Had a torn menisus, get pain now and then?

[Mtal]

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I had a torn meniscus about 4 years ago. I got my knee scoped, but after that it was a horror. The doc was like you be as good as new in a month, man it was 6 month of hard work just to be like 80 percent I say. Oh and the place I was getting therapy at, was a joke too, never did weights there, they just put heating pad on it and these electic pulse things.

Anyway went to a new doc, he send me to a good pysical therapy place, I did some tai chi, got back to normal, I am able to take JKD now and Xing-yi.

Only thing, seems like if I over do it a little, or even more so, if I do something a little dynamic, lets say a quick bend or drop, or a stance where I most of my weight is on that knee, I get a sharp pain there and it might be a little sore for a day or two (lets say I am going down stairs or something, I feel the sharp pain), but then it goes away and I can be good for a while, intill I do something to it, etc......

Now has anyone experienced this? Is there something I should be doing for it?

Thank, any advice would be great.

[TenTigers]

I tore my meniscus and it took several years-I still am very careful, but I weight train, and kick, I just don't do the drop stance in wu-shu anymore. That's how I tore it, I was warming up for a Lion Dance before the Dalai Lama and I did a jump front kick to a drop stance, and pop. I still did the show, got two lai-sees from the DL, too. And paid for it ever since. The knee still clicks when I squat down, and I use my hand on it for stability-just in case-getting up, but no furthe occurances have happened.

[wuzuquan]

Welcome to a lifetime of pain!!

Tore mine when i was younger and now have really bad problems with it.

The only thing you can really do with cartilage damage as far as im aware is to take plenty of glucosamine sulphate. It's the only thing thatn can regenerate cartilage thoughit's not 100% and only acts to slow down the degenerative process.

If you can it's best to find some that also contains Chondroitin and MSM's. These help to deliver the Glucosamine more effectively and aids in the production of synovial fluids which help lubricate the knee.

Loose weight ( if you can) as every 5lbs of weight relates to approx 30lbs in every step. And try to keep your knee moving as this keeps the fluid moving which lubes your knee.

I've had 2 scopes and 2 other ops and am now just waiting for a replacement. Occasionally have to use a walking stick too.......!

great fun

!

[waterleopard]

I'm going under the knife end of June to reconstruct my ACL and medial meniscus. I am so NOT looking forward to this.

[wuzuquan]

doesn't sound good, wish you luck my friend....

[Corwyn]

I want to share my story to let people know there is hope. I hear soo much of the negative about knee surgeries that I feel I have to let people know that there is hope and you can get back to doing the stuff you want!


I had a partial tear of my meniscus when I tore my 3rd - yes that's right 3rd ACL:eek: .

I had my left leg done once with a autograft
my right with an autograft and then with an allograft

and then I took up Wah Lum at 40. :)

What are they going to use for an autograft?
Everyone I rehabed with that had hamstring had troubles.

Mine were all patelar. The BIGGEST issue is rehab.
If you want to get back to doing the things you like you need to rehab
aggressively! That means on your feet the day of the surgery and in rehap 2-3 days after. And the working hard and never leting ( or at least as little as possible) scar tissue to form. The other thing is flexibility.

OUt of all 4 things the partial tear of the meniscus hurt the most.

[waterleopard]

I had my left leg done once with a autograft
my right with an autograft and then with an allograft

Corwyn - right now I'm leaning toward the autograft using my Patellar tendon. But I've been thinking about the allograft, as I hear the recovery for that is easier as there's no donor site that needs healing. I'm not considering the hamstring graft at all.

I also have a torn medial meniscus, which I agree, is the most painful right now. Although I have to be careful with both. I'm still practicing MA right now, but I obviously need to modify a few things and not do others.

Since you've had both the patellar and the allograft, which one was better for you?

[Jules]

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I had a torn meniscus about 4 years ago. I got my knee scoped, but after that it was a horror. The doc was like you be as good as new in a month, man it was 6 month of hard work just to be like 80 percent I say. Oh and the place I was getting therapy at, was a joke too, never did weights there, they just put heating pad on it and these electic pulse things.

Anyway went to a new doc, he send me to a good pysical therapy place, I did some tai chi, got back to normal, I am able to take JKD now and Xing-yi.

Only thing, seems like if I over do it a little, or even more so, if I do something a little dynamic, lets say a quick bend or drop, or a stance where I most of my weight is on that knee, I get a sharp pain there and it might be a little sore for a day or two (lets say I am going down stairs or something, I feel the sharp pain), but then it goes away and I can be good for a while, intill I do something to it, etc......

Now has anyone experienced this? Is there something I should be doing for it?

Thank, any advice would be great.


I am completely right there with you. I tore the hell out of mine about 12 years ago. It folded double and locked my knee in a bent position for a week until I had the surgery to "undo" it and remove the torn parts. While poking around in there, the surgeon discovered, in his words, "more arthritis than I've ever seen in anyone your age." He had no idea why. He informed me that it would be a lifelong problem and I'd be lucky if I ever got full range of motion or 80% usage of that knee back.

A few years ago it got really bad again ... and then I started taking Kung Fu. Now not only do I have full range of motion back, but it's better than it was before the surgery. I still don't have full usage of it. Maybe I never will, and, like you, I get that sharp pain in the side of it after doing something that twists or bends it. But I will probably always have that. It's just pain. As long as it's just pain and not a permenant injury, I don't think that's too terrible.

Kung Fu is great rehab for this, or at least it has worked for me. Good luck, and take heart!

~~Jules