What you should know about meniscus tears & their treatment procedure
The meniscus is an important part of your leg that works as a shock absorber when you are walking or running. You can easily injure this part of your leg if you have an active lifestyle over time. However, injuries are even more common among sports players and certain professions. The most common type of injury you can have on your meniscus is a meniscus tear. What’s a meniscus tear, and how do you get it treated? Let’s find out.
What’s A Meniscus Tear?
A meniscus tear, as the name would suggest, is an injury where there is damage and tear in your meniscus. The tear can be minimal, partial, or complete. The treatment process changes according to the severity of the injury, but surgical intervention is an important treatment procedure for such injuries. But, before diving into the treatment procedures and how they are performed, let’s take a look at the causes of a meniscus injury.
What Causes A Meniscus Tear?
A meniscus injury or tear can be caused by several factors, but it’s generally divided into two scenarios. First, you can have an accident or something sudden that causes your injury, or your injury is caused by long-term habits. Let’s look at the particulars of both these scenarios.
Twisted knee caused by accident or while playing/running
Aggressive pivoting leading to rotation of the knee
Having to squat and pick up heavy items over time can also cause meniscus injuries
Here are some of the symptoms that can help you identify a meniscus injury or tear.
Swelling around your knee
Stiffness and/or loss of mobility in your knee
Pain when moving, twisting, or rotating your knee
A popping sensation in your knee when you move it
These symptoms can help you identify a meniscus injury, and if your doctor confirms, here are some of the treatment options available to you.
How To Treat A Meniscus Tear?
There are several treatment options available to you if you have a meniscus tear. Options include physical therapy, medications, rest, and surgery in difficult cases. Even in surgery, there are various options, such as arthroscopy or open surgery. Now that you know the options, you should also know doctors use tests like MRIs and X-rays to detect your injury and understand its severity. Based on the diagnosis, your treatment plan gets decided. So, let’s look closely at the different treatment options available to you for a meniscus tear or injury.
Physical Therapy
If your injury is minimal, doctors can order physical therapy alongside simple medication to help you get back up on your feet. Professional physical therapists ask you to exercise your knee the right way to heal your damage and get you back to health.
Medications
If you have a minor injury to your meniscus that can be treated without surgery, doctors will go for medications along with physical therapy for a quick recovery. The medications you are prescribed are based on the doctor’s discretion and your case specifically.
Rest
If your knee hurts when you move, you should consider not moving. That’s what the rest is. For minor injuries, you can just put an ice pack on your knee and rest for a few days, and it should get better. This is more so if you are younger, as your body will be more likely to heal itself.
Surgery
Surgery is the last resort treatment for meniscus injuries. If you have a complicated case or a serious injury, doctors suggest for you to go through surgery. There are two surgical options at your disposal for a meniscus tear, and they are micro and open surgery.
Microsurgery: Also known as arthroscopy, it is a minimally invasive procedure that can be used to fix your meniscus tear. Small incisions are made on your knee to insert cameras and surgical tools inside your knee, and they are used to see the damage and fix it.
Open Surgery: A direct incision is made on your knee around 2 to 4 inches long, and that is used to look inside your knee and treat the tear in your meniscus directly.
Conclusion
So, that’s a quick overview of what you should know about meniscus tears or injuries and how they can be treated. If you want to learn more about the treatment processes or get it yourself, you can visit Medipulse hospital in Jodhpur for the best care possible. To learn more about meniscus tear injury treatment at Medipulse, visit the hospital website.