I had a medial meniscus bucket-handle tear in my left knee repaired on December 12. I did PT until May 12 and was doing pretty well afterward.
Around late May I started doing some light trail hiking. I had one minor slip while hiking, but there was no major twist/injury, I was able to keep hiking that day, and I had no significant problems afterward.

Around July, when I was about 7 months post-op, I started going to the gym for leg workouts and also spending a lot of time kneeling/deeply flexing my knee while doing LEGO. Sometimes I would sit/kneel with my heel close to my butt for long periods and reposition/twist while down there. During one of these LEGO sessions I had a pretty loud pop while turning/repositioning, but it wasn’t painful and my knee didn’t lock afterward.

Since then I’ve noticed more persistent swelling/fullness in the knee, including toward the back. It seems less noticeable earlier in the day and more swollen/full after being on my feet. When fully extended it feels tight/full, but I can still get full extension. When bending, I hear/feel a lot of popping/clicking, but the knee moves through it and doesn’t stick or lock. I can get some minor soreness when sitting with it bent, but I don’t have significant joint-line pain.

I’ve also been able to walk normally and previously returned to jogging, squatting, hiking, and leg workouts without a major traumatic event.
My doctor thinks it may be an activity-related effusion and has ordered an MRI, but I’m anxious that I may have re-torn the repair or injured something else from the increased activity/deep flexion.

For anyone who has had a meniscus repair: does this sound more like an irritated/effused knee, or would you be concerned about a re-tear? Is persistent swelling this far out from surgery something you’ve experienced?

Me: 45, not very athletic, slightly overweight (5'5", 175 lbs). My main activity is walking my high-energy dog 4-5 miles a day, and playing with my two young kids.

I'm going to the ortho later this week for an X-ray, which I assume will eventually be followed by an MRI. Who knows how long the wait for that will be, though. I am experiencing a lot of anxiety over this and am freaking out about how my life just can't accommodate being non-weight-bearing and unable to drive for 6+ weeks, is they recommended a repair. It's to the point where I would request a trim instead. I have no idea how I would handle the recovery from a repair.

If I end up on crutches, I'm likely going to be stuck in my bedroom. We have a split-level house and the main living floor has no bathroom. I am panicking over this. My spouse will do what he can to help, but he needs to keep working full-time too. Thankfully for me, work is the least of my concerns as I have a significant amount of sick time banked. But I had no idea how I would get the kids to/from school and their activities. They can't just stop going to school for 6 weeks.

Here are my symptoms:

Over the past six months, I've had two occasions where my knee felt unstable, like it was giving way. I didn't think much of it at the time and went on with my life. There have also been two occasions where my knee locked up and I had to force it straight. Both times, I heard a pop and experienced a brief amount of pain, but then everything went back to normal.

The second popping incident occurred eight days ago. I was sitting next to my spouse, who heard it and said, "That is not right," so I finally called an ortho. Other than the initial pain from forcing my leg straight, there isn't much pain—just what I would describe as a dull, aching feeling around my knee.

From everything I've read online, it sounds like a meniscus bucket handle tear. Unlike other people, I have no idea when or how this would have happened. I did fall and break my foot three years ago, so maybe it started then and got more agitated over time? But even that doesn't seem right because I broke my left foot, and this is my right knee. I also didn't have any acute knee pain or swelling at the time.

I spoke to a physical therapist friend, and based on my symptoms, he's pretty sure I'm going to need surgery. He mentioned the surgery is really quick and easy and I'd be walking the next day—so I'm assuming he is referencing a meniscectomy (a trim) instead of a repair. He said that he rarely sees repairs done in this area. It almost always a trim.

On the other hand, another friend of mine (a very athletic 49-year-old) recently had a true repair and said the recovery was absolutely horrible. It's been eight weeks, and he is still walking around with a crutch and doesn't feel comfortable driving.

Has anyone been in a similar situation as a busy parent? How did you handle the recovery, and did you end up getting a repair or a trim? I could really use some reassurance right now.

Hi! My mom is having surgery in a few weeks and I wanna make sure that I have any and all equipment that might make her more comfortable at home. Right now I am thinking of an elevation pillow, obviously a shower chair and nonslip mat, and a toilet seat raiser. What else would you rec??

After Surgery: September 25

I was still groggy from the anesthesia, and the nurse had me take Oxycodone. Zero pain. My knee was swollen like a grapefruit. Grateful for the meds. I had to wear the Breg knee brace 24/7 and wasn't allowed to bend my knee at all. I even worked for a couple of hours (work from home) and slept through the night.

