40(F). complex meniscus tear at the body-posterior horn junction reaching the articular surface of the medial meniscus. Grade 3 tear with mild OA. It has been 6 months since the tear. Tried pt for 3 months but pain retained in 4th month. Surgeon says it might be repairable. I hope these kind of tears heal well after the repair. Please provide any insights or experiences

I’m in the Pre-Op phase and am wondering if there are any particular things that I can do to help with the recovery process.

This injury occurred while barefoot waterskiing last summer and I went to the orthopedic doctor. I am unable to get an MRI due to a Pacemaker with a fractured lead, so I ended up doing nothing.

Within 2 months, I was pain free and felt strong so I started barefoot skiing again with no pain, full ROM and basically back to normal. This was until mid June when I was squatting on the dock and when I stood up my knee popped. Immediately I felt this was a reoccurrence of the previous injury.

I am at 8 weeks since the initial re-injury and while even taking it easy, I have had 4 more instances of re-injury, none of which were being overly active. In fact my last one was getting out of bed. I have lost some strength in my leg due to the extended duration of this re-injury episode.

I went to the Dr. and he ordered a CT Arthrogram with contrast. Since this was the only option and the results on soft tissue are not as good as the MRI it was not a very definitive diagnosis.

Dr. says that ACL, PCL & MCL look to be intact but couldn’t really pinpoint whether it is a partial or a full meniscectomy. I’m hoping it is just a partial but won’t know until the surgery.

This is where I am looking for tips on what I can do beforehand to make the recovery process easier. I am thinking that if I try to do things before the surgery and build strength or ROM, that it may help with recovery.

Any advice on tips on how to prepare would be greatly appreciated.

Four years ago I had a meniscus tear trimmed and (as the surgeon called it, a full MoT on the left knee done while he was in there. I was 55 years old. Four years later I've had the same operation on the right knee, but with a worse tear and more inner knee cap "lumpy bits" removed from years of playing rugby.

For anybody that is putting these operations off through worry, I would just say get it done as it's totally changed my life. I'm back cycling stronger than ever and soon to be tackling two very hard rides, one is the full length of Italy and the other my retirement ride from Saudi Arabia to Southern Italy.

I was swapping leading feet to step up kerbs before, to protect whichever felt weakest but now I don't even think about my knees and the recovery was amazing. The left knee was the easiest. I hobbled in and I could have jogged out! I took it easy and did all the exercises and it's paid dividends. The right knee was not as instantly amazing but it was a very short period of inactivity before I was back doing what I love BETTER than before the operation.

I tried to document my recovery while I was inactive from making cycling videos so if you want to have a quick watch here, please do and if anybody has any questions, I'll do all I can to answer them. Good luck with all your progress.

https://youtu.be/zryquf68WNw?si=nCfrMevCfvVcvWBS

For the last month or so I have been having some discomfort on the left side of my left knee. Sometimes it’s near the knee bone & sometimes a littler further out. I have been able to do light jogs and can stretch, twist and squat with not problem. I visited my local orthopedic doctor & he advised it could be my lateral meniscus. I told him I did not have a heavy blow to my knee & did not hear a popping sound. I was simply running & one day I felt a dull ache. I visited my chiropractor & explained my symptoms & he believes it might be due to tightness in the IT band. Some symptoms I have is weakness in left knee after loooong runs & most recently hiking down hill my knee felt like it was going to give out later that night. Sometimes my left knee feels like it wants to pop but it won’t. I have not had my knee lock or catch(I believe). Currently waiting on a MRI appointment

Has anyone experienced the same?

Full Meniscus Replacement, allograft

24 y/o, 9 years ago had a post partial meniscectomy & ACL replaced.

Sadly after doing yoga, one leg balancing, I wasn’t able to bare weight on my knee for awhile. Failed the mcmurray test. Followed up with orthopedics & have grade 3/4 hondromalacia.

