Dancing with a Torn Meniscus

T

TurnsAre4Girls

Member
Hello All.

Been awhile since I've been around because I tore my meniscus in my left knee in a bicycle race in May and haven't seen the dance floor since. My partner is getting anxious for us to get back together on the floor. She has been surprisingly patient with me and my annoying injuries that always seem to pop up. But this is the first one to keep me off the floor for an extended period of time.

The surgeon has decided after seeing an MRI that my knee should heal given time. However, there are times 4 months later that I still have very little mobility in the knee. Other times I can almost walk normally? I am completely at a loss as to how to get started again?

Have any of you had knee issues (meniscus tears) and successfully rehabbed it back to 100%?

T4Gs
 
I tore my meniscus 4 years ago. In my case the surgeon "repaired" it in the same sense that you "repair" a hangnail, snipping a piece of cartilage over and inch long from my knee.

The surgery solved the crunching but still had a lot of swelling. Over time the swelling has gone down, but I find it helpful to take aspirin before dancing and to wear a knee brace. I have enough mobility to do enough rise and fall to get by in smooth, but find it painful if I lower too much.

YMMV, however. I don't have issues walking as you mention.
 
My pro is dealing with this same issue....he had a tear almost 3 years ago, and decided on no surgery, functioned almost normally, including comps since then...now knee has been swollen for last 2 months. He is thinking he may have to bite the bullet and undergo surgery. Keep in mind that surgery is no guarantee of a cure...whether to opt for that or conservative treatment is highly individualized....you should seek the advice of a specialist, as well as follow what your body leads you to do...if there is pain- stop. Be careful with activity...and let your body guide you. Be well....healing thoughts being sent your way
 
Many..many knee issue and several tears/surgeries... It depends on the type of tear, but you can never completely rehab a tear. (I have tried) If you are having mobility issues, it sounds like you need a second opinion on surgery... My last injury was a bucket tear... Dr1- sure you can rehab....3 months later no lateral control but could walk normal. Dr2, you need surgery to fix, Dr 3 you need surgery to fix, there is no way to rehab a tear. Keep in mind that the surgery is what snapdancer describes.. they cut off the meniscus that is causing the mobility problems.... cartilage doesn't heal but you can force motion into that meniscus, but it may cause problems at some point down the road.

Get another opinion. (I got 3) If you have surgery they clip off the tear.. you are weight bearing right away (painfully!) Lots of physical therapy to get the bending straightening back, but you will be dancing in 6 weeks or less.

edited to add: I currently have a tear in one knee but there is no motion issues so that is delayed until it causes problems. I suggested a second opinion since you are still having mobility issues
 
I have a torn meniscus (along with a lot of other issues). Is your reduced mobility due to swelling or due to the meniscus fragments getting stuck? It is still early days for you. I was told that the research shows that for 90% of people, after a year, there is no difference in outcome between those who have surgery and those who have physical therapy alone. (So, I decided to wait and see.) If the tear is in an area with no blood supply, there is almost no chance of healing. If the tear is in an area that has some blood supply, it can heal. In my case, I got physical therapy, iced, used anti-inflammatories, used a stationary bike at very low resistance to stimulate blood flow but not stress the joint. And I avoided any activity that caused more pain and swelling. For me, that meant dancing only in short spurts and avoiding or reducing jive for a few months. I also wore a long knee pad that served as a sort of brace and also contained the swelling. It took 6 months, but finally my swelling is down and the range of motion back to normal. Now I have to strengthen the leg muscles before I will dance full out. I really recommend finding a good physical therapist to guide you and if she/he knows about requirements of dance, all the better.
 
Has your orthopedist recommended physical therapy? Is that a course of action for your knee? Good luck. I've had two rotator cuff repairs (the third one's free!), so I"m with you in terms of "anxious to get back on the dance floor." I still do PT even after surgeries just to keep the affected area as strong as possible. Good luck and best wishes!!!
 
Well thanks guys. I see I'm not the only one battling this ATM.

I saw the doctor again today and we both agreed NO SURGERY! I'm going to start up treatments with this sadistic sports therapist but she gets results. She is crazy though. She has white flags at the end of her working table for you to wave if you've had enough! ..... OUCH ... When I leave there her neighbors must think she is killing someone in her office.

