How much do you know about meniscus?

Meniscus is no stranger to people who like sports, especially those who like ball sports, such as football and basketball, which require quick movements and sudden stops and turns. When people exercise, it is easy to injure the knee joint. Do you know why these movements can injure the knee joint? How should we deal with the injury? Let's learn about it together.

The knee joint is the most complex joint in the human body, with many tissue structures. Today we will first learn about one of the most vulnerable structures - the meniscus.

The inner meniscus is "C" shaped, and the outer one is "O" shaped. It slides backward and forward with the flexion and extension of the knee joint. However, when we stop or turn suddenly during exercise, or twist hard in a half-squat position, the meniscus does not have time to slide and is squeezed or pulled by the joint, which will cause meniscus damage, knee pain or jamming (a ruptured meniscus jams the moving knee joint, just like a small stone falls into a rotating gear and the rotating gear is suddenly jammed).

At this time, an experienced friend will immediately apply a cold compress to your knee joint. Meniscus injury is often accompanied by bleeding and damage to surrounding tissues. Cold therapy helps constrict blood vessels, reduce bleeding, and relieve pain. Then you can go to the hospital for treatment.

Based on the circumstances of your injury, your doctor will assess the severity of your meniscus injury through a detailed physical examination and knee MRI and recommend conservative treatment or meniscus repair or partial resection.

Most people may think that the treatment is completed once the surgery is successful and you are discharged from the hospital, but in fact, it is just the opposite. This is only the first step in the treatment. The real recovery of the knee joint still requires systematic rehabilitation treatment, so that you can return to the court you love and return to sports.

Q: When can I start recovery?

A: Rehabilitation can be started immediately after surgery. The rehabilitation doctor will develop an individualized rehabilitation plan for you based on the severity of your injury, surgical method, age, physical condition and your personal recovery expectations, including eliminating knee swelling, relieving pain, knee joint range of motion and strength training, lower limb weight management, balance and proprioception training, gait adjustment, knee joint stability, lower limb movement flexibility, coordination, explosive power and endurance training. The overall goal is to restore you to your pre-injury state as much as possible.

Q: What kind of recovery is needed?

A: Generally, there are three stages of meniscus rehabilitation. The rehabilitation doctor will make individual adjustments based on your situation. Stage 1: 0-6 weeks after surgery

1. Goal: Passive full extension of the knee, control of pain and swelling, flexion of the knee to 90 degrees, regain muscle control of the quadriceps, and the ability to bear weight on the affected side without pain at 6 weeks.

2. Treatment measures:

1) Electrical muscle stimulation of the quadriceps femoris;

2) Static contraction of the quadriceps;

3) Straight leg raises at multiple angles;

4) Perform progressive weight-bearing training of the lower limbs according to the doctor's advice. In the early stage, you need to wear a hinged brace in the straight position and use crutches;

5) Proprioception training;

6) Determine the range of motion of the knee joint according to the doctor's advice, and reach 90 degrees of knee flexion in 6 weeks;

7) Stretch the hamstrings and gastrocnemius muscles to maintain the elasticity of the lower limb muscles;

8) Cold therapy.

3. Note: Avoid active knee flexion, do not walk without a 0° brace, and avoid prolonged weight bearing.

Phase 2: 6-14 weeks

1. Goal: To restore normal knee range of motion, restore normal gait, and be able to walk up and down 20 cm steps with good control and without pain.
2. Treatment measures:
1) When the range of motion of the knee joint reaches 110-115 degrees, power bicycle treatment can be performed;

2) When the knee joint range of motion reaches 120 degrees, the therapist needs to perform quadriceps stretching exercises during joint mobilization to improve muscle elasticity and reduce knee joint adhesion;

3) 0-60 degree wall squat and double leg pedaling training

4) Step-up training (10cm, 15cm, 20cm), step-down training (10cm, 15cm, 20cm);

5) Balance function training (eyes closed, activity board, interference, dynamic balance training);

6) Proprioception training (position sense training, lower limb passing exercises, etc.);

7) Flexibility and coordination training can be carried out in the later stage.

3. Note: Avoid pain during training and activities, and avoid running and other sports.

Phase 3: 14-22 weeks

1. Goal: To be able to run without pain and to achieve isokinetic muscle strength test with lower limb symmetry > 85%.

2. Treatment measures:

1) When you can walk down a 20cm step well, you can start running forward on the treadmill;

2) Flexibility, coordination and flexibility training;

3) Isokinetic strength training;

4) Position sense and proprioception.

3. Note: Avoid pain during training and activities, and only exercise under the doctor's instructions when your muscle strength is strong enough.
Systematic rehabilitation training can greatly reduce the chance of knee dysfunction in patients, so early and systematic rehabilitation is recommended to help you resume life and exercise faster and better.