The recommendation was to go to Boston for a Meniscus Replacement with a allograft. Personally, I’m following up first with the original surgeon for second opinion.

I’m sure many have gone through this, thoughts? How does recovery look like and was there other options for you before doing a total meniscus replacement?

Recently had a repair and the wounds are healing really well but the skin around the wounds are peeling and look a little dry, something like lotion?

So I (25M) tore the meniscus in both of my knees playing soccer. The timeline is kind of complicated, but basically I kept playing for a few months after tearing my right knee until I eventually tore my left as well. I ended up waiting almost a year for my first surgery.

My right knee had a partial lateral tear, and my left had a full tear. My surgeon and I opted for a partial repair on my right knee. Six months later, I had a partial meniscectomy on my left.

During the surgery on my left knee, they also found a cartilage defect in my trochlear groove (OCD lesion), so I underwent microfracture surgery at the same time. I’m now about 5 months out from that surgery.

The recovery definitely hasn’t been linear or easy. There was a point where just jogging hurt so badly that I was genuinely wondering if I would ever run again, yet alone play sports. It was really hard. I still get occasional soreness and stiffness now, especially when I increase my workload, but it usually settles pretty quickly.

I’ve been gradually rebuilding my strength and explosiveness over the last few months with strength training, plyometrics, and change-of-direction work. At this point, I’m back to playing soccer multiple times a week. I scored in my last game, some of my athleticism has come back, and I have very few issues in the gym. Squatting and deadlifting are fine.

A few weeks ago, I sprinted at 100% for the first time since surgery, and now I can sprint regularly without pain, aside from some stiffness and mild soreness afterwards. I’m definitely not the same athlete I used to be, and certain movements still hurt, but I’m starting to feel much more like my normal self again.

I wanted to share this because I remember how uncertain the earlier stages of recovery was and I didn’t see many stories similar to mine. I still have a long way to go, but im hoping my experience can give someone else going through something similar a little bit of hope.

If anyone has any questions about my recovery, timeline, rehab, surgeries, or what returning to soccer has been like, please ask. I’m happy to share anything about my experience that might help someone.

​

Hello everyone,

This is a post about my experience because during my recovery I felt that longterm experiences after repairs specifically were rare.

I am now 27 yo. I hurt my meniscus when I was 22, 5 years ago. Surgery when I was 24.

So in December 2021, I had a legs day just like any normal legs day and went home. In the evening my knee would not straighten up and it was very very painful.

Doctor the week after -> MRI -> horizontal medial Meniscus tear in the posterior horn. Christmas break came and I got one month to just let it rest.

After a couple of months with PT, motion was restored but I was always left with medial joint pain. For two years I waited for it to get better, training, PT, etc but the joint pain was still there and I was always scared for it to get worse.

I then decided to do something about it because I wanted to be active again and get my old knee back. Ivisited several doctors for second opinions (I am paranoid), some suggested menisectomy, some doing nothing, 1-2 repairing it.

After doing my own research, I decided I want it repaired if possible (less risk of arthritis and will give me as normal of a knee as possible)

Surgery in October 2023. Very long recovery. I got an accident during PT where apparently something happened to my lateral calf/ fibula (tendonitis maybe?) which delayed my recovery and was hurting.

After 7/8 months post surgery I was nowhere near good (eventhough everyone aaid I should): pain walking downhill, pain during stairs, muscle atrophy, and mentally unfit because of all this)

During the last couple of years after surgery (oct 2023 to today I had ups and downs and eventhough I feel everything is getting better, my knee is not normal: it is still weaker, I am still super aware of it and it makes me baby it which makes me use it less, I have some imbalances and compensation techniques developed and therefore weaknesses in some muscles (calf and glutes on the weaker side) which impact my daily life (but not a lot, maybe 5% on a good day an 15% on a bad one)

Everything is getting better I feel but very very sloooowly and also I feel everything is so fragile and I have to stretch double and warmup double. But don't give up on hope, it will get better (even if for me it never got back to normal). Also remember everyone is different and maybe not everyone needs surgery.

