What is a meniscal tear

A meniscal tear is a tear in the meniscus, a shock-absorbing structure in the knee.

http://www.med.nyu.edu/patientcare/library/article.html?ChunkIID=11677

The meniscus is one of the the shock-absorbing cartilages of the knee. The cartilage covers the ends of the bones and prevents them from damaging each other when they come in contact. A tear in the meniscus is known as a meniscal tear.

http://www.dhmc.org/ortho/For_Patients/Common_Conditions_and_Treatments/knees/MeniscalTear.html#WhatIs

A meniscus tear is a common knee injury that can cause pain in the joint, when symptomatic, arthroscopic surgery may be necessary.

http://www.chacha.com/question/what-is-a-meniscal-tear

Related Questions Answered on Y!Answers

What are some symptoms of a meniscal tear?

Q:

A: I actually tore my meniscus about a month and a half ago. My symptoms have been swelling, limited mobility, paint along the joint line, popping and cracking, and quite a bit of pain especially when walking and climbing stairs. I still have most all of these symptoms and I’m going to have surgery to have it fixed soon. But I hoped this helped you out!!

Complete ACL tear and meniscal stuff?

Q: Okay…so the doctor has not gone over everything with me yet. apparently they lost my results so I went and picked them up where I got the mri done so at least I’d know what might be wrong. According to the mri, I have:-a complete ACL tear and it says it has a horizontal configuration laying on the tibial plateau-vertical tear through the medial meniscal body-and marrow edema in the tibial spine(bone contusion)So I know the last one is from an injury I had from playing basketball years ago when my knee popped out and then back into place. When I went to the doctor she thought it was just a meniscal tear because even today it still pops randomly, gives out and randomly burns when I walk a lot.It sounds like I may need surgery from what I know, but I don’t know a lot about knee injuries really. If surgery is an option I haven’t really decided whether or not to do it. I’m 21 by the way so I have a while ahead of me, and I use to run, do aerobics, etc…but now even trying to do squats and walking hurts. And it’s a pain when you’re walking and you’re knee randomly pops in and out of place. But anyways, I just wanted to see what the ACL tear and the meniscal problem might mean and what the options would be for fixing them.yeah I injured it over 7 years ago and never had it checked because the swelling went down and I was young so I guess everyone figured it would heal.

A: surgerymy knee has been popping out like that for 6 years and now it has gotten so bad that it pops out about 30 times a day and i cant get surgery til may 27th so i would do it now before it gets to bad and before you have to have major sugery to fix it like i do

i went to a doctor had a MRI he said i had a possable medial meniscal tear he wants to operate … anyone?

Q: ever have this done and what are the results ..my knee bothers me when i run so i quit running he said therapy wont help is this true???dont want to get operated on but willit get worse ..appreciate any advise thank you

A: Ask your doc for the copy of the MAJOR medical study published last year (in JAMA or NEJM) that showed that surgery for this type of knee injury is no more effective than placebo therapy! If he will not (or can not) give you a copy – you know the truth about his professionalism.Best wishes and good luck.