A month ago I suddenly found myself unable to support any weight on one of my knees. It had been bothering me for a few weeks and I was definitely limping before POW no longer being able to support any weight on that knee. There was no big event that lead up to the inability to walk on it. XRay indicated no arthritis at first. Then I had another xray and mri. Again the xray indicated nothing. The MRI showed a slight minicus tear but a lot of arthritis. I had a shot in the knee (steroid shot which helped a lot. A real lot. Still hurts, but I can actually walk with a cane or crutch. Should I get the surgery to clean up the meniscus or just see how it goes. Why am I asking? Because I have high deductible insurance. It will be better financially to get stuff done this year rather than next year. IE.-I have already spent my out of pocket this year. Unless, I am unable to walk I may end up putting off any additional treatment next year. Money is definitely in play here. Get surgery this year to clean up the meniscus or hope the pain is due to arthritis and not get surgery Any ideas?
If they clean up the meniscus, you will still have the arthritis, though it may diminish your pain for a bit. Is knee replacement surgery in your future? I ask, because I skipped meniscus repair surgery earlier in my life and lived with the debilitating pain for a good 10 years, got shots and meloxicam for inflammation and tried physical therapy, all of which worked sort of ok, until it didn’t because the cartiledge had deteriorated so much from arthritis. Finally, had a partial knee replacement done this year (right knee) and the Dr. was going to repair the meniscus on my other knee (left) but my insurance company balked at that. He said the left knee would probably also need a partial replacement and the meniscus repair may or may not have bought me a little extra time, there’s no way of knowing for sure. I can tell you that the partial knee replacement was one of my better life decisions and I can hardly wait to get the left done. It is wonderful to be pain free, at least on one side.
I vote for getting the surgery this year and take the chance that it works well along with the PT that comes after, especially given the financial considerations you outlined. You could start the new year in less pain and ready to move on with your active life again.
Can’t vote on the surgery but just finished 5 acupuncture sessions that , so far, have really helped.
I saw a number of doctors and a physical therapist but this has given me the most relief. I will now go back
to my PT exercises. I do not know if you have tried CBD for pain but Gron CBD chocolate is made from
tree bark (no high) and is delicious. There are others but this is the best tasting one. What is your doctor
recommending?
Go for it. It is much less invasive than years of pain followed by a knee replacement. And those injections can accelerate arthritis.
I had this happen a little over a year ago. Walking on a boardwalk and suddenly could not place any weight on that leg. I had the surgery done and they also cleaned up some of the arthritis. It took a while to heal and a lot of elipticle work to get back full strength but it is so much better now. I would go for it.
I had meniscus surgery done about two years ago. I was also trying to fit it in before the new year because our insurance was changing. It has made a huge difference. I had the pain, and the stopping because sudden sharpness, instability. Still can be achy arthritic-y, but nothing like before and I can walk for miles, which I had lost pre-surgery. So for me it was a good choice. I did follow up PT which i initially balked at, but that was a good choice also.
Add me to the chorus supporting meniscus surgery. I dealt with increasingly intolerable knee pain for years and it got to the point where I couldn’t go down the stairs without excruciating pain. My orthopedic surgeon first suggested the gel injections because my cartilage was also pretty much gone, but the real culprit turned out to be a serious flap tear of the meniscus. Every time I bent my knee it got caught and the shooting pain was horrible. I had the surgery and after serious PT that knee is more stable than the other. I can stand on it as long as I need to and climbing stairs is easy. I can also kneel and sit ross-legged, all things that were out of the question before. I can’t speak to the arthritis, though I know i have some. The tear was the source of most of my pain.
I would get the surgery too. Regarding the arthritis, depending on where the cartilage is missing, the doc might be able to also do microfracture surgery while in there. MF surgery stimulates production of new cartilage and although not as good as the cartilage you were born with, it can help lessen arthritis pain. I had mf surgery when I injured my knee, literally shaved off a pretty big piece of cartilage from the bottom of my femur and it was a successful intervention for me. Probably worth asking your doc what, if anything, can be done about the arthritis, as long as you are having meniscus surgery anyway. There are other cartilage replacement treatments in clinical trials as well, perhaps one of those could be appropriate for you if that’s what is causing your arthritis pain.