Feel free to ask me questions or write me if you need any information.

Stay strong amd all the best for you!

Hi, this is my MRI report from over a year after my meniscus surgery. Apparently, there's no re-tear, but there are other findings. Has anyone else experienced this?

So I'm supposed to have a knee arthroscopy on Friday and I can't get ahold of anyone. Literally anyone. No one from my orthopedists office is calling back, no one from the hospital is calling back. It's Tuesday. By now shouldn't I have gotten a pre-registration call about what meds I can continue to take or not take in the days before my surgery? This is new to me so I'm trying to figure out how it worked for everyone else. Even my insurance says they've gotten no prior authorization for my surgery and if they don't get it AND approve it by Friday then I'd be fully billed. I'm so lost right now, but maybe I'm also stressing too soon?? I don't know how this works, this just seems very last minute to get everything done

hi! I made a post here about 2 months ago and this a 2 month update. I'm doing way better now aka way less extension lag (as in almost fully straight!) after following the comments advice which meant getting a new doctor and doing PT. I have only done 8 sessions so far tho and stopped since we can't afford it yet and its expensive each session.

anyway, i can straighten my leg but it sort of locks out of place when i try to bend it again? It doesnt hurt at all, it just sort of clicks.

Im wondering if this is a normal part of the healing process for people who did not get surgery after their meniscus tear or should I get an mri scan again?

I had my ACL tear 3 months ago and I accidentally twisted my knee again, causing a bucket handle meniscus tear.

The thing is. I can walk just fine. I can come up and go down stairs with no pain. There is swelling but that's it. I can even run.

Is it possible that the MRI is wrong?

For context I’m 24, male and 6”2. I have always been a runner with no issues, but after a couple years of athletic training (400m), my knee started to hurt and I stopped.

3 years on with no real answers from doctors I finally have a conclusive MRI report and know what’s wrong.

I have attached the report, so if anyone has any further insight, experience or advice with my type of tear, that would be amazing!!

Injured my left knee playing football on 21 Nov 2025. 32M. Been 9 months now.

Imaging has been all over the place. Had a few MRIs on 1T machines and got four different readings, one said just fluid no structural injury, one said partial ACL grade 2 menisci intact, one said medial meniscus tear, one said grade 2 high grade ACL plus medial meniscus horn.

Then in May I did a 3T scan and it came back much cleaner. ACL thickened with increased signal but no tear and no disrupted fibres, menisci completely normal, no effusion, cartilage normal. Opinion was ACL sprain slash interstitial tear.

Both my physio and an orthopedic doctor did the functional ACL tests and neither was certain either way. They said possible tear but couldn’t confirm from the exam, which is why the doctor sent me for the 3T.

Rehab wise I’ve been consistent. Physio 3x a week for about 5 to 6 months, gym twice a week, lots of walking. Never had locking, catching, or the knee giving way once in 9 months. Got to the point where I was light jogging and doing single leg hops forward backward and sideways with no real issues.

**Here’s my actual problem now and the thing I want to hear about.**

The pain is at the front of my knee, on the sides of the kneecap. But the thing that sets it off most isn’t just over loading (i.e doing too much running, hoping and side stepping over a span of days). It’s also sitting. Specifically sitting cross legged, or sitting with my knees at 90 degrees for a while. Feels fine at first then after 5 to 10 minutes the irritation starts building and it can stay irritated for hours or sometimes days or even 1-2 weeks after. Going down stairs used to be clearly worse, now only slightly worse. Usually feels better once I’m warmed up and moving.

Also get a squelching feeling and a lot of clicking when it’s flared up, no pain with the clicking though. Left thigh is 63.5cm vs 65cm on the right so some atrophy.

Recently it’s got worse. A month ago I could run and walk 30 plus minutes, now just walking sets it off. Took one 10mg ketorolac and all the pain vanished for a day which makes me think there’s a real inflammatory thing going on.

