If after seeking a diagnosis for your injured knee, your orthopedic doctor's answer is that you have torn your meniscus, you probably have a lot of questions. But the biggest of them all likely is "how is this problem treated?" The answer is, of course, "it depends." Meniscus tears range in severity from mild to severe, so the exact treatment your doctor recommends will depend on the severity of your injury. However, it is likely that you'll need to undergo one or more of these common treatments.
RICE
You have have heard the acronym RICE in regards to sports medicine before. It stands for "rest, ice, compression, elevation." If your meniscus tear is a very mild one, this may be all you need to do to treat it.
The rest will come in the form of taking time off from any sports or physical activity, along with spending as little time on your feet as possible. You can apply ice to the sore knee for 15 - 20 minutes at a time, while also elevating your leg to encourage any inflammation to subside as inflammation drains back to the heart. Compress the knee by wearing a knee brace whenever you do need to walk around. Your doctor may give you a specific brace or just recommend that you purchase one at a local pharmacy.
A mild meniscus tear can take a few months to heal completely when following the advice above. Once you are pain-free, you can slowly ease your way back into physical activity under your doctor's guidance.
Surgical Repair
Most moderate to severe tears will not heal on their own without surgery. You may also require surgery if you have a mild tear that fails to heal after several months of RICE therapy. The most common surgical procedure for a meniscus tear involves sewing the torn meniscus back together.
In most cases, surgical meniscus repair can now be done arthroscopically. This means your surgeon will make a couple of small incisions, rather than one large incision, around your knee. They will then insert surgical instruments and a camera into the small incisions and perform the repair while watching a video on a screen.
Once your surgery is complete, you will need to keep your knee immobile for a few weeks. Then, you will work with a physical therapist to slowly increase your range of motion until you're able to function as you did pre-surgery. There is some discomfort to be expected after surgery, but your doctor should prescribe pain relievers to keep it manageable.
Surgical Removal
In the most serious of cases, or if your meniscus has been torn but left untreated for several years, your doctor may have no other option but to surgically remove the torn meniscus from your knee. This option is only used as a last-ditch effort to alleviate pain when the meniscus cannot feasibly be sewn back together. There's a high risk of developing arthritis once the meniscus is removed, though the pain of arthritis is often less than that associated with a serious meniscus tear.
If the meniscus has to be removed, you may need to have open surgery rather than an arthroscopic procedure. In other words, the surgeon will make a single, large incision in your knee in order to access all of your knee's parts. This involves a longer recovery process and more physical therapy, and you may never again be completely pain-free when walking or running -- though you should experience a lot less pain than you are now!
To learn more about your treatment options for a torn meniscus, reach out to a physician or physical therapist, like one from Omaha Orthopedic Clinic & Sports Medicine PC.
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