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  1. #1
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    bruised meniscus???

    whacked my inner lower knee area w/an axe handle 10 days ago and somethings just not right. swelling has gone down for the most part and pain is minimal other then a few sharp twinges here and there. doesn't feel too bad when i wake up but as i work on my feet all day it gets quite stiff w/ the occasional bout of tingly numbness down my leg that doesn't last more then a few minutes at a time. my knee is also clicking (w/ no pain) when it bends and walking down the stairs is awkward. i've got an appt w/ "the man" on monday but my insurance sucks and won't cover an MRI which is what he'll probably want to do and what i can't really afford.

    is it possible to tear meniscus from a relatively minor impact in a really delicate spot??? anybody have any insight as i'm thinking/hoping its just a bruise but i figured it would have gotten better by now. thanx

  2. #2
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    I'd be more inclined to say that you bruised the end of you lower leg bone. While on a Grand Canyon float trip last year I somehow banged my knee and had pain like you're describing for weeks, finally my Doctor buddy ran me thru his MRI and showed me where the bruising was. Nothing I could do for it other than lay off running and other activities that aggravated it until the soreness went away. It was several months before I was 100%.

  3. #3
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    I tore a meniscus while pivoting to throw a basketball. Depending upon age and activity,when it is time to tear, it will tear.


    BTW: An MRI will only confirm the tear; having it scoped will do the same thing.
    “How does it feel to be the greatest guitarist in the world? I don’t know, go ask Rory Gallagher”. — Jimi Hendrix

  4. #4
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    You can in fact bruise your meniscus. I was hit by a car last October cycling, and when I hit the pavement, bone-bruised the hell out of my femoral chondryl and upper tibial plateau, and in the process, pinched my medial meniscus and bruised it. Took months to heal properly. MRI would show pinching vs. tear.

    The clicking you describe is sounds to me like simply crepitus; causes are varied, but could be from petella-femoral syndrome (outer quad muscles stronger than inner, vastus medalus or whatever it's called), causing the kneecap to track slightly out of place.

    Edit: you could have also inflamed your pes anserine bursa with the impact, which is on the medial side of the knee, just below the knee joint; this pain mimics meniscus symptoms. Google it up.
    Last edited by peterslovo; 10-22-2006 at 10:21 AM.
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  5. #5
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    thanx for the replies folks. its gotten a bit better but i'm gonna keep the appt w/ the doc manana for piece of mind if nothing else but prolly won't go for the mri unless he really thinks its neccessary.

    i actually did google it before this thread and low and behold, it led me to upallnight's meniscus thread here. the other stuff it gave me all had to do medial meniscus tears but nothing relating to it happening from an impact.

  6. #6
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    You can bruise the meniscus or get a meniscal contusion. Google for details.
    Every man dies. Not every man lives.
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  7. #7
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    Hey Jim,

    I just had some of my medial meniscus (avascular) trimmed in my right knee and when the ortho was in there, he found that my articular cartilage (I don't know if it was on my femur or my tibia) had been damaged too. The divot, for lack of a better term, is shallow but fairly broad, according to him. He says in the tape that it's not a good thing and that it portends to future issues with the joint. Can you guess what he's thinking with that comment? Or do I have to wait until next Tuesday when I see him to ask? Thanks.

  8. #8
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    future issues = early onset osteoarthritis and or osteochondral defect. I'm basically in the same boat as you right now and had similar findings from my surgery 2 weeks ago.
    fighting gravity on a daily basis

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  9. #9
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    Thanks (I think..). I figured that was probably the case with the osteoarthritis. Like I told my wife, the meniscus trim could be marked as the first step to knee replacement. The ortho told her I'd be good for at least another 20 years skiing. If I can go 20 years without the replacement, maybe the technology will be there that allows for some other treatment. Anyway, I ain't worrying about it right now.

    How's your knee feeling? I'm actually doing pretty good, six days post-op. I'm not really limping anymore, the stiffness and swelling are mostly gone, and I'm riding the windtrainer. I'm going to golf on it this weekend. All in all, this was a lot easier than I expected, at least so far. We won't have snow to ski for another month or so, so the timing is going according to my plan.

  10. #10
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    my knee feels pretty good, almost 0 swelling and no pain. I was back at work walking without a limp on post op day 4. Had Surgery Thurs a.m. back at work monday. The kicker for me is my knee doesn't hurt, but hwne hte ortho uses words like severe and extensive it usually means bad things to come.

    So I'm going to cut out running, which sucks for me, since have been competing and doing ok in triathlon. I was hoping to give a full ironman a go within the next two years, but it seems that might be on hold now.

    but if I have to give up running so that I can still ski, then so be it.
    fighting gravity on a daily basis

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  11. #11
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    Yeah, I think I'm done running too. I say that all the time, quit for a few months or longer then go out and start again. I've got to just stick with the bike and give my knees the benefit of the doubt. I am passionate about skiing. I love to bike. I'm only lukewarm to running. Skiing trumps all. I sure don't like that 'severe' and 'extensive' thing you mentioned. I'll see what the ortho says on Tuesday.