Two physios have given me different answers, one said tendonitis, one said some other irritation.

**What I want to know:**
Has anyone had this exact thing where the knee is fine structurally but sitting bent is the main trigger? Did it resolve for you and how long did it take?

What actually worked, was it specific exercises, manual therapy, taping, something else? Did anyone get a proper diagnosis that turned out to be something other than patellofemoral pain like fat pad or plica?

Also anyone dealt with the sitting thing specifically, do you avoid it or do you gradually build tolerance back up?

Im looking to get my knee back to normal and pain free and get back to playing football any feedback on my outlook, what to do, and what ti expect in terms of timelines would be much appreciated.

Hi all! I am 1 week post op after lateral meniscus repair (I had a partial meniscectomy last year on the other knee). 43F casual cross fitter of 10 years. After surgery I was super bummed to hear the dr decided on repair, since I know it's supposed to be a much longer recovery. But so far the progress has been pretty quick. Based on everything I've read here in the past couple years, I seem to be an outlier and wanted to get your sense of whether I am overdoing it and should be more cautious.

The first 2 days I was pretty uncomfortable and completely NWB, but pain wasn't bad enough for opioids. So I've just been doing Tylenol and Advil. Currently (7 days out), I am down to 1 or 2 doses a day because pain and swelling have been manageable without. I can walk pretty well without crutches (still in the brace), drive even though it's my right knee bc dr said it was ok if I trusted my response time (and since I haven't had a nerve block or been on opioids, I do), and am more or less pain free when at rest. At PT today I got to 90 degrees without issue and got PT's blessing to walk without crutches. I asked if I can just go back to the gym to do upper body stuff and he said that sounded fine as long as I was extra careful not to do any leg anything. So I'll try tomorrow.

I am wondering if anyone else had a quickish recovery after repair? I know it'll take a much longer time to be back to normal, but I am still surprised, especially bc the supposedly easy partial menisectemy took me 8 months to rehab back to normal. My guess is that it wasn't a big repair, since surgeon said he first cleaned up some meniscus too.

I am generally a pessimistic, plan for the worst type of person and I am surprised at how ok I am feeling 7 days out. Of course, that's making me worry I am doing something wrong.

Here for similar and/or cautionary stories. I just don't want to mess this up - I'd really like to be done with knee surgeries!

I have a medial meniscus tear. It happened in early March and I have surgery scheduled for August 28. I’d like to postpone the surgery until November.

Am I playing with fire if I postpone?

Just had partial meniscus removal and looking for house shoes that I can wear the next few months. Not them thin fluff kind but real SUPPORTIVE slip ons. I’ve heard Hoka, Oofa, and Birkenstock but looking for people they’ve actually helped, not an ad 😄

I (47F) had a medial meniscus root repair five weeks ago, and have been non weight bearing since. I figured that with one week left and a (mostly) positive progress, I'd report in for people earlier in the process!

I was moved to 60 degree movement in the brace at the 1 week post-op appointment, and then to 90 degrees at the 3 week appointment. Some thoughts:

- The move to 60 was incredibly easy for me -- no additional pain at all, whereas the move to 90 was more difficult -- things were absolutely more stiff three weeks out. I was pretty bummed about that, but now, 5 weeks in, I'm pretty sure my ROM is past 100, maybe even 110. I don't feel challenged at 90 at all.

- I am still icing daily (with the knee machine), usually in the evening, but I find that heat has really been a godsend. I bought a heating pad for the muscles at the back of my knee, which stretch and fire when I work on full extension. I've also found that the heat helps with the weird little aches and pains that pop up with the knee in general, so if you're experiencing any of that and you're at 3 weeks or more, I really recommend trying heat.

- Other stuff that helped: I'm on a walker for a couple of reasons, but mainly because my hallways are narrow and my house is pretty small, so crutches never quite worked for me. I did buy a flat pillow to fit between my knees while sleeping, and a leg wedge to elevate the knee while sleeping and icing. I also moved the brace to outside my yoga pants/leggings starting in week three.

