Can you tear cartilage in your knee

It may be accompanied by swelling and a feeling of instability. It may change your life…. No matter what — the best thing you can do is get a diagnosis, and the sooner the better.

Joints that take that much force on a daily basis rarely get better on their own. Many knee conditions can be resolved with physiotherapy if they are caught soon enough. Even if you need surgery, the sooner you can get treated, the less likely you are to have ongoing repercussions such as osteoarthritis. For fast and effective diagnosis and treatment of knee cartilage damage in London, contact the Capital Orthopaedics team here.

Damaged cartilage can potentially lead to knee arthritis, with long-term effects on your knee function. The main causes of cartilage damage are wear and tear simply put, just getting older , repetitive actions particularly twisting, jumping and deep knee bends or a traumatic injury such as forceful wrenching or a direct impact.

Torn cartilage can get caught between the structures of your knee, resulting in pain, swelling and sometimes a locking or catching sensation. Knee pain can cause you to alter your gait, which can, in turn, lead to misalignment and pain in your knees, ankles or hips. You will then be given x-ray or CT scans to assess damage to the bones in your joint, and an MRI to review cartilage damage and any other soft tissue injuries.

There are a number of different treatment pathways for damaged cartilage in your knee. Treatments are dependent on your age, activity level and the extent of the damage. Treating pain from damaged cartilage may be as simple as losing weight or doing exercises to strengthen your knee and improve mobility.

You may be able to simply shift to a lower-impact activity — say, from running to cycling or swimming. The pain and stiffness of arthritis can often be managed with over-the-counter anti-inflammatories NSAIDs , a range of injection therapies and exercises that focus on mobility and flexibility, such as yoga.

Surgery will usually be recommended if the damage to your cartilage is severe enough for it to be debilitating or having a negative effect on your lifestyle. Cartilage damage is repaired using arthroscopic or keyhole surgery, which means minimal impact on healthy parts of your knee, less scarring and quicker recovery times. The cartilage may be removed, trimmed or smoothed down using special tools.

In some cases, the injured area of cartilage can be replaced with a small piece of healthy cartilage and bone from another part of your knee joint. If the bone surfaces have degenerated badly due to arthritis, your surgeon can replace the damaged bone with prosthetic parts. This content does not have an Arabic version.

Overview Torn meniscus Open pop-up dialog box Close. Torn meniscus The meniscus is a C-shaped piece of tough, rubbery cartilage that acts as a shock absorber between your shinbone and thighbone. Request an Appointment at Mayo Clinic. Share on: Facebook Twitter. Show references Cardone DA, et al. Meniscal injury of the knee. Accessed Oct. Meniscal tears. American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons.

Meniscal tear. Click to call. Coastal Orthopedics Blog. Torn Cartilage in My Knee? Common causes of cartilage tears include: Climbing stairs or hills Hyper-flexing bending the knee too far Playing a contact sport like football or soccer Playing a sport that requires pivoting, such as basketball or golf Squatting especially while lifting a heavy weight Walking on an uneven surface Symptoms of Torn Knee Cartilage How do you know if you've sustained a cartilage tear?

However, even if you're pain-free, you will likely note one or more of the following symptoms: pain or tenderness in the knee especially when running or walking long distances buckling or locking of the knee joint crunching or popping noises when walking especially up and down stairs dull pain under the kneecap when exercising difficulty bearing weight inability to bend or straighten the knee swelling or "water on the knee," a buildup of fluid inside the knee joint tightness of the knee joint Types of knee cartilage tears What part of your knee cartilage have you injured?

The two most common types of knee cartilage injury are: Articular cartilage tears, affecting the cartilage covering the ends of your bones at the knee joint.

An injury to this cartilage is called a chondral injury. Chondral injury is commonly seen in cyclists, runners, skiers, and soccer players. Meniscus tears , affecting the c-shaped shock absorbers located on either side of your knee joint. Meniscus tears can happen to anyone at any age, but are particularly common in athletes who play contact sports like hockey or football.

Non-surgical treatments In some cases, if your cartilage tear is small and in a part of the meniscus that receives good blood flow, it may heal on its own within a few weeks.

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