Torn Meniscus: Should You Have Surgery?

The answer is wait and have physical therapy. 

In the May issue of the New England Journal of Medicine, a study took a look at how patients did who were diagnosed with a degenerative tear of the knee's meniscus ( You have a medial and lateral meniscus in both of your knees.  The meniscus is a cartilaginous disc between your thigh bone and your shin bone.)  

You can damage your meniscus by a sudden twisting motion ( this is a traumatic tear of the meniscus ) or from seemingly no reason at all ( this is a degenerative meniscal tear.)

The medical study showed that after a year there was no difference between the individuals that had surgery right away to trim the degenerative tear of the meniscus and the individuals that did not have surgery but went to physical therapy.

If you have a degenerative tear in your meniscus, be patient and go to physical therapy.  If it is feeling better, know that you are a success story!

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