A torn meniscus can prevent you from doing a lot of your regular activities, such as going on walks and playing recreational sports. The meniscus is a C-shaped piece of cartilage between the shinbone and the thighbone. Its purpose is to cushion the area between the bones and work as a shock absorber for activities such as walking and kneeling. If that piece of cartilage gets damaged, it can cause knee pain and limited mobility in the knee joint.

Meniscus tears aren’t always obvious right away. It can take up to 24 hours for pain, swelling and other symptoms to occur after an injury. Some other symptoms you might experience are:

• A popping sensation in the knee
• Feeling like your knee might give out beneath you
• Inability to fully extend or bend the knee joint
• Limping due to pain or stiffness
• Pain when twisting or rotating your knee
• Pain in the knee joint
• Sensation of your knee being locked in place
• Swelling or stiffness in the knee

If you think you have a torn meniscus, contact your health care provider. They can evaluate your condition, provide a formal diagnosis and help you determine what next steps to take to help your meniscus heal.

Can a torn meniscus heal on its own?

A torn meniscus might not seem serious right away. Symptoms may appear gradually, which can make it easy to ignore at first, and get worse over time. In the case of some minor tears, the meniscus may be able to heal on its own.

If the tear occurs along the outer third of the meniscus, it may heal itself given adequate care and rest. The outer portion of the meniscus has an adequate blood supply, which aids in recovery, and consistent blood flow can help the meniscus regenerate the damaged tissue.

However, if your meniscus tear is located in the inner two-thirds of the meniscus, it may need to be surgically repaired. This is because the inner part of the meniscus lacks adequate blood flow, making it much more difficult to heal without medical intervention.

Types of meniscus tears

There are several different types of tears that can damage the meniscus. Within each knee joint, there are two menisci: the medial meniscus and the lateral meniscus. While tears more frequently occur in the medial meniscus, tears in the lateral meniscus can also happen. 

The medial meniscus tends to be less mobile because the cartilage is attached to the inside of the knee joint. This makes it more likely for a tear to occur there since there’s less movement and flexibility. The lateral meniscus, on the other hand, sits along the outside of the knee joint and isn’t attached as closely. This makes it more flexible than the medial meniscus and means it’s less likely to tear or get injured.

A number of different types of tears can affect the meniscus. Here are a few possible ways you can injure your meniscus and the types of symptoms those injuries may cause:

• Bucket handle meniscus tear — This type of meniscus tear occurs along the vertical length of the meniscus from the shinbone to the thighbone. A bucket handle meniscus tear can make it difficult or impossible to use your knee normally and can even cause it to lock up.
• Degenerative meniscus tear — This type of tear tends to affect older adults and isn’t always due to a specific injury. It’s most often caused by knee osteoarthritis and doesn’t always come with noticeable symptoms. However, if you do have symptoms of a degenerative meniscus tear, they will most likely include knee pain and the sensation of the knee locking up.
• Posterior horn medial meniscus tear — This type of tear tends to occur exactly where the meniscus and the bone connect. You can sustain this injury by lifting heavy objects or playing certain sports. If you’re older, you might even tear the meniscus by doing something as simple as climbing stairs or walking on an uneven path. In severe cases, a posterior horn medial meniscus tear can also cause stress fractures in the bones in and around the knee joint.
• Radial meniscus tear — This type of tear runs perpendicular to the tibia and fibers in the meniscus, causing instability and weakening the structural integrity of the knee joint. A radial meniscus tear can disrupt the way that weight is distributed in the knee, putting increased stress on the joint. Symptoms of this kind of tear can include pain, limited range of motion in the knee and a sensation of the knee locking up.

Different types of meniscus tears can cause different symptoms and may require different forms of treatment. Severe tears will probably require surgery, while mild ones may benefit from rest and physical therapy. You should see your doctor for a formal diagnosis so they can help you determine which treatment path is the best one for your injury.

Physical therapy for a torn meniscus

For mild to moderate meniscus tears, physical therapy, gentle exercise and plenty of rest may be enough to help your meniscus heal. Physical therapy is often the first line of defense when it comes to treatment for a torn meniscus and is considered a more “conservative” or noninvasive treatment method. Here are a few effective physical therapy modalities that your physical therapist may use as part of a treatment plan to rehabilitate your knee:

• Manual therapy — Manual therapy is a gentle, hands-on treatment method for stretching and strengthening your muscles, tissue and joints. Your physical therapist can use their hands to move and manipulate your knee joint to stretch the muscles in a way that might be challenging to do on your own. At Lattimore PT, 30 of our physical therapists have a Certification in Orthopedic Manual Physical Therapy (COMT). This is a postgraduate physical therapy training program that teaches physical therapists how to go above and beyond standard manual therapy practices to utilize the most effective techniques.
• Therapeutic exercises — It can be challenging to know what movements will help with your knee pain and which ones will hurt without a lot of trial and error. However, your physical therapist can show you specific stretching and strengthening exercises to help with movement retraining. The goal of these exercises is to help you build up muscle and regain proper range of motion in your knee.
• Postsurgery physical therapy — If your torn meniscus is serious enough to require surgery, you may have to take it slow after your procedure. Postsurgery physical therapy is a way to help you recover faster after an operation so you can get back to your preinjury self.

These are just a few of the ways that physical therapy can help you get on track and begin the healing process for your torn meniscus. Your physical therapist will evaluate your injury and come up with a treatment plan that can evolve as you improve to promote the best chance of a full recovery.

At Lattimore PT, our licensed physical therapists are highly trained in a variety of physical therapy modalities. A meniscus tear doesn’t have to limit your activities forever. With the help of physical therapy, you can get back to playing tennis or running around with your kids just like you used to.

If you are ready to start working on regaining your mobility after a torn meniscus, contact our team today for more information or to schedule an initial appointment.