Dr. Ben Wedro practices emergency medicine at Gundersen Clinic, a regional trauma center in La Crosse, Wisconsin. His background includes undergraduate and medical studies at the University of Alberta, a Family Practice internship at Queen's University in Kingston, Ontario and residency training in Emergency Medicine at the University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center.
Dr. Shiel received a Bachelor of Science degree with honors from the University of Notre Dame. There he was involved in research in radiation biology and received the Huisking Scholarship. After graduating from St. Louis University School of Medicine, he completed his Internal Medicine residency and Rheumatology fellowship at the University of California, Irvine. He is board-certified in Internal Medicine and Rheumatology.
Cartilage within the knee
joint helps protect the joint from the stresses placed on it from walking,
running, climbing, and bending.
The medial and lateral menisci are two large C-shaped cartilages that sit on
the top of the tibia.
A torn meniscus occurs
because of trauma caused by forceful twisting or hyper-flexing of the knee
joint.
Symptoms of a torn meniscus include
pain, swelling, popping, and giving
way.
Treatment of a torn meniscus may include surgery to repair the damage.
Some meniscal tears can be watched and treated with physical therapy and muscle
strengthening to stabilize the knee joint.
Introduction to the knee
The knee is the largest joint in the body. The knee allows the leg to bend
where the femur (thighbone) attaches to the tibia (shinbone). The knee flexes
and extends, allowing the body to perform many activities, from walking and
running to climbing and squatting. There are a variety of structures that
surround the knee and allow it to bend and to protect the knee joint from
injury.
Picture of a torn meniscus
The quadriceps and hamstring muscles are responsible for moving the
leg at the knee. When the quadriceps muscles (located on the front the thigh)
contract, the knee extends or straightens. The hamstring muscles, located on
the back of the thigh, are responsible for flexing or bending the knee. These
muscles are also important in protecting the knee from being injured, acting to
stabilize the knee, and prevent it from being pushed in directions it isn't meant
to go.
There are four ligaments that stabilize the knee joint and provide
stability during knee movement, the medical and lateral collateral ligaments (MCL,
LCL) and the anterior and posterior cruciate ligaments (ACL, PCL).
Cartilage
within the joint provides cushioning to protect the bones from of the routine
stresses of walking, running, and climbing. The medial and lateral meniscus are
two thicker wedge-shaped pads of cartilage attached to top of the tibia (shin
bone), called the tibial plateau. Each meniscus is curved in a C-shape, with the
front part of the cartilage called the anterior horn and the back part called
the posterior horn.
There is also articular cartilage that lines the joint
surfaces of the bones within the knee, including the tibia, femur, and kneecap
(patella). The term torn knee cartilage refers to one of the C-shaped menisci
of the knee between the femur and tibia.
As with any injury in the body, when
the meniscus is damaged, irritation occurs. If the surface that allows the bones
to glide over each other in the knee joint is no longer smooth, pain can occur
with each flexion or extension. The meniscus can be damaged because of a single
event or it can gradually wear out because of age and overuse.
Reviewed by William C. Shiel Jr., MD, FACP, FACR on 6/18/2012
Recovery time for your knee depends on how
severe your meniscus tear is. Full recovery from surgery may take about a month.
But keep in mind that people also heal at different rates.
If your doctor agrees, you could take up a new activity that won't aggravate
your knee pain while you recover. For instance, runners could try swimming.
Whatever you do, don't rush things. Don't try to return to your old level of
physical activity until:
You feel no pain when you bend or straighten your knee.
You feel no pain in
your knee when you walk, jog, sprint or jump.
Your knee is no longer swollen.
Your knee feels as strong as your uninjured knee.
If you start using your knee
before it's healed, you could cause permanent damage.
The knee joint is composed of three compartments and ligaments which stabilize the joint. Causes of knee pain may include injury, degeneration, infrequently
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