The levels of your natural anti-inflammatory hormone, cortisol, are naturally lower at night. Staying still in the same position will also cause your knee joints to stiffen up. Another reason could be related to how your brain perceives pain and this may change in the small hours.
Elevate your knee with a pillow under your heel when you're sitting or lying down. Take anti-inflammatory medications. Non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs), like Advil, Aleve, or Motrin, will help with pain and swelling.
The pain is often worse at night time and can be associated with a sense of clicking or occasionally jamming. Sometimes side lying is very uncomfortable, causing them to put a pillow between their legs at night. In some, the pain will settle with time, but this is unusual. The usual treatment is arthroscopic surgery.
Prop up the sore leg on a pillow when you ice your knee or any time you sit or lie down during the next 3 days. Try to keep your leg above the level of your heart. This will help reduce swelling.
Symptoms may go away but can come back from overuse or when you do activities that involve twisting. The pain may come and go over a period of years if the tear isn't treated. Larger tears usually cause more pain and immediate swelling and stiffness.
Unless the torn meniscus has locked the knee, many people with a torn meniscus can walk, stand, sit, and sleep without pain. Other people find that the torn meniscus prevents them from participating comfortably in their usual daily activities.
Your doctor may recommend the RICE regimen—rest, ice, compression, and elevation—to treat a meniscus tear. Resting your knee can help relieve your symptoms. Your doctor may suggest using a cane for a few weeks to keep weight off your knee and to stay away from physical activity that may have contributed to the injury.
In severe tears, pieces of the torn meniscus can move into the joint space. This can make your knee catch, pop, or lock. You may not be able to straighten it. Your knee may feel "wobbly" or buckle without warning.
Menisci are often slow to heal because they have a notoriously poor blood supply when compared to other locations on the body. Only the outer third of the meniscus has a blood supply which can make healing on the inner section very slow.
Individuals with a meniscus tear often complain of pain along the joint line. They often have pain or weakness with bending the knee and sometimes they have a catching or locking sensation.
The levels of your natural anti-inflammatory hormone, cortisol, are naturally lower at night. Staying still in the same position will also cause your knee joints to stiffen up. Another reason could be related to how your brain perceives pain and this may change in the small hours.
Strengthen your legs and core.
Maintaining strong legs and core muscles can reduce the pressure transferred through the meniscus. Take time to focus on different groups around the leg, including the quadriceps, hamstrings, abductors and adductors, as well as core musculature.
Yes… most meniscal tears are degenerative and will not require surgery. Over the last 5 years, there have been many scientific studies showing that the pain from a degenerative meniscus tear has the same chance of going away with surgery or physical therapy.
Massage – Encompassing a variety of techniques with sufficient pressure through the superficial tissue to reach the deep lying structures. It is used to increase blood flow, decrease swelling, reduce muscle spasm and promote normal tissue repair.
Meniscus tears are the most frequently treated knee injuries. Recovery will take about 6 to 8 weeks if your meniscus tear is treated conservatively, without surgery. If your symptoms persist after 3 months or your symptoms become significant, your doctor may recommend surgery to repair the tear.
Consistent use of vitamin D supplements over 4 years of 400 IU at least once a week was associated with significantly less worsening of cartilage, meniscus and bone marrow abnormalities (odds ratio range: 0.40 to 0.56, p<0.05).
The part of the meniscus removed does not grow back, but is replaced by fibrous tissue. There is an increased likelihood of developing osteoarthritis in patients who have undergone complete (total) menisectomy. It is therefore important to leave behind as much of normal meniscus as is possible.
It's sometimes possible to repair a torn meniscus, especially in children and younger adults. If the tear can't be repaired, the meniscus might be surgically trimmed, possibly through tiny incisions using an arthroscope. After surgery, you will need to do exercises to increase and maintain knee strength and stability.
Cycling can be a good cross-training option if you have a meniscus tear, but it won't suit everyone. If your knee feels uncomfortable, check whether it makes a difference if you adjust your saddle (higher is often better) or where you place your feet on the pedals.
Conservative treatment — such as rest, ice and medication — is sometimes enough to relieve the pain of a torn meniscus and give the injury time to heal on its own. In other cases, however, a torn meniscus requires surgery.