Recovery will take about 6 to 8 weeks if your meniscus tear is treated conservatively, without surgery.
In the case of meniscus tears, some people think the injury will heal over time on its own. But the truth is that there are different types of meniscus tears — and some tears won't heal without treatment. If your tear is on the outer one-third of the meniscus, it may heal on its own or be repaired surgically.
Physical therapy can help with strengthening your muscles and helping your tissue and cartilage to heal. According to the Cleveland Clinic, the average recovery time for a torn meniscus is between 4 to 8 weeks.
Avoid positions and activities that place excessive pressure on knee until pain and swelling resolve. Problematic positions include squatting, pivoting, repetitive bending (eg, climbing stairs, rising from seated position, operating clutch and pedals), jogging, and swimming using the frog or whip kick.
Avoid activities that aggravate your knee pain, especially any activity that causes you to twist, rotate or pivot your knee. If your pain is severe, using crutches can take pressure off your knee and promote healing.
Your doctor may recommend the RICE regimen—rest, ice, compression, and elevation—to treat a meniscus tear. Resting your knee can help relieve your symptoms. Your doctor may suggest using a cane for a few weeks to keep weight off your knee and to stay away from physical activity that may have contributed to the injury.
Although knee braces do not heal or treat your meniscus tear directly, they can provide extra support and stability for your knee while your meniscus injury heals. A good brace will protect your knee and take the pressure off your meniscus, allowing it to rest.
Typically, mild meniscus tears heal within two to three weeks. Symptoms of moderate meniscus tears or strains: Pain at the side or center of the knee.
Arthroscopic repair.
Your doctor will make small cuts in your knee. They'll insert an arthroscope to get a good look at the tear. Then they'll place small devices that look like darts along the tear to stitch it up. Your body will absorb these over time.
The severity of a meniscus tear is graded on a scale of one to three. A Grade 1 tear is a small tear that does not extend to the articular surface – or the top – of the meniscus. Grade 2 is a larger tear in the meniscus that also does not extend to the articular surface.
The injury won't heal on its own, which means it may continue getting worse without proper care. For example, a partial tear may continue to worsen until it's a complete tear. Continuing to walk on the affected leg can aggravate your symptoms, making pain and stiffness worse in as little as a few days.
A meniscus tear interferes with the normal movement of the knee, and without treatment, you can wind up with serious, lifelong problems.
Rest: Keep your weight off the injured knee as much as possible. Ice: Place an ice pack on your knee for about 20 minutes, several times a day. Compression: Wrap your knee with a compression bandage to help reduce swelling. Elevation: Rest with your leg raised higher than your heart to decrease swelling.
If you have knee pain and have been told you have a suspected meniscal tear either from an exam or from MRI, much of the time this can heal on its own with 4-6 weeks of rest, doing some physical therapy that would focus on some range of motion and strengthening exercises and correcting any biomechanical problems that ...
Can I cycle with a meniscus tear? Cycling is a good exercise for recovery from a meniscus tear, as it is a very low impact and straight-lined exercise. Issues may arise if the range of movement of the knee is very limited by the injury and swelling and unable to complete the revolution of the pedal smoothly.
Treatment for non-locking torn meniscus
The patient should avoid pivoting and squatting and should work on keeping the quadriceps muscles strong. If the swelling and pain have not resolved in 6 weeks, they usually won't without surgical intervention.
Range of motion may be limited due to pain, swelling, and/or mechanical limits from the tear. Daily activities such as walking up and down the stairs, walking down a hill, kneeling, and squatting are often made difficult due to increased pain in the knee.
Continuing to play with a torn meniscus, however, will likely have long-term effects on the ability of that cartilage to heal on its own. Low-grade meniscus tears can often heal without surgery. We recommend that patients rest the knee and avoid putting weight on it as much as possible.
The pain may come and go over a period of years if the tear isn't treated. Larger tears usually cause more pain and immediate swelling and stiffness. Pieces of the torn meniscus can float into the joint space. This can make the knee catch, pop, or lock.