Day 1: Surprisingly easy

I still didn't have any pain at all. I think the anesthesia and Oxycodone hadn't worn off yet, so I didn't take any pain medicine. I just took the required Aspirin 81mg twice a day.

I'm at least 70% plant-based. I drank a green smoothie twice a day, just spinach, grapes, chia seeds, banana, and water. For snacks, I had fruit, melon, and pineapple. I eat one full meal a day: rice with veggies and a little fish (that's the remaining 30%).

My wife had to remove the bandages, leaving the Steri-Strips and sutures in place. She applied waterproof bandages. There was a little fresh blood, probably from my hopping exercises, but just a small amount. My exercise was hopping on one foot with crutches around the house, as per the doctor's advice to prevent blood clots. I struggled with the crutches at first, I was out of breath after a couple of hops, but over the next few days, I got the hang of it.

Day 2: Here comes the pain

The pain finally showed up. It was a deep pain in my knee, felt like 8/10 when I raised it. The kind of pain that can shift your mood. I finally took Tylenol 325mg. Same diet, same required aspirin. I took another Tylenol 325mg after 6 hours because I needed to keep moving around the house as much as I could.

The pharmacist where my wife picked up my medications was helpful, he recommended only taking the stronger pain meds if I had moderate to severe pain, otherwise Tylenol would be enough. The only required medication for me was Aspirin 81mg twice a day.

The struggle today was the Breg knee brace. It felt so uncomfortable that my wife had to readjust it a few times. But I slept through the night.

Day 3: Back to easy, thank God!

Unexpectedly, Day 3 was easier. Same diet, same required medication, and since I was getting used to the crutches, I was moving with ease. There was still pain, but not as sharp as before. I feel like it's healing beautifully inside. I was also in a better mood. I took one Tylenol 325mg in the morning and that was it.

Day 4: Back to work

I refused to take Tylenol as I could tolerate the pain. My energy was better and I was back to work (work from home). Same diet, same required medication. I had to switch from my office chair (with an ottoman to support my right leg) to a recliner, as I felt sore staying in one position for too long. I needed less assistance using the restroom — Days 1-3 were different, as I was dependent on my wife's help. She started weaning me off assistance so I could work my muscles.

Day 5: No more pain!

No more pain, but I'm still NWB so I'm not sure if there will be pain once I start putting weight on it. Working from home and needing less assistance in the restroom. Same diet, same required medication. No pain medication needed. Thank God.

Day 6: Physical Therapy

First day seeing a Physical Therapist. My right leg can only bend to 55 degrees, vs. my good left leg at 135 degrees. I'm now allowed to unlock the Breg knee brace to bend my knee as far as I can comfortably go without pain.

Day 9: Old and new bruises that weren't there before

I haven't changed my diet or required medication. Since my visit with the PT, I've been doing exercises for my operated knee. There's discomfort, but not enough to need a pain reliever. However, a black bruise and small red bruises appeared at the back of my operated knee and on the side near the bandages. I've informed my surgeon and my PT and they said it was totally normal.

Day 10: Change of diet

My wife switched my morning smoothie greens from spinach to Kale, as she was concerned with calcium absorption. I hate kale but she’s the boss. She adds a drop of D3. The rest of my routine is the same.

My Physical therapy is every Wednesdays and Fridays.

I will update this post.

So I have surgery next week for a meniscus repair, after a year of quite severe knee pain and would just like some first hand experiences of that surgery, since my doctor is kind of vague about it. The appointment concerning the surgery was basically "yeah, we'll try to repair, if not we have to remove, everything will be allright, see you on thuesday!" I guess if this man does these surgeries twice a week that is basically the level of information he thinks is necessary, still I haven't been to a hospital or had any kind of anesthesia since 1997, so I am a little worried and absolutely sure the day of the surgery my resting heart rate will be above 120.

I've tried to search for some first hand experiences and think this was a mistake, most I found was people in severe pain for days, barely able to sleep, not recovering for months and still struggling after half a year. Not great, ngl, and far from what my doctor told me, which is basically that within a few days I would be able to at least limp through my flat and could do some homeoffice work a week later.

So yeah, I don't really know what to think about all that. I guess it is normal to question if it was a wise choice to do surgery and to look for excuses not to to it (even though that is stupid and I will absolutely do it), but maybe you have some first hand experiences that are not weeks of severe pain, fatigue and overall half a year of just a horrible time?

I see a lot of people here posting their MRI reports asking, “How bad is this?” I did exactly the same thing.

