Another very common injury for those that are active and playing sports. Everyone has two menisci in each of their knees, a medial and a lateral meniscus. These soft tissue structures are attached to the tibial plateau and provide congruency and stability to the knee joint. When there is excessive or repetitive shear forces to the meniscus they can occasionally fray or tear. This tear can cause pain in the knee, clicking, locking, feelings of your knee giving out on you, and sometimes a lack of stability. This pain makes it difficult to perform any sort of recreational activity that involves the legs.
Surgery has been the common option for treatment for many years but recent studies have shown that, depending on the site of the tear, the meniscus can heal very well without surgical intervention.
How Physical Therapy Helps Meniscus Tears
Since the meniscus can heal on its own without the help of surgical intervention, it is the role of the PT to determine what factors contributed to have this tear happen. This is found by a thorough PT exam which would include a physical exam testing the strength, flexibility, ROM, and sensitivity of the surrounding structures. Coupled with the physical exam would be a movement analysis screen looking at any particular movement that you plan on getting back to doing. We use this to determine your injury risk and if your movement patterns might have caused the tear in the first place. Call us today to find out how we can help you eliminate pain quickly and get back to what you love to do!