Meniscus is usually present between two bones which act as a cushion in knee joint. There are two menisci in each knee joint.
Normally the injury to the meniscus occurs during the activities in which there is a pressure while rotating the knee joint.
It's not necessary that only the athletes or the people who play contact sports are prone to meniscus injury, but the people who are forcefully rotating or giving extra pressure on the knee joint are more likely to get meniscus injuries. Even House wives or office goers can also get Meniscus injury during minor activities.
Generally the treatment protocols depends upon the severity of injury, the treatment options can vary from rest to the surgery, many of the times you can help to prevent this injury by doing exercises that strengthens the leg muscle and using proper technique while playing Sports.
Causes of meniscus injuries:-The most common cause of meniscus tear are due to Sports that contains direct contact or applying extra pressure to the joint in twisting and rotation. Usually in gyms very deep squatting and heavy lifting in the improper form may lead to injury. There are various kind of sports that requires certain turns and stop, in such kind of sports the risk of meniscus injury increases like in football, basketball, soccer, tennis.
Even in the children and in old ages also meniscus tear may occur. The meniscus weakens with the age. The most common age group where the meniscus injuries are seen is 35 to 40 years of age.
Can meniscus tear heal by its own:-In case of meniscus tear some people think that the injury of meniscus will heal by its own over the time, but there are different type of meniscus tear in which some tears won't heal without treatment.
Its dependent where does deer usually occur in avascular part or in vascular part, if the tear is on the outer one third of the meniscus it may heal by its own this is because this area contains rich blood supply and the blood cells helps meniscus tissues to regenerate. But if the tear is in another two third where there is no blood flow the tear can't be repaired and need surgical removal.
Treatment of meniscus tears:-The very first thing to be done after the meniscus injury is to get examined by physician who specialises in orthopaedics and sports injury medicine, the physician will check the tenderness of the knee joint and measure the range of motion of the knee. After this examination imaging test may be done like MRI and xray, this is because there are many type of meniscus tears that can only be determined by imaging test for the exact location and the severity of the tear.
The best course of the treatment is based after determining the exact location type and the degree of tear along with the age and the activity level of the patient. Depending upon the severity surgical and non-surgical treatments are used.
Non-surgical treatments for the tears that can heal on their own may include
- Physical therapy (physiotherapy)
- RICE - rest , ice , compression , elevation
- Anti inflammatory medicines
For the tears that are more severe, surgery is the best treatment. The main goal of this surgery is to preserve the meniscus bike repairing process and by removing the torn part, the surgery is basically done by Arthroscopy. After the surgery, you may need to participate in physical activities and therapies that helps in strengthening the knee joint and to regain the range of motion of the knee joint to participate in daily activities.
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