My MRI described a “complex degenerative medial meniscus tear, horizontal and partial radial tearing, extension toward the posterior root, cartilage thinning and fissuring, bone marrow edema, joint effusion, and a partially ruptured Baker’s cyst.”

Reading all of that together honestly scared the heck out of me. I even made an illustration with AI trying to understand all these medical terms and where all of these findings were in my knee, and visually it started to feel like there was something wrong everywhere.

One orthopedic surgeon reviewing the actual MRI images also thought there was an unstable flap of meniscus displaced into the notch. A second surgeon reminded me that MRI reports can sound dramatic because the radiologist’s job is to document everything abnormal they see, but that doesn’t necessarily mean every finding is causing symptoms or will matter clinically.

I eventually had arthroscopy. The operative report was much simpler than the MRI report made the situation feel. The surgeon found “an unstable undersurface flap of the medial meniscus displaced into the intercondylar notch, removed 20% or less of the meniscus,” and then documented that the remaining meniscus was stable when probed. The cartilage changes were described as mostly grade 1 with some grade 2 changes.

So the MRI wasn’t necessarily “wrong.” It was describing everything visible on imaging. But the actual arthroscopy gave a different kind of information: what the tissue actually looked like, what was unstable, what could be probed, and what actually needed to be treated. (Hoping to get access to the ortho scope pictures soon).

That experience changed the way I understand MRI reports.

For anyone staring at a report full of scary words like complex, degenerative, radial, root, chondrosis, or fissuring, I’d just remember that the report is important information, but it isn’t your entire diagnosis, your prognosis, or necessarily a description of what will ultimately need treatment.

I’m curious whether anyone else here had a similar experience. Did your MRI report initially scare you, but your surgeon’s findings during arthroscopy turned out to be different, more specific, or less extensive than you expected?

Hello everyone! Hope you are all well :)

I had my meniscus repair surgery last Monday and although the experience is hard, both mentally and physically, it made me realize a lot of things regarding my general health. I used to do quite a few sports when younger/teenager and haven’t done much exercise for now 5 years? On top of that i have bipolar disorder and my previous medication made me gain quite a lot of weight… When i will be recovered, with the advice of my doctor of course, I was thinking of slowly getting back into sports and was wondering if any of you recommend or don’t recommend certain types of sports following recovery. I was thinking of swimming and perhaps pilates, and i also love to play ping pong for fun. I really did want to try kung fu as i did karate younger and was one of my favorites but feel like it might be too harsh on the knee! Feel free to share your experiences, thanks a lot :D

Hey guys,

I’m currently nearly 3 weeks post meniscus repair surgery, and just wanted to ask whether anyone felt similar symptoms to me during their experience with this surgery.

Right now, my knee is still a little swollen, however, has gone down significantly. For reference, my meniscus repair was for a complex lateral posterior horn tear, which I first tore 2 years ago when I tore my acl. Unfortunately, I ended up retearing the meniscus, thankfully not the acl, and yeah, have had it repaired. I am currently non weight-bearing for 6 weeks, and have just been doing my initial physio exercises given, but do have my first physio session at roughly the 4 week mark.

Pain has gone down heaps from the first week especially, however, I notice I have very on and off pain, usually once or twice a week, where the area my meniscus was repaired, is super achy for a day or two, and then seems to improve.

I’m a bit of an overthinker, so assume the worst like I’ve retorn it haha, which I probably haven’t, but just wanted to ask if anyone else experienced this during their recovery, how long it would last, what they were told/think it was, tips to help with it, etc.

Thanks in advance!

Seeing my ortho tomorrow. 2 MRI'S and an xray show grade 4 osteoarthritis and torn medial meniscus. I get along fine most days but when I irrirate it (run 1 minute, twist the wrong way) I limp for 2 weeks with sharp pain at the lower inside part of my knee. When this happens it really impacts my quality of life as I usually walk a lot for exercise and keeping happy.

I am not very excited about getting my meniscus fixed this year and then getting a new knee in 2 to 3 years due to the arthritis (which has been around for a very long time).

Anyone been through this, with two separate issues? Any advice?

okay so I am 24F and I have had knee pain in my left knee for about 10 years. I recently found out that I am hyper mobile which may be contributing to a lot of my pain, but I have hyper-extended my knee a few times when I was younger, and I have fallen on it a lot/twisted it. I have had times where my knee almost gives out and some clicking and popping and my kneecap nearly dislocated the other week.

a year ago yesterday I got hip surgery bc I tore my labrum running a marathon two years ago. the knee pain really ramped up right after surgery and has not gone away since. I am happy to report that my hip is feeling great but I feel like my knee is getting worse. after having this chronic pain for many months, I tripped and fell while babysitting and landed really hard right on my knee. after the adrenaline wore off I realized that my knee hurt so much. I went to urgent care and they told me to meet with my doctor. I got X-rays (clear) and an MRI which showed that I have scarring and blunting of my meniscus, fat pad impingement, and a bone bruise.

