Weight loss was associated with beneficial modifications of medial meniscus extrusion over 18 months. This may be one of the mechanisms by which weight loss translates into a clinical benefit.
Your doctor might recommend: Rest. 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.
A key study published in Arthritis & Rheumatism of overweight and obese adults with knee osteoarthritis (OA) found that losing one pound of weight resulted in four pounds of pressure being removed from the knees. In other words, losing just 10 pounds would relieve 40 pounds of pressure from your knees. Ease pain.
Risk factors
Wear and tear on your knees as you age increases the risk of a torn meniscus. So does obesity.
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.
There is often sharp pain when you twist or squat. Symptoms may go away but can come back from overuse or when you do activities that involve twisting. 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.
You may need surgery to restore full knee function. Untreated meniscus tears can increase in size and lead to complications, such as arthritis.
Losing weight, or keeping your weight at a healthy level, can help improve hip and knee pain symptoms, as well as help prevent or delay a hip or knee replacement.
This is usually because the torn loose piece moves around the knee and irritates the surrounding structures. The torn fragments can move around the tight joint space leading to clicking, locking, swelling, catching and irritation.
A tear is usually labeled as severe if the meniscus has a big tear. Loose pieces may cause the knee joint to lock or catch. This level of injury may also keep you from bending or straightening your leg and can make walking difficult. Severe tears usually require surgery to repair.
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.
Symptoms of a meniscus tear may be different for each person, but some of the most common symptoms are: Pain in the knee joint: usually on the inside (medial), outside (lateral) or back of the knee. Swelling. Catching or locking of the knee joint.
Pain is perceived to be worse at nighttime. As you climb into bed and start to quiet your mind pain becomes more pronounced than when you were active during the day distracted by your activities. An active day may cause your knee joint to swell. When you lay down to rest your muscles and surrounding tissue tighten up.
Without proper treatment, the pain associated with a torn meniscus can become worse over time, leading to chronic discomfort, swelling, and reduced mobility. In some cases, this could even lead to long-term disability if left untreated.
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.
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.
Nutritional support such as just working on a healthy diet, reducing inflammation in the body, taking some turmeric, fish oil, glucosamine, and chondroitin, can help knee pain and inflammation as well.
Prop up the sore leg on a pillow when you ice your knee or any time you sit or lie down during the next 3 days. Try to keep your leg above the level of your heart. This will help reduce swelling. Follow your doctor's directions for using crutches or a knee brace, if suggested.