Slight Tear in Meniscus

[WeMadeIt17]

Alright guys a had a post here about a week or so ago, and that i had some knee trouble. Well i have a slight tear in my meniscus and I was wondering if this has happened to anyone else? My doctor told me to do Aqua therapy for about 3 weeks and then if it is still in pain and what not i get surgery. Well anyway I was wondering if anyone has done anything with there meniscus and some workouts i can do in or out of the pool to strengthen the knee. Also if you may have worn some kind of brace cause i wont be able to stay of the basketball court for long... Hopefully! 

[WeMadeIt17]

nobody can relate huh? bummer 

[lon3lytoaster]

Get in the pool.Water rehab is one of the most effective ways to rehabilitate a knee injury. There are a variety of exercises you can do in the pool that will help your knee.Early on in your rehab program, get into a pool with a deep end--at least 8 feet. Basically, you just want to be sure you can't touch the bottom at all. When you are floating, begin to make a running motion underwater, moving your entire body the same way you would as if you were running. Kick your legs forwards and back and move your arms accordingly. This will tire you out quickly.Doing a few lengths or running man in the pool will take its toll on you. If you do it correctly, and don't cheat be using your arms too much, just going one lap of a nice-sized pool should take you about 10 minutes. You will be exhausted, but it's a great way to improve your knee's strength and conditioning.Another great water exercise is to do jump-explosions out of the water. This comes a little bit later in your rehab--since it requires a more advanced motion--but is very effective. Get to a spot in the pool where the water is just below your shoulders. Take a step with your injured leg and then jump as high as you can, exploding out of the water off of your bad leg. The resistance the water provides will act as a drag on your body and make it more difficult and help strengthen your knee.

I just copied and pasted that cause I'm lazy; But I've have quite a few knee issues already for being a young buck, the big ACL braces that most NBA players wear are extremely expensive and even when I had a torn ACL I didn't wear one.. So wearing one of those for a slight meniscus tear probably won't do much for you. Probably better off with the cheap little ACE knee braces you can get at wal-mart or rite-aid.

Hope you can avoid the surgery though, man. That's never fun. Always seems to feel so much worse than the actual injury for a while (Might just be my opinion though)

[budMovin]

You're 18...you will be fine.

[lon3lytoaster]

You're 18...you will be fine.

Hey now, I'm almost 18 myself and when you don't properly take care of knee issues they will mount up to big issues over time. I learned that the hard way.

[FatKidsDad]

I tore my right meniscus in December. I was walking through the T station in Medford on my way to a Cs game.  I heard and felt a loud snap, and the knee went out from under me and swelled right up.  I could barely walk, so I did the only reasonable thig...I went to the game  By the time the game was over, I was in tough shape, and the Fat Kid had to help me through the subway and home.

The next day, I saw the orthopedist, who ordered xrays an an MRI.  He found arthritis, which was probably the cause of the meniscus deterioration and tear.  It was lodged in the joint in such a way that it was causing major inflammation, swelling and pain. I couldn't put weight on it, straighten it out or walk without a cane. Bracing it didn't help.

I ended up with arthroscopic surgery in January. The doc cut out the torn section, because apparently the likelihood of it healing was slim.  The whole thing, between prep, anesthesia, surgery and recovery took a couple of hours, and I was able to walk out without a cane.  It was sore and weak for a while, and I went through about 6 weeks of PT/rehab twice a week. The first week was ice and elevation.


Now it feels great.  Not that I do anything athletic (never have)but walking, standing, stair-climbing, ladder work and anything else I want to do are no problem.
 

Strength training will certainly help support the knee, but it won't do anything to help the meniscus.  Depending on how it is torn, and if it flaps over and causes irritation in the joint, surgery may be the only out.

If it gets to that, I wouldn't shy away from it.  Work hard in PT and you'll do fine.

[WeMadeIt17]

Thanks so much for your helps everyone and i understand i am 18 and eventually i will be fine i just dont wanna do nothing wait till it feels good and then go run on it and do something worse. So I will do everything in the pool that was listed thanks for your help.