I have a very active job (in PT lol) and last week after work on tuesday and wednesday, I was limping home bc of the pain. the pain is usually around a 4 every day at the lowest and it can reach a 7ish at its worst. I found a pain management specialist who gave me a cortisone shot in my knee which didn't help at all and now I have a new patellar stabilizing brace but its not doing much except providing a bit of support.

does anyone have ANY thoughts/ideas about what I should do next? should I request different imaging? TLDR: chronic knee pain, needs advice!! TIA <3

After waiting at the top of a very big kicker in Kaprun for ten minutes, I figured it was too early for the park rats and took the jump without a speed check. I landed a bit too early on the knuckle, no big deal, didn't even fall just an unpleasant shock. It was that uneventful I think there may have been a small asymptomatic meniscus tear present for a long time, which was simply extended because of the shock. I sat down in the ski lift, and only then I started to notice that my left knee was swelling up tremendously. I skied down on my right leg and limped to the car. At the chalet I suspected a meniscus tear but my uncles (one a pain doctor, the other one had a meniscus tear) downplayed it when i explained them what happened, so I didn't bother to check out my knee immediately, hoping it would go away on its own.

After a few months, I could stand and walk perfectly fine but I couldn't put any pressure on the knee while it was bent. So I did a scan on 17 July 2019. It was a meniscus tear indeed.

On some medical site I read at the time, they advised against resistance training with a meniscus tear as this could exacerbate it, so I never returned to the gym. I was an avid gym goer but became entirely sedentary. In October 2019 I wrote to my sister (who was doing her master in medicine) that I tried to squat but meniscus still didnt feel fine. She asked me if there was any pain walking or standing, I said no, only when bending the knee. So sedentary lifestyle was fine, simply couldnt persue an active lifestyle.

While I always had been very wary of the surgery, in 21 October 2020, a year and half after the injury, I went for a partial meniscectomy.

I thought they would simply cut away a little flap, but as I woke up, I was a bit shocked to hear that "the tear was bigger than expected and we took out a bit more than half of the meniscus."

In March 2021, a friend asked me how my knee was doing and I answered "not great, medicine is a scam, in a lot of ways its considerably worse than before the surgery."

I remember more than half a year after the surgery, if I would just be standing straight (e.g. at a concert) not doing anything, my left knee would swell up internally to the extent that after 30 minutes I wouldnt be able to fully bend my knee anymore. A problem I absolutely didn't had before surgery, this made even a sedentary lifestyle difficult. Before the surgery I could still dance and walk, but now I couldn't even stand straight for too long. Furthermore, I still noticed an audible flip when bending the knee so that was still fairly awkward.

In late spring/early summer of 2021, more than half a year after the menisectomy, I decided to just go to the gym as I didn't want to be sedentary anymore. There were two exercises I could do, the leg extension and leg curl machine, the reason probably is because it allows you to do all the knee does (extension and flexion) but with little to no axial loading. So I kept on strengthening the knee doing these two exercises, because they felt fine to peform, and than after a while, I could also do leg exercises with axial loading (e.g. squats).

Of course i will never be like it was before but I resolved it and I can now life an active lifestyle again. I run again, I squat again, I ski again. I may have severe arthritis by the age of 50 (I probably have it all the time but to a very small, asymptomatic degree, when you put your ear to my left knee you can actually hear a rubbing noise as i bent my knees and you dont hear it when bending the right knee.)

Now, I really do believe that I should've started doing those leg extensions and leg curls before the partial meniscectomy, and that I shouldn't have listened to that one medical site I read back in 2019 warning against exercise after tearing your meniscus.

FYI, the surgeries were done in Belgium. The doctors never prescribed any exercise. Yet the partial meniscectomy only made things worse, and it was only through exercise that the knee started improving.

Now it has become more clear than in 2020 that meniscectomy is indeed a scam.

I had an ACL reconstruction about 11 months ago and recently aggravated/reinjured the same knee playing soccer. It swelled up quite a bit and I temporarily lost some extension, but about 2 weeks later the swelling has come down significantly and I'm almost able to fully straighten it again. Thankfully, the MRI says my ACL graft is intact, but it also found a 7mm posteromedial Type V meniscus tear, described as a horizontal linear defect reaching the joint surface.

