Risk of not having surgery for a meniscus tear

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I had surgery for a torn meniscus 4 weeks ago and my knee feels better than it has in years. I put it off for a long time. I am 39 and it got to the point where it affected everything I did. I would absolutely recommend it. It has made my quality of life so much better. We tried therapy and shots and meds. Nothing worked the surgery helped me so much

I have been rehabbing a medial torn meniscus that didn't protrude much past the outer third of meniscus which has some blood flow. The consistent rehab, glue, ham, quad and hip strengthening combined with a lot of hamstring stretching has got my knee back to almost 100% over a 5 month period. I am 56 years old and very active and my experience with the meniscus tear is that it can be rehabbed to the extent that you can get back to your normal life without surgery.

I left my tear for 3 years than couldn’t stand the pain anymore, the surgery was the best decision I’ve ever made.

Good to hear a doctor that doesn’t believe intervention is the only option.

Thank You Dr. Geier. 51 yrs old Male had tear on right knee. Trimmed it up and feels much better. I put it off a very long time. It popped all time and I had problems bending. It actually stuck one time getting up. Your Video Dr Geier was what prompted my Doctor visit to orthopedic surgeon Many Thanks In Mid Michigan 🙏

AWESOME DR. HONESTY AND GREAT!! GOD BLESS!!!!!

I recently had a complete torn right meniscus surgery. I am a 70 year old male in excellent health. I am recovering nicely. It's been 3 weeks & I have no pain. I have some stiffness in my right leg below the knee. No swelling just black & blue from the tourniquet. I try to keep it elevated as much as I can, especially at night. I am walking without a cane or crutches. I am trying to be as careful as I can while walking & still have a slight limp but I guess that is part of the healing process. Thank you everyone for your time & I hope this helps.

Just had my surgery on Tuesday for this. Waiting to see how it will feel once I'm healed up.

Really honest guy....other doctors might advocate for surgery for their own benefit...but this guy stayed true...gave the right info that I needed.

71 years old. Overdid home construction projects in October 2022. Left knee sharp pains, clicking, cannot bend/straighten normally. No prior knee difficulties. Started research on physical therapy and began hot tub bending exercises. Multiple orthopedic doctor visits and MRI. Torn medial meniscus. I look forward to skiing and no way was I considering surgery to adversely effect my ski season. I am 80% improved after four months exercises with limited normal activities. Still daily pain and an occasional sharp stab. Just returned from two weeks skiing in Colorado. I expect continued improvement.

Thank you. I just tore my meniscus from a fall at work. I do not wantvto get operated. Thank you. George

Just had to comment. I had a lower medial meniscal tear in my right knee in 1998 when I was 28... the doctors said it would heal on its own. played soccer/football for another 4 years with knee braces and knee supports though still experienced pain, knee effusions till finally after chronic debilitating knee locking and pain, had arthroscopic surgery in 2002 to which removed 75% of the damaged medial meniscus. By this stage it was almost completely detached. Here's the reality for me since the surgery in 2002. With 75% of the shock absorbing cartilage removed I have forever an unstable and weakened knee even after physio and regular gym strengthening. With bone on bone, when playing soccer/football every game since and training session sincce even with wearing the very best knee brace supports on the market...there has always been pain, disabablement several days to weeks, inflammation and swelling due to recurring knee effusions. In my opinion a medial meniscus tear where surgery requires the removal of 50% or more of this cartilage will be for most, an end to your soccer/football playing days. Should you keep playing on, and receive on the field a huge or badly mis-timed tackle by an opposition player, could result in you blowing the whole knee and rupturing all the ligaments and tendons thus requiring a total knee reconstruction just to be able to walk again....its simply not worth the risk. I tried returning to soccer / football in 2014 and again this year 2020 and the the pain, loss of mobility is simply not worth it. So sadly I have hung up my boots forever.

I injured my meniscus in track when I was about 15. Back then, I healed fine in about two weeks and never thought about it again until about 13 years ago. It re-injured again while sleeping. This time it didn’t heal so quickly, but eventually it did. This happened two more times since then, so I finally did the surgery three days ago. So far it’s good, but I do have some arthritis going on.

I have had my left knee surgery for a partial menisctomy 12 weeks ago and my right knee the same operation just a week ago both very different in pain after surgery. I had an injury and fell over my mothers stairlift in the dark and had 3rd grade tears in both knees and a bakers cyst on the right knee. I was in so much pain before both the surgeries as it took so long to get an MRI to prove the tears. I am so thankful even though they are not fully healed as the pain was really bad before. I will keep you updated on the following healing over time.

I just had my surgery on my left knee to repair my meniscus tear this past Tuesday. My Doctor is Awesome!!!!!!! 6 to 8 weeks of rehab and recovery.

Just got surgery today! Partial menisectomy on left knee, feel no pain and immediately was able to put weight on my knee without discomfort, I will post again within a month after physical therapy, to see how I feel afterwards

Thank you for this video. In September 2019 I was walking from my car to the grocery store and I suddenly got pain in my knee. I waited to see an orthopedic surgeon. He examined my knee and the pain was severe. He said the x-ray looked ok but he was sure I had a torn meniscus, he ordered an MRI and it showed a torn meniscus. I am scheduled for surgery 11/08/19. He said if I changed my mine just call and cancel the surgery. I have difficulty dressing myself, putting on shoes and other garments. It is painful to squat or bend over. I am only concerned about the problems with walking after the surgery and wonder if I will have the same pain I had before surgery. I am 80 y/o and know I won’t have easy recovery as a younger person. I just don’t want to have the same pain I am now. I understand the surgical pain and expect that, I just don’t want additional pain to deal with. Any suggestion?

I was diagnosed with a longitude tear on my medial meniscus. I am 68 and an avid golfer. The symptoms were pain when playing golf, bending and just general walking. I was told I needed a knee replacement due to arthritis and the tear. I took a round of anti-inflamatory drugs and used ice and heat in intervals to reduce swelling and mainly resting the knee. After about 3 weeks, the pain eased up and I began therapy--what I found on YouTube and started using an inversion table to take pressure off the knee for about 15 minutes a day. After about 4 weeks, I started walking to build up the muscles in the leg to support the knee. The first week, I was walking about a mile a day. 2nd week I moved to 2 miles. 3rd week I went to 3 miles. I am up to 5 miles a day---I walk 2.5 in the morning and 2.5 in the evening. I do wear a brace on the leg to reduce lateral movement but I am not having any pain. I dd still have a "click" every so ofter but it is nothing I can't live with. I have played golf with the brace and it helps. At 68, I do not want surgery. It will be last resort!

I had meniscus tear playing hockey. In about 6 weeks I was able to skate again and finish the season. Never had surgery. Then 10 years later injured it again and decided to have surgery thinking it would fix it. It did for a few months but ever since that surgery my knee now locks (in never did before). Now I wish I just rested the injury and didn't get surgery. I've talked my friends out of surgery and they have thanked me. Wish I listened to myself.