Knee Meniscus - Preventing Tears
Now that the weather is warming and the grass is growing, we need to be doing yard work which can involve a lot of heavy lifting like bags of mulch or stones to get that nice edging around the flower beds. Well putting a lot of extra stress on your knees with the heavy lifting can be problematic. First of all, what is the meniscus? The knee has 2 meniscus, medial ( on the inside of the knee) and lateral (on the outside of the knee). The meniscus is crescent shaped and made of fibrocartilage that serves as a cushion between the thigh bone and the shin bone and provide a smooth surface for the femur and tibia to glide on. The meniscus helps is dispersing fluid throughout the knee. The meniscus also help to evenly distribute the weight in the knees. The medial meniscus is thicker than the lateral and bigger in area. The meniscus is susceptible to injury with repeated pressure placed on them according to medicinenet.com like doing stairs every single day multiple times a day. Standing and twisting on the leg can cause a tear of the meniscus. Sitting long periods of time can injury the meniscus as the fluid is not lubricating the joint properly. Over the past year, most of us have been rather sedentary and now we see the overgrown lawn and the bushes and the washed away mulch and think we can get all that done in 1 weekend. This can be dangerous. Try a warm up of walking for 10 to 15 minutes and then stretching the hamstrings and quadriceps gently. Try turning towards the object you are lifting or pulling or pushing and keep the knees straight to avoid twisting. Try not to do deep squats as this puts pressure on the meniscus too. If you injure your knee try RICE (Rest, Ice, Compression, Elevation) wear good supporting arch shoes and get rid of the worn-in shoes as this can stress the meniscus too according to medicinenet.com Do not rest more than 1-2 days as the meniscus needs some pressure on it to stay healthy and repair itself. You may need a cane if the pain is bad. A brace that supports the knee can be good to decrease the pressure on the meniscus with standing and reminds you not to twist on the leg. Some sign and symptoms of a meniscus tear are: A popping sensation, swelling or stiffness pain especially with twisting the knee. Difficulty straightening the knee. A feeling that the knee is locked. Feeling that your knee is giving way. (According to the Mayoclinic.org)