  12. #12
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    Quote Originally Posted by GoldMember View Post
    Hey Jim,

    I just had some of my medial meniscus (avascular) trimmed in my right knee and when the ortho was in there, he found that my articular cartilage (I don't know if it was on my femur or my tibia) had been damaged too. The divot, for lack of a better term, is shallow but fairly broad, according to him. He says in the tape that it's not a good thing and that it portends to future issues with the joint. Can you guess what he's thinking with that comment? Or do I have to wait until next Tuesday when I see him to ask? Thanks.
    Articular hyaline cartilage does not regenerate. Any cartilage damage is not ideal. Whether the damage is enough to act as a catalyst for further damage is hard to say without specifics of size, depth, and EXACT location. And even with that information it still may be an educated guess.

    It can't hurt to get a set of signature Lewinski knee pads to slow the damage. Some PPOs will cover the cost; some will just buy you a cigar.

    Every man dies. Not every man lives.
    You don’t stop playing because you grow old; you grow old because you stop playing.

  13. #13
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    Thanks, Jim. I don't know about the ML signature series; I don't go both ways. But, I'd take the cigar! Uhhhhh.......on second thought, you don't know where it's been.

    I see my ortho on Tuesday so I'll get the complete rundown then. Thanks.

  14. #14
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    you gotta check http://stoneclinic.com he grews stem cells makes a paste puts it in and heals your meniscus australian knee clinic replaces your with freshly grew one from your stem cells but "sectomisticists" will maybe give you long term incurable problems
    check http://liwa.funtigo.com for more info and http://bfkm.funtigo.com
    also dr.s.franz@t-online.de

  15. #15
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    Thanks for the tip on The Stone Clinic. I'm meeting with my ortho today and will ask him about the paste procedure.

  16. #16
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    went to the doc and he was cool w/ waiting on some pics as my knee seemed stable enough and to wait and give it a few more weeks. its been about 2 weeks since my doc appt and still have stiffness and clicking when my leg is fully extended and no pain. the only swelling is a noticably larger lump in the lower inner knee area when i'm standing straight up w/ legs fully extended. what could that larger lump be from??? and after reading kellie's thread, i think that my injured knee could have been already "tweaked" from favoring that leg due to a broken heel injury from 4 years ago that seems to be getting worse and prolly needs the hardware removed (but thats another story).

    any more killer insight from y'all before i kick down the coin for an mri??? i am gonna go see a really good acupuncture guy 1st for my knee and my foot.

  17. #17
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    I don't have any advice, but wanted to chime in and say I hope it improves for ya and that you don't end up needing any "real" work on it . . . why do knees have to be so critical to our happiness?!!?

    Anyhow, heal up soon and keep us posted!!

  18. #18
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    soooooo, the answer to the question of whether you can tear your meniscus from a relatively minor impact like mine is a resounding YES. mri showed a medial side tear which i'm gonna have snipped in a couple weeks. sucks that i can't get it done sooner but my doc (orr) is a pretty popular guy and rightly so. oh well, at least there's no snow here yet and he gave me the ok to ride my mtn bike in the meantime.

    the only thing that i'm not real keen on is my doc's extremely vague answers to my questions. fortunately, we have this place to get some answers. soooo, can you knowledgable folks tell me if its possible to make my conditon worse by doing things like mtn biking, skiing, and working (i.e. : going up and down ladders, carrying heavy stuff, and other construction related tasks)??? i know that running or impact forces are bad but he didn't really give me a definitive answer to this other stuff. thanx

  19. #19
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    Quote Originally Posted by Kellie View Post
    why do knees have to be so critical to our happiness?!!?
    Two pics to answer this question:

    Every man dies. Not every man lives.
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  20. #20
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    soooo w/ a sweet forecast on tap for tahoe, bumping my question of whether its ok to go skiing w/ a meniscal tear. my doc vaguely said yes but that it will prolly hurt. pain i can handle, but i don't want to f... anything up worse then it is.

  21. #21
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    yo gimpy. i've had a medial menical tear for 2 years. It tore when I blew my ACL apart in '04. It's a smmmallll tear though, so smallthat they didn't even bother to do anything with it repair-wise when they reconstructed my ACL. But I've been biking, playing soccer, and skiing a bit with it since.

    edit: but it gives me no pain whatsoever, so obviously yer mileage will vary...
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  22. #22
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    I can't possibly give you better advice than your doc.

    It isn't really possible to say it won't tear more or it will tear more if you ski. If you don't ski you won't have that risk of making the tear bigger.

    If you don't want to risk loosing more meniscus, be conservative and don't ski. I think meniscus is pretty important and wouldn't ski.

    My doc said when you have swelling(=stiffness) in the knee the joint fluid isn't optimal and you don't have the normal lubrication and its better to just take it easy until the swelling is gone. Avoid doing anything that increases swelling. What ever is painfull/irritating will probably cause swelling.

    I had 20% of a lateral meniscus, anterior horn taken out due to a radial tear.

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