How long should the sports break be?
How long the meniscus irritation persists depends on the extent of the damage and the treatment measures of the person affected. A sports break of about 4 weeks should be observed in any case, so that the healing process is not hindered by further overloading. During this time, the knee joint should generally be spared as much as possible and any stress should be avoided.
The healing process can also be accelerated by manual therapy with a physiotherapist. Drug therapy with painkillers alleviates the symptoms, but does not usually accelerate the process. If a meniscus irritation occurs repeatedly, the risk of osteoarthritis in the knee joint is increased.
If the pain causes the knee and hip to remain in a relieving posture for a long time, malpositions in the knee and hip can also occur.In this case, the doctor will advise the person concerned to switch to a “knee-friendly” sport such as swimming or cycling. After the sparing phase, it is definitely advisable to train certain muscle groups in a targeted manner to stabilize the knee and thus the meniscus. It is best to start by getting instruction from a professional fitness trainer or physiotherapist.
Diagnosis of meniscus irritation
The diagnosis of a meniscus irritation should always be made by a competent physician and not by the affected person himself. The physician can already draw important conclusions from the patient’s medical history (anamnesis), i.e. a possible accident, visible obesity or preferred sport. Furthermore, several clinical tests have proven to be successful, in which the physician provokes additional stress on the menisci through targeted twisting and bending movements.
If the tests are positive, this indicates meniscus irritation or injury. Conventional x-rays can initially be used as imaging diagnostics. This is particularly indicated if the physician wants to rule out bony injuries after an accident or to assess arthrosis.
However, the method of choice for diagnosing injuries to the meniscus is the MRI, in which the structures can be depicted very precisely. In rare cases, when the symptoms persist and imaging does not provide any results, arthroscopy (joint endoscopy) can provide clarity.