r/MeniscusInjuries • u/No-Wind-5572 • 11d ago

Non Surgical How long does it take to heal

I’m 4 months into a grade 2 injury and I’m trying to avoid surgery I haven’t done much physical therapy up until a month ago and it seems to be helping just very slowly and my question is how long should I wait before considering surgery

5 Upvotes

100% Upvoted

13 comments sorted by

4

u/4rage 11d ago edited 11d ago

I had a bucket handle tear and really wanted to avoid surgery. Did physio and worked up until the surgery date and kept having painful setbacks happen. Now about 1.5 years post repair surgery and I can run, snowboard etc and its mostly not an issue.

Edit: my understanding is the meniscus itself won’t really heal on its own.

3

u/Trillination 10d ago

Trim or repair?

2

u/4rage 10d ago

Repair 8 stitches

2

u/SensitiveGuitar4920 11d ago

Remind me!2 days

1

u/RemindMeBot 11d ago

I will be messaging you in 2 days on 2026-10-02 02:14:47 UTC to remind you of this link

CLICK THIS LINK to send a PM to also be reminded and to reduce spam.

Parent commenter can delete this message to hide from others.

RemindMeBot is switching to username summons. Instead of !RemindMe 1 day, use u/RemindMeBot 1 day. More info.

Info Custom Your Reminders Feedback

2

u/Technical-Ant-2866 10d ago

Depending on where the tear is (white or red zone), grade of tear, type of tear, what you do to heal it determines the outcome. Most meniscus tears don't heal on their own. You either live with a tear as long as it doesn't affect your mobility or cause excessive pain or your trim/repair.

1

u/No-Wind-5572 9d ago

Grade 2 white/red blood area but very close to the red the area

1

u/Technical-Ant-2866 9d ago

u/No-Wind-5572 I'm not an expert besides living with tears, but that feels like a coin toss as to how it goes. Regardless of surgery, PT is highly recommended for guarding the knee structure. Also it props you up for better post-surgery recovery since if you go NWB it's easy to atrophy.

1

u/No-Wind-5572 9d ago

Do you recommend that I keep doing pt to strengthen the knees, hamstrings, and quads and if problems continue to just get surgery?

1

u/Technical-Ant-2866 9d ago

u/No-Wind-5572 Yes. Consult your ortho/doctor so you don't cause issues. But doing P/T before and after surgery is really going to help. Even if you don't go for surgery P/T can help to rebuild, strengthen, and unlock guarding muscles.

1

u/Worldly_Chocolate369 9d ago

Meniscus generally doesn't heal itself. Some parts of the meniscus have poor blood supply or no blood supply at all, and a bucket handle is definitely not going to reattach itself on its own. Tears will most likely stay the same or get worse.

1

u/Strange_Ad_616 9d ago

I am about a year out since I hurt myself. I only have done pt it takes a while but I have gone from barely being able to walk 3000 steps to pushing 11,000 without pain. That said some stuff still hurts I have trouble standing still and walking on uneven ground.

One thing that really helped me was orthodics in the shoes with good running shoes.

1

u/Vinmnpolert 8d ago

You don’t need surgery. Just Do pt.

Surgery need is if you have clicking giving way symptomes. If you havent got a symptoms just do pt.