Understanding meniscus injuries: diagnosis, symptoms, and treatments

Are you experiencing discomfort or pain on the inner or outer part of your knee that worsens with squats and weight-bearing activities? You may have a meniscal injury.

At Lifecare Backfocus Melbourne CBD clinic, we’re committed to providing a comprehensive rehab plan to help you overcome this condition.

What is a meniscus tear?

The medial and lateral menisci are important in providing shock absorption, force transmission, and stability to the knee joint.

Meniscal injury can cause a change in the biomechanics of the knee joint and pain. There are two causes of meniscal injury:

• Traumatic meniscal tears
• Degenerative meniscal tears

Who is at risk?

Meniscus injuries are frequently seen in athletes and account for 15% of all cases of sports injuries and are more common in men than in women.

Degenerative meniscal lesions are prevalent in the elderly population, with the mean age rising to 40 years old.

The most common mechanism of injury is twisting or pivoting on a semi-flexed limb while weight-bearing.

Sudden or unexpected stops and turns, deep squatting, or lifting something heavy can also result in a torn meniscus.

Diagnosing meniscus injuries

A qualified physiotherapist will diagnose meniscal injury with a thorough assessment, including your symptoms, the location of pain, and your knee range of motion.

MRI imaging may be required to confirm the diagnosis or rule out other possible causes of your symptoms.

Some common symptoms include:

• Knee joint line tenderness
• Knee joint swelling
• Medial or lateral knee pain with weight-bearing activities, e.g. squat or twisting movements
• Reduce knee range of motion
• May present with catching, locking and clicking

Physiotherapy treatment

Meniscus injury can be managed via a conservative approach effectively, depending on the severity of the tear.

We offer a range of physiotherapy interventions tailored to your needs:

• Swelling management: Advice on using ice and compression bandages with leg elevation to control swelling.
• Rest and activity modification: Allow your knee adequate rest with lifestyle modification to avoid movements that aggravates your symptoms.
• Rehab exercises: Our physiotherapists will design an individualised exercise program to strengthen and improve the flexibility of the muscles around your knee.
• Manual therapy: The clinic focuses on hands-on techniques such as soft tissue massage and joint mobilisation for pain relief and improve the knee joint range and function
• Elite athletes rehab: A high-level performance program will be given for return to sport, esp. at the state level or above.

Conclusion

Meniscus tears can have traumatic impacts on your daily life and activities.

Fortunately, at the Lifecare Backfocus Melbourne CBD clinic, our experienced physiotherapists are dedicated to providing a comprehensive rehabilitation plan to help you overcome knee pain.

Most individuals from various backgrounds have shown significant improvement in their symptoms and are able to return to work or sports pain-free.

Contact us today to schedule an appointment – your first step towards recovery!

Rain Li
APA Physiotherapist

Rain Li is an APA Physiotherapist at Lifecare Backfocus Melbourne CBD. Rain’s extensive experience in semi-professional and professional sports physiotherapy enable him to educate the patient regarding the diagnosis, and provide personalised rehab plans to optimal health and performance.