The meniscus is a piece of cartilage in the knee that can be stressed or torn when your shin bone and thigh bone rotate excessively on top of each other. While this is seen in athletes trying to change directions quickly, it is also common to see weakness of certain stability muscle in the knee leading to too much strain on the tissue. Pain is located on the inside of the knee along the joint line for a medial tear. Because the medial tear is by far the most common we will be focused on that.
Primary Muscles Involved
- Posterior Tibialis
- Popliteus
- Medial Gastroc
- Semitendinosus
- Soleus
- Gracilis
Meniscus Tear: Do you need surgery?
- Does the knee continually lock up?
- Thessaly’s Test is very effective in picking up damage to the meniscus. I’ve found if you don’t have a very sharp pain while twisting on the affected knee as demonstrated in the link, then your likelihood of avoiding surgery increases dramatically.
Ultimately, this decision is between you and your primary doctor. If both of the above don’t apply to you, try the following to help heal up the tissue properly.
Healing the Meniscus
Create Stability
Work through trigger points within each muscle listed above. Test the knee for pain between each point to see which muscles are most involved. Often joints above and below the joint in pain need to be addressed as well.
Many times you can get relief very quickly when you have successfully addressed the problems leading to excess stress at the knee.
Nutritional Support for Complicated Cases
If any gallbladder problems are present, then work to address those simultaneously. Check out this article for help.
Also consider supplementing nutrients that aid in tissue repair.
- Eat 70-100+ grams of Protein
- Glucosamine Chondroitin
In more complicated cases a professional will need to be sought out to aid in resolving this issue.
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