Treating a Meniscus Injury

Once your medical professional has diagnosed your condition, they will recommend the most effective treatment for your meniscus injury. They will consider your activity level, age, the location and type of your meniscus injury, as well as when it happened, the symptoms you experience and any other associated knee injuries, when determining whether conservative or surgical treatment options are more appropriate. Conservative treatments are generally recommended for partial, stable and degenerative meniscus tears. Surgical options are used more often for larger, complex or displaced tears.

During your recovery, you will probably have to modify and/or eliminate any activities that cause pain or discomfort in your knee area until your pain and inflammation settle. Scar tissue will often develop as a result of injuries once acute inflammation begins to decrease. As your damaged knee tissues heal this dead, fibrotic tissue will develop instead of forming brand new healthy tissue. This tissue adheres to your muscle fibers, tendons, ligaments, fascia, nerves, and joints causing pain and preventing them from moving properly (this limits your range of motion, flexibility and strength).

Some small meniscus tears have no symptoms at all and may disappear on their own. Other small tears will subside with conservative treatments, especially if your knee is stable and doesn't lock. These tears are often located on the outer edges of your meniscus and have access to a lot of blood supply, which helps them heal quicker (ultrasound therapy is very effective in increasing blood supply in this area, see below for more details).

You will generally notice great knee improvement within 6 to 12 weeks; however it can take months for you to return to normal. The more diligent you are with your treatment and rehabilitation, the faster you will see successful results. If you start using your knee before it has a chance to heal properly (even though it may feel better), you can end up doing a lot more damage than good!

Younger patients tend to have higher success rates with meniscus injuries than older individuals, as their conditions are generally a result of trauma to healthy tissue rather than degeneration over the years. Individuals with a discoid meniscus will often receive conservative treatments if they experience no major pain. However, surgery is often used if symptoms do not subside as they grow.

A Black Body Radiant Energy Kit is one of the most helpful tools for a wide varity of painful knee related injuries and conditions. Through the absorption of radiant energy, tissues are safely and gently heated - increasing blood flow within the treated area. Your body's natural response to this increased temperature is to try to maintain a condition of homeostasis - a balanced environment or state of equilibrium throughout the body. To do this, your body responds with a rapid increase in blood flow to the area (this is known as vasodilation), increasing the supply of nutrients to injured cells and flushing out toxins (including lactic acid, commonly found in trigger points) to promote healing. Our Thermotex Knee Pain Relief Device provides effective, non-invasive, non-addictive pain relief with no side effects.

Our Cold Compression Wraps are recommended by countless medical professionals. That's why we sell them, because they are the best. We have noticed over time that our customers are so fond of our cold wraps that they are frequently coming back and ordering a second one. The wraps are becoming very popular with baseball and soccer trainers, and the wraps can be conveniently stored in a cooler for quick application on the field when needed.

Ultrasound therapy is also a helpful tool for pain prevention of knee injuires, and having a portable ultrasound device at home can be a powerful and convenient treatment tool. If you have symptoms or are recovering from a knee related injury, using ultrasound on a regular basis before your activity or throughout the day will help relax your muscles, tendons and tissues, diminish pain and inflammation, soften scar tissue and contribute greatly to the healing of your injury.

If you suffer from pain after certain activities or movements use ultrasound therapy when you complete the activity and then rest. Limit the application of ultrasound to a couple of treatments per day (the manual will recommend treatment frequency depending upon the injury). In between ultrasound treatments, maximize your pain relief and injury recovery by using the Thermotex Personal Therapy System. Proven Performance, Proven Relief - only found at MendMeShop.com. If you have been given a treatment plan by your health professional, make sure you adhere to it to ensure pain free living. In general, people who are committed to their therapies and exercises will have the best medical outcomes.