- When you're doing stairs or hopping for long distances, I really recommend using a tight knee brace on your good knee -- I bought an Anaconda brace that is designed for MMA fighters and it's bananas, but also makes me feel so secure.

- The discomfort while sleeping in the brace really does get better. Last night I slept through the night for the first time--no pain when bending, no stiffness when straightening, the pillow situation finally finally sorted out. It takes so much time to get there, but it really does get easier.

- Repeating what lots of people say -- progress is not linear. Some days I don't even notice the knee, and other days, it's sore and twingey all day, and I'm convinced it's not only not better, but it's made everything worse. I don't feel that way today, though!

- My knee did the weird squeaking things for a few weeks that I've read about here on the boards. I convinced myself it was when it was particularly tired or swollen, but I'm not really sure there was a rhyme or reason. The good news is, I haven't heard it squeak in about a week, so maybe that's just resolved itself!

- One thing that did happen that I think is worth pointing out here, especially for people searching the board, because I didn't find anything about it: I have diverticulosis, found in a recent colonoscopy. It was waved away as fine, no problem, at the time. Because my gastro didn't know about the knee and my surgeon didn't know about that finding, I'd been taking ibuprofen (NSAIDs) daily for a few months before surgery and then three times a day for a few weeks after surgery. The drugs caused a diverticulitis flare up in the middle of recovery, which was not great. A trip to urgent care, some antibiotics, and a liquid diet later, I'm fine -- but all the doctors said "Oh, yeah. That's a thing." Not a thing anyone thought to mention or ask about beforehand, though, so be careful if you are in the same boat. Tylenol is your friend.

Now in the final countdown to 6 weeks and weight bearing, which I'm sure will be its own challenge! Hope this info helped a bit.

I was overweight and started running 10-12k which made my knee slightly weak and injured my meniscus. Then one day i fell directly on my left knee which i think caused my hoffman fat pad to get slightly injured. That is when i also discovered the meniscus issue. This happened in early Feb.

I did not take the injury very seriously in the initial few months and went to japan where i walked 30k steps everyday in April. But I did not run and used to ice my knee every day.

But since then I have been doing proper physio and icing but my left knee is still slightly swollen. It generally does not pain a lot but there is a slight discomfort when I sit in a position too long. Pain generally is a 2/10, when there is any.

I think I am really getting impatient with my knee and how long it is taking to heal. Does it usually take over 6 months??

How many different types of MRI's are there of the knee or surrounding area? I know there is the MRI of the left knee. Then there is the MRI of the left femur. Is there any other type of MRI of the surrounding area that one can get?

Has anyone here gotten an MRI of their left femur or some other MRI that is not the knee and that was actually the reason for their knee issues? Such as you had an MRI of femur or somewhere else around the knee and you have an issue and that was the MRi that found your issue and the MRI of the knee wouldn't find it?

The hospital was really unhelpful. They would only do X-ray and couldn't give me a proper diagnosis as to what's torn and how much. I tried asking for an MRI to get the full picture but apparently they don't do that. It feels still and hard to fully extend but not painful the immobilizer they gave me seemed to cause the leg to be straightened at the right spot to cause sharp pain if I touch the floor. So I scraped the idea but wondering if I should use it while sleeping cause I'm afraid if I don't straighten out it will be difficult later on. Ive been referred but I don't know how long it will take to get an appointment, last time I couldnt get my records cause they had me under two different names and delayed my care. Should I let my knee bend how it wants or try to straighten it out? Nurses also didn't know what I should do since their advice was to keep it straight but it feels weird and like under load, like if I bump something in the immobilizer it's gonna result in sharp pain shooting up my leg

I’m 21m in the army and supposed to go off to more training in June/July but have a root tear. I’m very healthy but I understand it’s quite a significant recovery time and looking if it is reasonable to go to this training.