Dr.Benjamin Wedro, MD, FACEP, FAAEM 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.
William C. Shiel Jr., MD, FACP, FACR received a Bachelor of Science degree with honors from the University of Notre Dame. There Dr. Shiel 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.
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.
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.
Picture of a torn meniscus
Introduction to the knee
The knee is the largest joint in the body. The knee allows the lower extremity 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. A variety of structures surround the knee to make it function and to protect the joint from injury.
The quadriceps and hamstring muscles are responsible for moving the leg at the knee. When the quadriceps muscles (located on the front the thigh) contracts, 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 (the medial and lateral collateral ligaments and the anterior and posterior cruciate ligaments) and provide stability during knee movement.
Cartilage within the joint provides cushioning to protect the bones from of the stresses of routine stresses of walking, running, and climbing. The medial and lateral meniscus are two thicker wedge-shaped pads of cartilage attached to the leg bone (tibia). 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). Generally, however, when the common torn cartilage refers to one of the 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.
The knee joint is composed of three compartments and ligaments which stabilize the joint. Causes of knee pain may include injury, degeneration, infrequently infection and rarely bone tumors. Although routine x-rays do not revel meniscus tears, they can be used to exclude other problems of the bones and tissues. The knee joint is the most commonly involved joint in rheumatic disease, as well as immune diseases that affect various tissues of the body.
Osteoarthritis is a type of arthritis caused by inflammation, breakdown, and eventual loss of
cartilage in the joints. Also known as degenerative arthritis. Osteoarthritis
can be caused by aging, heredity, and injury from trauma or disease.
Arthritis is inflammation of one or more joints. When joints are inflamed they can develop stiffness, warmth, swelling, redness and pain. There are over 100 types of
arthritis including osteoarthritis, rheumatoid arthritis, ankylosing spondylitis, psoriatic arthritis, lupus, gout,
and pseudogout.
Fractures occur when bone cannot withstand the outside forces applied to the bone. Fractures can be open or closed. Types of fractures include: greenstick, spiral, comminuted, transverse, compound, or vertebral compression. Common fractures include: stress fracture, compression fracture, rib fracture, and skull fracture. Treatment depends upon the type of fracture.
Regular physical activity can reduce the risk of disease. Regular exercise can also reduce the symptoms of stress and anxiety. There are fitness programs that fit any age or lifestyle.
Knee injuries, especially meniscus tears, are common in contact sports. Symptoms and signs of a torn meniscus include knee pain, swelling, a popping sound, and difficulty bending the leg. Treatment may involve resting, icing, compressing, and elevating the knee, in addition to wearing a knee brace, taking anti-inflammatory medications, and stretching the knee.
Arthritis is a joint disorder featuring inflammation. A joint is an area of the body where
two different bones meet. A joint functions to move the body parts connected by its bones.
Arthritis literally means inflammation of one or more joints.
Arthritis is frequently accompanied by joint pain. Joint pain is
referred to as arthralgia.
There are many types of arthritis (over 100 identified, and the number is growing). The types range from those related to wear and tear of cartilage (such as osteoarthritis) to those associated with inflammation resulting from an overactive immune system (such as rheumatoid arthritis). Together, the many types of arthritis make up the most common chronic illness in the United States.
The causes of arthritis depend on the form of arthritis. Causes include injury (leading to osteoarthritis), metabolic abnormalities (such as gout and pseudogout), hereditary facto...