Everyone over 50 will have some arthritis. It is inevitable. The tear is not going to go away on its own, and inflammation can accelerate arthritis - that is what my husband was told. Arthroscopic surgery that does not involve bone is not that bad. My Mr. was skeptical after the surgery, but he is a slacker when it comes to following instructions and did not do any PT, so his recovery took longer than needed. However, he was able to walk around without any cane or crutches in a few days. He was back to stationary biking in a couple months. Now he can’t even remember what leg was involved.
I would steer clear of any unapproved treatments because insurance most likely will not cover those. Get a second opinion if needed. You seem to have two options: get the meniscus repaired and see if it helps or suffer in pain for a couple of years and then most likely replace the knee.
Of course it won’t work for everybody but glucosamine with chondroitin supplements may help. It certainly did for me.
My doc put it this way, re: G withC: it only works about 50% of the tme, but those it helps rave about it.
OP seems to have had a proper diagnosis, so I’m only “just saying.”
My CT didn’t show arthritis and the ortho suspects it’s patellofemoral, that surgery wouldn’t permanently resolve anything. But, OP has a diagnosis.
I had arthroscopic meniscus surgery about 23 years ago. It has been a huge success. My knee is still fine, and I am still going out on bike rides and/or doing significant work in the yard when the weather and my schedule permit.
My understanding is that every case is different, but at least for me it worked out very well.
I had complex tear of meniscus. It was unstable & I opted for a partial meniscectomy. At that time surgeon also polished the bone where there was arthritis. I used to hike & take long walks before, even aerobics, but I can no longer do that. But I can walk most days without pain, though stairs are still a problem.
It took about 3 years to get to this point, and I gained about 30 lbs, which is not good for the knee! I am attempting to get that off to see if the pain abates and I can walk for longer periods without any problems.
In the beginning I regretted the surgery, as it was worse before it became better. Maybe it would have been the same without the surgery, but I’ll never know. Dr feels one day I will require a knee replacement.
Interesting, all theses surgeries. On one knee, my husband has meniscus tears, massive Bakers cyst, no ACL, moderate to severe arthritis (and a healed deep vein thrombosis).
But no surgery on that knee, and only has pain after running or hiking very long distances because of inflammation. He is a heavy duty hiker and competitive stair climber, really fit. The only thing he does is takes Zyflammend (that stuff is amazing) and wears Orthosleeves knee compression sleeves. He doesn’t usually take anti-inflammatories, but might go into cold water for a few minutes after an intense workout. His doctor says he doesn’t understand why he isn’t in terrible pain, and should have gotten a knee replacement years ago. But if it doesn’t hurt, why do it?
Zyflamend has tumeric in it which is a good anti inflammatory. I have a friend with arthritis in her knee who takes tumeric daily (just the spice) and swears by it.
I’m also trying to figure out whether or not to have the surgery. I have a complex lateral meniscus tear, a tibeal plane impaction fracture, a 3 cm Bakers cyst, and moderate effusion (all done in one fell swoop three weeks ago chasing a tennis ball - ugh). I’ve been in an unloader brace and on crutches for the past two weeks. I go in to see the orthopedist again next Tuesday (four weeks after the incident) and he’ll want to schedule surgery if it hasn’t healed sufficiently. My brace is off today and it feels pretty good - not perfect, but pretty good. Still stiff, but perhaps that’s due to the effusion? I’m struggling with what to do to. I’ve heard mixed reviews about the long-term efficacy of the surgery.
Years ago, a part of my meniscus got stuck and I could hard put any weight on my leg, or even straighten it out completely. I went to my rheumatologist ( I have arthritis in both knees and feet) who was very unsympathetic. He refused to even do an MRI. He said in time that piece of the meniscus would tear off and it would feel better. He said I could use crutches in the meantime if I needed them. I was quite upset, but it turns out he was right. Within a couple weeks I was walking around “normally” again.
Obviously, everyone is different…what did your doctor recommend?