I start dancing in 3 weeks. Firm date set!

T4Gs
 
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My $0.02:

I had an acute tear of the medial meniscus. I wasn't sure what it was at the time except something "bad just happened." It took me awhile to go to the doc, then there was a mixup with the MRI, and then even when it was found, it did not provide a clear answer, surrounding signs pointed to a tear, but the tear itself wasn't visualized.

I kept dancing. But I could only dance those dances that required I transfer weight onto a straight leg. All other dances were out.

Finally, 18 months later I couldn't deal with how hobbled I was and went to a different doctor. He recommended surgery and I was past ready. Dealing with simple things in daily life was a pain (like going up stairs), but it was keeping me off the floor and making me unhappy.

Turns out the whole knee was a mess. I had BOTH a medial and lateral meniscus tear and rampant synovitis with severe plica issues.

One point of clarification: the meniscus is like a jelly doughnut: if you tear it where it has a blood supply, it can be surgically repaired. If you tear it on the outer part that does not have a blood supply, it can be surgically cleaned up by clipping away the frayed tissue that is interfering with movement and causing pain. My lateral meniscus had the latter kind of tear and was simply trimmed. Had that been the only problem, I would have been on my feet the next day. That sounds good, but the meniscus is there for a reason. Clipping it away means increased OA in the future. My medial meniscus was able to be repaired/stitched up. I was in a brace and on crutches with ZERO weight bearing for 6 weeks.

Personally, I really wish I had done the surgery a lot earlier. I tore up my knee much worse by stubbornly continuing to use it when there was a real structural problem. My doc was a sports medicine Ortho who understood how very important dance is to me. For me and my interests, no surgery was not a good option.

Good luck.
 
WOW a lot of knee issues amongst dancers!! Preventative joint maintenance rant later. But I agree 100% your ortho surgeon should be a sports medicine Kerlan Job type who has operated on dancers or at least seen ballroom dance so he/she knows the forces applied during the sport
 
When I tore mine, I was back to dancing in 6 weeks...but no where near what I could do before. The back half of a natural was like I was just standing there wincing in pain. It was about 8 months from the tear that I felt I could actually return to doing knee spins, and even that was meh. It's been a year now and I finally feel like I'm back, but I am very aware of when it's about to rain.
 
Have been dancing with a meniscus tear both medial and lateral on one knee and a medial tear on the knee. As I got older and the pain got worse had orthoscopic surgery to clean things up and am now back to dancing, not at what I could do before, but much better than before the surgery. I take advil before every practice and ice the knee after every dance session even if its only 15 min. Feel that the icing has kept the swelling down to a minimum. I'll put up with a little (or a lot) of pain to be able to continue to dance.
 
Again thanks everyone for your input.

Bradamant - You know I have many similar issues as you. My MRI had little things all over. The knee is just banged up sort of speak from all my activities. Right now I do have issues going up stairs and especially walking normal after say getting out of the car. It takes my knee about 5 minutes of walking to be able to straighten out and me actually walk normally. Perhaps a second opinion is the best way to go at this point? Appreciate you sharing your story.

Daphna - I fear I might have to start your regiment of ice and drugs .......
 
I had my first meniscus surgery on my right knee when I was 17. The second one on my left knee at 21. Lots of sports as a kid. Now, 20 years later, my knees are the least of my problems. (looking at you, right hip)

With surgery, they repaired one, cleaned the other one up. Then PT. I was doing a musical at the time of the first one. I was performing with full dance numbers within 4 weeks. Now, I was 17 and bounced back, but it made more sense to me to clear out all the craziness in there. I could tell immediately.
 
Raindance, as far I as I know, joint health can be optimized by a few things: Reducing time being inactive (sitting, etc.), keeping muscles strong (cross training, weights, resistance), trying not to get injured (skiing, etc), being at an optimal weight (so as to not stress joints), having good alignment and posture, joint care after hard exercise (ice, ibuprofen - I take beforehand), having good footwear (no heels, orthotics). So it is a lot of work and nothing special. And there are factors at play, including genetics, bad luck with injuries/accidents, that sometimes can't be controlled. The fact is, after decades of dance, sport and just life activity, there is a lot of wear and tear on joints that can't be prevented.
 
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