Dancing with a Torn Meniscus

The other thing is that my PT and I noticed that my knee did not track 100% in line and so I have been working on that a lot. I'm at home rehabbing from foot surgery and am beginning week 3 of 6 weeks non weight bearing,. The swelling in my knee has gone down ( same leg) and I have complete range of motion again and no pain. Obviously I am not dancing on it, but so far, the pain does not return when I do exercises. So in my case, conservative care may have worked and maybe I preserved the cartilage that is in there. I never had locking of the knee, btw so the tear may be in a place that is less troublesome.
 
Hi.

I see that it has been some time since the last post was made on this thread, but, I have got to know more about this injury because it has impeded me since January 2 of this year.

I have danced since I was a child, and of all things, Hula, which is primarily danced from the knees and the feet rather than the hips as it is assumed to be. I slipped off the back of a moving van and fell hard onto the asphalt. I can walk, but I cannot stop my mind from making me believe that I am going to hurt my knee again. Hula is the only thing that I have ever done with my life, and was the reason that I chose to return to college for a second set of degrees, so that I can turn it into what it has become for me, which is medicine for an aching, domestically abused soul.

And for a long time I made a decent income with it, but now I am just...not...and to add to the pain, there is the pain of not being able to do what I have always done, not only as my job, but, as an extension of who I am.

Anyone know where I can get more information about this online, because really, I am tired of not dancing, and more tired of the confusing mess that my specialist seems to think is going to work. He does not suggest anything OTHER than surgery, which, I do not believe I need it, and neither does my physical therapist.

Anyone?

Mahalo
ROX in Los Angeles
 
Aloha Rox in Los Angeles, my husband had same injury, ignored everything about it until his quality of life, work life, weekend life, family life was so impacted that he finally had surgery, Same day outpatient, scope, tiny pinhole scar, the tear removed, next day at PT started riding a stationary bike. This regenerates the meniscus. He was shocked at how good he felt just a few days later, also kept riding.
Same thing with dearest friend at work, only they discovered she had 4 tears front, back and two on the side of one knee when the x-Ray only showed the two. The doctor told her that many tears is seen in sport players frequently, not in office workers, she reply " you try chasing 4 kids under the age of 8" it took her. About 4 days to get with it and she was walking in heels by the next Monday with no regrets. Everyone is different.
 
My only advice is to stick with what your doctors say, and physical therapy. A good physical therapist can work wonders.
 
So I've been having some knee difficulty for about a year now. It started when I was doing squats at the gym. Iced it, took Advil, and kept working to stretch it and keep it limber. It made progress for several months and seemed like it was almost healed. Then it quit getting better, and lately it's been getting worse again. Saw the GP a few weeks ago and he thinks it may be a meniscus tear. I go in for an MRI on the 19th. It feels fine when on a straight leg or in a full squat, but there's a range in between where it's very painful. Last week I realized that I can't do any more bolero until something is done about it. I guess I'll find out what the situation is in two weeks.
 
If you aren't comfortable with what your doctor is recommending, get a second opinion, and a third if needed. Also ask about the possible/likely consequences of delaying surgery if surgery is what they are recommending. Then make an informed decision.
 
My experience: I had a small tear in my meniscus and my doctor didn't think surgery was warranted. After trying physical therapy for a while, he asked me to get a 2nd opinion from a particular doctor--original doctor didn't want to operate without somebody else he trusted also looking at it. 2nd doctor said yes, operate at this point. Operation and follow up physical therapy pretty much fixed everything. I concur with the advice to get a 2nd opinion.
 
My knee (and the whole leg, actually) had massive swelling. There wasn't a lot of pain, but dang...my left leg was twice the size of my right. Come to find out, I had significant tears to my meniscus, confirmed by an MRI. I saw a surgeon about it, and of course, he recommended he go in and remove the shredded areas of my meniscus. The surgery went smoothly, and I was walking without support in about 4 days. This was well over a year ago. The knee has not been the same since. :(

If the injury is not significant, I'd recommend getting a second opinion, or even a third, before getting the surgery.
 
No ortho surgeon I've talked with here will guarantee a return to 100% functionality. A PT I know said getting back to 90-95% is golden, depending on the injury. Seems the takeaway is that you will be better after surgery, but you will never be quite as good as you were prior to the injury/surgery. One needs to weigh the trade-offs: continued pain with possibility of further injury (possibly necessitating surgery anyway) or taking the sleepy juice and rehabbing as best as possible. YMMV.
 
I ran across this link on a new meniscus procedure in case anyone interested.

wexnermedical dot osu dot edu/sports-medicine/get-me-back-to-my-sport/knee/meniscus-clinical-trial

You also might want to do a Google search on some of the terms in the article. I do not (yet) have any meniscus problems, but recovering now from a hip replacement 10 weeks ago. So far, doing very well! :-)

Good Luck!

pruthe
 
Joe said:
The same as before the injury, or the same as during the injury?
Click to expand...

Well, I'm not sure when the actual injury occurred, but what I am assuming was during the injury, I was able to dance (Standard) but just had massive swelling and very minor discomfort. After.....eh.....no reduction of the pain, and now have occasional "joint" pain, as opposed to just soft tissue discomfort, and a temperamental knee. Some days I can warm it up, and off we go. Others......*sigh*....not so much. Of course, my recent weight gain has not helped. I'm a bit frustrated, to be honest.
 
Mine was actually close to 98% from about 2-12 months post-surgery, but I'd say is maybe 85% now.
 
Since this seems to be the 'pain' thread for right now, any suggestions for arthritis of the top of the foot & toe area? Advil doesn't seem to do much for this pain, though it does help with the knee pain :)
 
A good podiatrist! Top of the foot doesn't sound like arthritis, however. I have arthritis in one of my big toes and the podiatrist gives me a series of shots periodically that is a local anesthetic (series of three, one week apart). The idea is that even though the local wears off it cuts the inflammation and pain cycle. Cortisone shots also help (a lot), but you can only have so many of them before the cortisone causes damage.

I found a good podiatrist by asking other dancers--much better than the one I had been using before.
 
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