping all the rest I'd given it would have set me up to be in a better place than I was last season, but not feeling super positive about it all right now.
I was kind of knocked down while standing on skis in Switzerland several years ago. I had an MRI that showed flap tear meniscus and mild ACL tear. Guess what? Both healed on their own with PT. I've been going to a personal trainer once a week since 2017 after the accident occurred.
tinymoose
Ski Diva Extraordinaire
I don’t have high hopes that mine is going to self heal given it likely happened just under a year ago. I also now have stage IV cartilage loss in my left patella which didn’t show on my March MRI, but I’m now assuming that MRI was just potato quality. All in all feeling pretty defeated and like my life is over because I lost gymnastics and skiing earlier this year. Was looking forward to skiing this year but that is not looking too likely. Currently getting very out of shape doing nothing. Blah. Sorry if this all sounds so negative, I just feel so down right now about it all. I also did PT on my knees for 6 months that didn’t really seem to help at all.
Anyhow, my appt tomorrow was to get gel injections in both knees to hopefully help me get through ski season, so I guess I'll find out if that's still the plan or if I'm off to surgery.
Anyhow, my appt tomorrow was to get gel injections in both knees to hopefully help me get through ski season, so I guess I'll find out if that's still the plan or if I'm off to surgery.
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tinymoose
Ski Diva Extraordinaire
Interesting, I didn't catch this before... yeah I'm inclined to think the canting we did put my already misaligned knees into a worse position, which likely led to the tear. I'm not sure what the state of my right knee is as nobody has bothered to do an MRI of it yet. Everyone has been focused on the angrier knee. I will say I wouldn't think I have a meniscus tear in my right knee as it can extend easily and doesn't pop like my left knee does on extension.
ETA: My new ortho has also diagnosed with patellofemoral misalignment basically, which has led to the degeneration of my cartilage behind my patella over my lifetime.
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AJM
Ski Diva Extraordinaire
Its awful when you feel like the cards are stacked against you but dont give up, whilst I didnt have surgery on my meniscus I did have a PRP injection which I think kinda helped, it was a bit of a step backwards at the time but then came right(ish) and now I'm pretty good , not great but ok.
Over the last 3 years I've had so many injury's and issues that its now become my new normal but I do feel like I'm constantly rolling with the punches so I feel your despair.
I found the key was to keep moving and took up hiking (obssesively DH would say) and its really helped by strengthening my quads etc which in turn have helped to support my damaged knees.
Please reach out if you need any moral support and let us know how you get on with the gel injections if they choose to go that route xx
I can very much relate to getting kicked in the pants by injuries/illness. It's OK to be defeated and negative, in fact, that's normal. I took two years off from doing any weight lifting due to my FMD diagnosis, and just started lifting again within the constraints of this stupid disease because 1) I know my body, and have learned the signs when I'm pushing my BP and HR too high and 2) I lost so much strength and can't afford to do that as I am entering my late 50s. Not being able to ride my mountain bike at the intensity I was used to did not help, either. (I cannot explain how much I miss pushing my HR into the anaerobic zone.) The dexascan I had last year (after having to fight to get one) revealed osteopenia, which I was suspicious of due to family history, and strength training is an important tool in reversing it. Now, I have a shoulder that I dislocated two ski seasons ago that I pushed through the instability, babied it, and now as I try to get back into weight training, it is quite obvious I can't keep ignoring it so have requested an MRI so I can at least know what I am facing and how long I can push off surgery. Ugh! I swear, life is one big UGH after another as age kicks in. I also have patellas that track poorly, IT band issues, achilles tendonosis, the list goes on!
It all hastens this kind of "new normal" which is what you are facing, and it SUCKS. And it can be scary. But I believe you are resourceful and that your mindset will be resourceful and you'll figure out how to forge ahead, adapt, and continue with the things that you love, albeit maybe with some modifications (or delays while you fix those injuries.) Look for the things that you CAN do, and remind yourself that you'll get your activities back. In the meantime, punch some pillows or scream into them, and be sad and frustrated and scared and pissed off! Those emotions will carry you through.