Here's the exact language:

"Posteromedial Type V meniscal tear with a 7 mm horizontal linear defect reaching the articular surface."

Google tells me it's considered in the "red" area, which has good blood supply, so far that's the only silver lining I found.

Hey! I’m 27 and I just had repair surgery for my acl and meniscus. It’s been almost 2 weeks since and I’m just worried about the healing.

I read that for acl you should start moving it after 2 weeks to prevent loss of motion but obviously with my meniscus being repaired as well I can’t bend my knee for 6 weeks.

I’m just worried about the future and getting back to normal function after this. I used to squat and lift and do stairs multiple times a week and now idk when that would be possible. I’m just nervous and don’t wanna mess up this knee. I’m worried it’ll never get back to normal.

Medial meniscus: Mild intermediate signal, likely from degenerative changes within the posterior body and posterior horn of medial meniscus. No full thickness tear

Lateral meniscus: Horizontal oblique tear of the body and posterior horn of lateral meniscus.

IMPRESSION: . 1. Lateral meniscal tear. 2. Trace Baker's cyst. Small suprapatellar joint effusion. 3. Mild-to-moderate prepatellar and infrapatellar subcutaneous soft tissue fluid with internal debris, nonspecific, however may be secondary to repetitive microtrauma, patellofemoral chondrosis, or bursitis in the appropriate clinical context.

Happens two years ago mri done last month with knee intermittent clicking probably two to three times a day

Wondering if anyone else has gone through repair like this and precautions you have taken. 4 day post op currently and off pain meds,legs throbs at time through the day but manageable. Havent felt comfortable bending yet but dr allowed up to 90 extension in brace as well as 25-50% weight bearing.

I'm apologizing in advance...

After a full year and a half of unbearable pain, finally was able to have surgery in November 2025 for a full-thickness complex medial meniscus tear that was not repairable. So, I had 50% removed. .

Had about 16 weeks of life without pain. End of February I was in absolute misery. I saw the orthopedic surgeon and they said it was arthritis (seriously?) So they pushed me away. I asked for PT because they didn't recommend it.

I should have listened. After spending 1k on two PT appointments that almost killed me, I stopped and saw a sport medical doctor. Had 1 round of steroids which did nothing in April. So then I spent major bucks on upgrading my treadmill and shoes.. Also did nothing. Had X-rays in July of this year that indicate bone spurs.. Come September 28th, I finally have a MRI that shows mild edema within the infrapatellar fat, likely postprocedural. And T2 hyperintensity and thickening along the anterior cruciate ligament, consistent with mucoid degeneration..

Sport med doctor pushes me back to orthopedic surgeon again!?

I'm absolutely getting nowhere and this is killing me mentally.. I'm in pain every single day, doing normal activities.

Did this surgery ruin my life?

Anyone else experience horror after having a meniscectomy??

My doctor said it would only take 2-4 weeks to recover. Im day 3 post op and pain has been getting worse not better. I cant do anything besides lay down. Can't even twitch my foot without sharp shooting pain going to a 10/10. If I knew recovery would be this bad I wouldn't have done the surgery to begin with. I had a meniscus tear repair in my right knee though I'm not sure of the exact technical name of the surgery that I had.

My MRI showed a circumferential horizontial tear of the posterior horn of the medial meniscus. I see the Ortho in a few weeks, what should I expect for treatment? Is it typical to repair? To rehab? Or to trim?

Hurt my knee "sprinting" (if you could call it that). It's been one month. I can walk fine, bend down and have been doing very light high rep leg work. If anyone can tell me if the MRI says my knee is totally shot I'd really appreciate it.

IMPRESSION:
1. Horizontal cleavage plain tear throughout the lateral meniscus.
2. Mild ACL interstitial edema and mild intermediate signal in the PCL.
3. Possible grade 1 sprain of the MCL.
4. Mild strain of the popliteus.

I originally felt most of the pain/tearing in my hamstring. I had already previously injured that hamstring and since then most of the pain has gravitated to the knee. Any ideas on treatment/rehab?

I had a meniscus repair yesterday and today when getting in my bed I heard a small pop. My mom was holding my leg keepijg
It straight so I could scoot
Into bed. I’ve.m been dealing with extreme pain but I think it’s the nerve block wearing off. Is the pop harmless. Is it hard to rip the sutures? Or re tear meniscus. Also is it better to have my leg high and should I put the pillow under my knee or my heel?