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hkjhaj · 08-16-2009, 11:49 PM

Hi Guys,
I had an accident 6 months back ..by simply falling from a stool @ home. It was very painful and I could not bear my weight on that knee.
Dr said It was a knee ligament tear which after 25 days cast and using 3 month crutches was on a way to recover. I was even doing my physiotherapy sessions. now I can walk when its straight but still can’t do activity like climbing staircase, squatting, running, walking fast etc with injured leg
So we did MRI scan and it is showing knee Meniscus tear. Dr is suggesting arthroscopic in which they will remove tore portion.
Can anybody suggest me is there any better alternative solution?

If not how long it takes to recover from such operation? Does it mean my leg will be perfect after operation?
Any long term risks involved?
And after operation do I need to use crutches again for some days? I’ll hate imagining myself again in those crutches?
How many days I should take off from my work?
I asked same Questions to my Dr but u know how casual they are .. I understand they don’t hv tht much time to console everyone ..
but for me its my own dear leg

Please help me.
Thanking you in advance.

mitsy · 08-17-2009, 01:23 PM

I had an accident at work and had 3 meniscal tears. The company didn't want to take care of the problem and the doctor left me in a knee brace. My knee then froze in place and I couldn't bend my knee. Three years later I had the arthroscopic surgery to take care of the tears and some loose bone frags. It took another 2 years for me to bend my knee since the muscles adhesed. This is a worst case scenario. However, I would go ahead and get it done. It's not a difficult procedure and it could help in the long run. When your body is injured it takes nutrients from other areas of the body to try to help heal. Hope this helps.

If you don't feel comfortable with that doctor, get another opinion. I have to say my first doctor was a jerk and I found a much doctor to take care of my knee.

jennybyc · 08-17-2009, 05:02 PM

Hi HKJHAJ....I've had 14 knee surgeries including 8 scopes so I'll take a whack at this. First, I'm glad they got the ligament to heal as that is much needed in stabilizing the knee. Your doc was right to treat that first and then see if there were other problems inside after wards.

A meniscus is a disk of cartilage that has no blood supply so once torn, cannot heal itself. It will stay torn for life although your knee joint will eventually grind most of it up and in the process, give you a heck of a case of arthritis. Sometimes they can be repaired but that is not usually done unless you are young or an athlete. If you take out the torn piece, you'll have no pain and be back to normal. If you leave it in, you'll continue with the pain and it will get worse...substantially worse. I had to wait 2 years to get mine removed as no one believed that women could even tear a meniscus(1960's) and the result was a full knee replacement at 47(and should have been done 10 years earlier but I tried to wait as long as I could). Long term, having a torn meniscus removed will shorten the life of your knee joint but no where near as fast as leaving it in.

So I'd strongly advise the surgery having been through not having it done. A scoping is fast and simple. They go into the knee with usually 3-4 1/2 inch incisions and then put in 3-4 thin scopes to light and flush out the knee. Another instrument will grasp the meniscus and grind it up while another sucks everything out. Then he'll make sure everything is smooth and intact. Finally they flush the inside of the knee until it is nice and clean and you're done.

It is day surgery and depending on the doc, you may walk out on crutches or just a cane. I know I was always back to work after a week off but really could have gone back earlier. I had one scope where a chunk of bone was removed(broke off a bone spur) and I was back to work in 2 days. Pain is minimal and can be treated with pain killers and ice...I used mainly ice. Swelling can be an issue but if you are in relatively good health, it should be minimal as well.

Having had an open joint menisectomy back in the 60's, the scope is heavenly! And having had both knees replaced, I can honestly tell you...get it fixed...you don't want to go down the road I did. It is easy and VERY worthwhile.

good luck............Jenny

hkjhaj · 08-18-2009, 01:38 AM

Thanks a lot mitsy & Jenny for your valuable opinions.. even I will proceed with arthroscopy now with better confidence.

Only doubt I had was ..now my situation has improved from what it was 6 months back..so whether it will continue to improve and one day I'll back to normal naturally.. even my homeopath Dr suggested me tht.. even my young age will be added advantage..but then this knee problm is causing disturbance in my overall lifestyle.. because less movements I hv even put on in last 6 months.. and tht is causing even larger burden on my left knee. So i guess better to go for surgery. Also I am facing severe back-ache problem... I used to have back-ache due to my all day sitting job but nowadays it has increased a lot ..even on holidays

May be this is due to increase in weight & knee problem.. Did you guys faced it while knee was injured? please advise.

mitsy · 08-18-2009, 06:08 AM

When my knee was injured, it forced me to walk differently so that it wouldn't hurt. This caused extreme back pain since my body was out of wack. I also ended up doing some injury to my other ankle from walking differently. I finally found a D.O. who said one hip was 1 inch different than the other. He did some adjustments and that helped alot. Also finally getting the knee fixed so that I could walk normal was important. Also, like in your case the constant pain really affects the brain. Things are a struggle and the joy of life is blocked with this constant reminder. Maybe once you've had the procedure and start to heal the back pain will work itself away. My doctor told me to buy a book on stretching to get the back disks from putting too much pressure on each other and relax some of my tensed muscles.

I know it seems silly that simple stretches can do so much, but everytime my back starts to ache I do these and it helps. Walking is also good (once your knee is healed).

Tackle one thing at a time and you'll be able to find out if one issue is causing another.
Take care,

hkjhaj · 08-18-2009, 10:52 PM

Mitsy, let me tell you.. you are sounding like a God to me ... i m so much frustrated with this back & knee pain these days tht am not able to enjoy things to fullest.. and for a social person like me it becomes more difficult when i dont participate due to my body pain. i am fed of being always in pain which doesnt show up to others like a flu and tht to at this young age. I'll do my arthroscopy in next week itself.. and then concentrate on my back pain..i will update on how things are going.. Thanks a lot ..

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