Lateral meniscus tear

So, about a month ago, I took a nasty spill playing soccer and ended up with a torn lateral meniscus. The docs told me surgery is basically the only way to fix it, though they said it’s not exactly an emergency.
I'm trying to figure out which surgeons in the States are actually worth seeing—anyone have specific recommendations? Also, what’s the deal with recovery? How long am I looking at, and can I actually expect to get back to 100%?
Hoping someone here has been through this and can weigh in. Thanks in advance!

Lawrence Lee said:So, about a month ago, I took a nasty spill playing soccer and ended up with a torn lateral meniscus. The docs told me surgery is basically the only way to fix it, though they said it’s not exactly an emergency.
I'm trying to figure out which surgeons in the States are actually worth seeing—anyone have specific recommendations? Also, what’s the deal with recovery? How long am I looking at, and can I actually expect to get back to 100%?
Hoping someone here has been through this and can weigh in. Thanks in advance!

First off, every meniscus tear is its own special brand of chaos, so trying to compare one case to another is pretty much useless, isn't it? Plus, everyone’s body reacts and heals in its own unique way.

I'll give you the rundown of what happened with me.

I tore my lateral meniscus five years ago after a bad landing—basically just landed wrong during a jump.
The surgery was arthroscopic (just two little 2cm incisions to slide the tools in), and the whole thing wrapped up in about 50 minutes.

I spent three days total at the hospital and actually walked myself home the day after the procedure. People told me I was crazy, so don't go thinking that's exactly how it's supposed to go.

I started exercising the very first day. They pulled my stitches out after a week, and since the waitlist for physical therapy was a ridiculous month long (!), I just handled my own rehab at home.
I was out of work for two weeks total.
I eased back into jogging about a month after the surgery.

Recovery was totally complete. I have zero lingering issues, and honestly, I can't even tell which knee it was unless I stop to think about it. There aren't even any visible scars.

My surgeon was Dr. Mlakar over in Cleveland.

If I were you, I'd just pull the trigger on the surgery because it really seems to be the only way to fix the problem for good.

Hey there,
I had a pretty nasty injury about a week ago.
Now I'm just sitting around waiting for my MRI results to come back.

Quick question for you guys:
The doctors told me I either tore my meniscus or my ACL.
Is it actually possible to have a tear like that without feeling any pain at all??

Ronald Parker7 said:Hey there,
I had a pretty nasty injury about a week ago.
Now I'm just sitting around waiting for my MRI results to come back.

Quick question for you guys:
The doctors told me I either tore my meniscus or my ACL.
Is it actually possible to have a tear like that without feeling any pain at all??

What kind of symptoms were you experiencing if there wasn't any pain? What was the reason for seeing a doctor in the first place? And what exactly happened during the accident?

It only really hurt for the first two days.
I mean, I couldn't put full weight on my foot without some pain, but there wasn't much point anyway since the injuries weren't bad enough to require painkillers.

Now, after a week, the pain is totally gone, but I still can't bend my leg properly and I've got this nasty bruise. My knee also looks a bit "deflated," if that makes sense—I actually had to go in for a needle aspiration.

Ronald Parker7 said:It only really hurt for the first two days.
I mean, I couldn't put full weight on my foot without some pain, but there wasn't much point anyway since the injuries weren't bad enough to require painkillers.

Now, after a week, the pain is totally gone, but I still can't bend my leg properly and I've got this nasty bruise. My knee also looks a bit "deflated," if that makes sense—I actually had to go in for a needle aspiration.

And following that aspiration, were you actually able to bend your knee? A clinical exam can diagnose an ACL tear with a pretty high degree of certainty.
You haven't mentioned what kind of trauma we're talking about here—how exactly did you injure yourself?

After the injection, I could bend my knees a bit more, though not quite all the way

While I was rolling—trying to take it easy and stand up—my right leg kind of buckled under me, causing both my knees to twist inward. My left one felt much better immediately, but my right knee really took the hit

Ronald Parker7 said:After the injection, I could bend my knees a bit more, though not quite all the way

While I was rolling—trying to take it easy and stand up—my right leg kind of buckled under me, causing both my knees to twist inward. My left one felt much better immediately, but my right knee really took the hit

Given how this injury actually happened and the symptoms being described, we’re likely looking at a meniscus tear.

That's exactly what I was thinking
Ugh...
Is surgery absolutely necessary for this??

I'm currently reading up on meniscus tears
What kind of symptoms do people deal with if they just let it heal on its own instead of going under the knife?
The info out there is pretty vague.