meniscus tear?

If an MRI is worth the money to you then yes, get it. I wouldn't though. If it hurts don't do it, whether it be running, cycling, walking, swimming, etc. You might have to take a week or two completely off. If it's a torn miniscus (which I doubt it is), you'll be taking a much longer time off. I know a guy who can't run at all because of a torn miniscus, but his was pretty bad.

Either take some time off or go to an orthopedic. He/she will probably have a good idea what it is without an MRI.

I had the same problem and it ended up being a stress fracture. I would take some time off or get an x ray

That sounds like my symptoms when I tore my right meniscus a few years ago. It was a sharp pain on the inside of the leg, right where the tibia and femur meet. It would hurt the worst when running downhill. It would be a sharp stabbing pain, then subside. It wouldn't hurt all them time when walking around. Riding the bike was no problem. It never locked up, and I never heard any clicking. The other symptom I had was a sharp pain in the quad muscle, on the inside of the leg, right above the knee. My massage therapist thought that I had torn or pulled a muscle in the quad (I had done a hill run on the day I tore it, on snow and ice), so for a while I also thought it was a pulled muscle. But it never got better. I finally had an MRI which showed the tear. It took a while to get the diagnosis. First, a visit to the ortho doc, then get an appointment for the MRI, then another appointment for the reading of the MRI, then the pre-op stuff (blood tests, etc), then the actual surgery. Now my left knee has the same pain. When I run, it's fine. But later on, the inside of the leg has a stabbing pain where the bones meet, and it is sore and stiff if I sit for a while. Seeing the doctor later this week.

I recommend getting an MRI. I was in a similar situation a year ago. I had some pain, took time off, but something was always a little off. On Jan 10th i decided I should see the doc and I got an MRI a few weeks later. Results showed that I had tear all the way through my lateral meniscus. The first doc I saw said my running days were over. The next doc said he would try to repair it. I had surgery in mid march and was back running in september. It was a heck of a long time to wait... but now i can run. Also, i wish I had done the whole process sooner because it would have lessened the damage caused to the cartilage of my knee. So two reasons I think you should get the mri are:

1) There is some chance this is serious and the sooner you fix it the better

2) You said you are going insane without running. Why put a price on your sanity?

I tore mine and it didn't hurt at all. Even though it swelled I didn't think much of it because it didn't hurt. After me knee got back to the same size, I noticed a bump that hadn't been there before. Turns out the bump was my meniscus sticking out.

But the point is, there isn't very much feeling in that part of the knee so its hard to judge by the pain you describe.

Perhaps this is a dumb question, but what happens if i run on it, and it is a meniscus tear?

i would assume that it would keep hurting, and possibly get worse. Could i tear it more? would that really matter in the scheme of things? Would it make the recovery longer?

I'm inclined to test it out running first, and if that is still bad, then try to get with a doc and get an MRI (not an easy thing in NYC). Am i just being bullheaded?

dt

don't f*** with this injury. it ended my career. i'm not kidding.

I agree with gustav. If you have health insurance, see a doc - in NY you might see Scott Rodeo at HSS, who is a well known research doc as well as a surgeon for the Giants. (http://www.hss.edu/physicians_rodeo-scott.asp)

You might have to wait a bit for an appointment, but in that time you can try all the other ideas you have. He should be able to tell if you have meniscus issues before the MRI.

So, the pain is still there in the medial portion of the knee. not very bad, but still there.

Scott Rodeo doesn' take my insurance.

does anyone know of any good orthopods in NYC for knee injuries? i can find plenty of podiatrists, but not knee docs. C'mon letsrun has to be helpful for more than just wasting time.

any help?

thanks,

dt

I don't know for sure, but I firmly believe that I had a slight tear in my meniscus back in 2002. I had to curtail my training for about 2 years. It would hurt after 15 minutes, not a lot of pain, but dull and constant.

I think it was this past spring when it really was finally healed. I know that it takes a long time to heal, if at all. Looking back on it, I wish I would have had it looked at in 2002 when it started to hurt.

Was there any swelling at any time during this injury. because im pretty sure if it was a meniscus tear there would have been significant swelling at some time

no real swelling that i recall. at the worst, after a day of walking there was significant pain walking and stairs were next to impossible. the entire knee joint felt unsteady, like it was going to give out.

i'm stretching it like my chiro recommended, but it really feels like it is in the knee itself and not muscular.

anyone know of docs in nyc? still looking.

dt

dtbrooklyn wrote:

So, the pain is still there in the medial portion of the knee. not very bad, but still there.

Scott Rodeo doesn' take my insurance.

does anyone know of any good orthopods in NYC for knee injuries? i can find plenty of podiatrists, but not knee docs. C'mon letsrun has to be helpful for more than just wasting time.

any help?

thanks,

dt