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Medial Meniscal Tear
- Thread starter tinymoose
- Start date
Seconding @Jenny ... hope you can avoid surgery and find a good alternative that gets you back to skiing.
If you have access to a pool, check out a book called "Heal Your Knees". It covers all knee injuries including meniscus tears, and advises pool therapy work post-surgery or in place of surgery if that's what the orthopedic doctor advises.
If you have access to a pool, check out a book called "Heal Your Knees". It covers all knee injuries including meniscus tears, and advises pool therapy work post-surgery or in place of surgery if that's what the orthopedic doctor advises.
AJM
Ski Diva Extraordinaire
Ooooh fingers crossed !!! We're all rooting for you x
Susan L
Ski Diva Extraordinaire
I have grade 2 medial meniscus tear in my left knee from a snowboarding accident some 20 years ago. The ortho surgeon said the tear is hanging on by a thread but if it is not causing issues, I could leave it alone. I feel fine for the most part but the “flap” can sometimes get pinched and cause pain and weakness in the knee but it is usually temporary. It is worse when I bike or swim so I stopped those activities. I have knee pain and swelling after skiing but noticed if I ski less than 4 hours, I can minimize the pain/swelling. So I only ski half days now.
As for PT not working, I think you have to find the right PT for your injuries. I have a herniated disc that is causing severe pain on my left side when sitting/at rest, but zero issues during activities. Went to PT for a year and it did nothing but aggravated the pain. I was just about to give in to surgery this September but decided to give PT another try and found someone who is more hands on with stretching and decompression and 6 weeks later, I am 70% pain free and stopped taking pain meds.
As for PT not working, I think you have to find the right PT for your injuries. I have a herniated disc that is causing severe pain on my left side when sitting/at rest, but zero issues during activities. Went to PT for a year and it did nothing but aggravated the pain. I was just about to give in to surgery this September but decided to give PT another try and found someone who is more hands on with stretching and decompression and 6 weeks later, I am 70% pain free and stopped taking pain meds.
SkyePeters
Diva in Training
I had a minor meniscus tear, but I have no way to know whether it was similar to yours. (if indeed you have a torn meniscus) Still, in case helpful, here is my experience. I do not know what caused the tear, which I understand is common. The way that I knew I had the tear was from skiing. If I skied many hours, my knee would swell up afterwards. If I didn't ice it, then it would be very stiff the following day. The orthopedic surgeon told me that this swelling and stiffness was coming from the small tear causing irritation within the joint.
I was able to intentionally put off the surgery until after ski season was over. The recovery honestly wasn't too bad, but it also wasn't as easy as the surgeon advertised. The surgeon told me I would be sprinting in 6-8 weeks. But that wasn't the case, my knee felt pretty weak while running until about the 3 month mark.
I had that surgery back in 2014 and have had no issues ever since. It didn't seem to affect my skiing in any way. By the time that the following season hit, I was fully ready to ski!
I hope that the gel injections work for you and that you don't need surgery! If it turns out that you do need surgery to make the issue go away, you might want to assess with the way you feel and with medical professionals about whether you can put the surgery off until after ski season. (I am assuming you love skiing as much as I do.) Good luck!!
I was able to intentionally put off the surgery until after ski season was over. The recovery honestly wasn't too bad, but it also wasn't as easy as the surgeon advertised. The surgeon told me I would be sprinting in 6-8 weeks. But that wasn't the case, my knee felt pretty weak while running until about the 3 month mark.
I had that surgery back in 2014 and have had no issues ever since. It didn't seem to affect my skiing in any way. By the time that the following season hit, I was fully ready to ski!
I hope that the gel injections work for you and that you don't need surgery! If it turns out that you do need surgery to make the issue go away, you might want to assess with the way you feel and with medical professionals about whether you can put the surgery off until after ski season. (I am assuming you love skiing as much as I do.) Good luck!!
tinymoose
Ski Diva Extraordinaire
This sounds a lot like mine out in Alta this past ski season, except icing didn't really do much to save them for the next day. lol To be fair, I've got a decent amount of cartilage damage from 40+ years of maltracking kneecaps and non-knee friendly sports (gymnastics and skiing), in addition to the questionable maybe/maybe not meniscus tear. They did say definitively, if it is a tear, there's no flap to the tear, so they'd be less inclined to do surgery anyhow.
Skigrrrl2008
Diva in Training
Hi all, I usually lurk here, and have posted on the ACL thread, since I've torn it twice--without surgery. The second time was in 2023. I tried to resume skiing and had a mild "horizontal" tear of my meniscus. I trained well, and had 2 good ski days in Jan. But on day 3 I had severe medial knee pain. Didn't fall, but just stopped, and flagged patrol. Looks like the shear of the turn gave me a bucket handle tear and I've been on crutches for 5 weeks now. Surgery 4/17. If anyone has gone thru ACL reconstruction /meniscus repair I'd appreciate any wisdom!
I'm a writer, and describe my journey on my substack. being a retired pharmacist it has a bit of jargon but all you here will get it!!
You can click on title to read the story. Curious if anyone else out there has had these multiple injuries.
Call Me Lindsey: No ACL, No Problem, Till Now
I'm a writer, and describe my journey on my substack. being a retired pharmacist it has a bit of jargon but all you here will get it!!
You can click on title to read the story. Curious if anyone else out there has had these multiple injuries.
Call Me Lindsey: No ACL, No Problem, Till Now
Aw man, sorry to hear this, @Skigrrrl2008 . Best wishes for reduced/no pain and a clear path forward.
I'm doing my best to AVOID meniscus repair surgery! So far, PT is working out well (I was officially "discharged" on Monday) but I have a feeling the writing is on the wall as I approach 60. I'm sure you now know how sudden and easy it is to tear a meniscus!
Hope your post surgery recovery goes quickly and you are able to back on skis sometime next season!!
