Tears in one of the two menisci usually require arthroscopic meniscectomy surgery and sometimes direct repair. Your orthopedic sports medicine surgeon may suspect a meniscus tear based on the McMurray test on examination, but the formal diagnosis requires an MRI scan of your knee. Meniscectomy and meniscus repair surgeries are outpatient, recovery is quick, and the pain is usually gone when you wake up.
Meniscus injuries cause pain at the joint line and often have associated symptoms (popping, clicking, catching, and locking) as well as swelling of the knee. When they result from injuries sustained during sports, meniscal tears are caused by bending and rotating movements common in football, tennis, and basketball. However, most meniscal injuries don’t happen during sports; the most common cause of a meniscal injury is just getting out of a low car seat.
Old folks are sometimes found to have a torn meniscus without even having a known injury, and the pain may be in the back of the knee due to the formation of a Baker’s cyst due to excessive fluid in the knee joint.
