What is a meniscus tear?
A meniscus tear, the most common kind of knee injury, is a tear in one of the two thick bands of cartilage in each knee.
Your menisci work as shock absorbers, keeping your knee stable. They also lubricate your knee joint. A tear in a meniscus can cause severe pain and affect the knee’s function.
What causes a meniscus tear?
Many meniscus tears happen during sports, particularly sports where you pivot, twist, or make other sudden, sharp movements. Contact sports like basketball, soccer, and football are the most common cause of torn menisci among athletes.
But you can tear a meniscus in other situations too. Degenerative meniscus tears are pretty common in older adults. This happens because the menisci harden and thin out over time, which means that any sharp twist or turn could cause a tear.
What are the symptoms of a meniscus tear?
A meniscus tear can cause several symptoms, including:
- Popping noise when the tear happens
- Pain
- Swelling
- Stiffness
- Knee locking
- Knee instability
- Limited range of motion
The Hudson Valley Bone & Joint Surgeons team could make a preliminary diagnosis based on your symptoms and knee exam. They would confirm the diagnoses using an imaging procedure like an X-ray or MRI.
How is a meniscus tear treated?
Hudson Valley Bone & Joint Surgeons offers nonoperative treatments that include physical therapy, activity changes, bracing, and other conservative measures.
You might need a steroid injection to ease the inflammation and pain. Regenerative medicine injections, including platelet-rich plasma (PRP) or stem cells, can also help repair the meniscus and relieve pain. If your pain and mobility problems continue, you’ll probably need surgery.
The experienced surgeons at Hudson Valley Bone & Joint Surgeons usually do meniscal repairs using arthroscopy. This technique uses a miniature camera to view the inside of your knee. Your surgeon can suture the tear, trim away damaged meniscal tissue, and smooth the tear with a tiny motorized tool.
Arthroscopic meniscus repair is minimally invasive, requiring the tiniest incisions. With minimally invasive procedures, your recovery is much faster and easier than with traditional open surgery.
Hudson Valley Bone & Joint Surgeons, LLP can help with every aspect of meniscus tears, from pain management to healing and surgical repairs. Call the office in your area today or click on the online appointment maker to get help for a meniscus tear.
