Degenerative Meniscus

Your knee is a hinge joint made up of thighbone and shinbone. These two bones combine and are stabilized by cartilage, which helps to hold your knee in place. There are two pieces of cartilage between the two bones, called the lateral meniscus and the medial meniscus. They act as shock absorbers to help prevent two bones from rubbing together and help your knees move smoothly. Over time, this cartilage begins to degrade, causing pain and inability to move the knee freely. The degenerated meniscus will begin to weaken and thin with the increase of age and the wear of cartilage due to supporting body weight. Arthritis and other joint diseases will lead to meniscus wear, resulting in the weakening of the overall structure of the knee joint. This usually leads to tears that require treatment or surgery to repair. The most common cause of motion related meniscus tears is impact to the outside of the knee, but due to weakened cartilage, it may damage the degraded meniscus during routine tasks. What happened to my knee? The degenerative meniscus is part of the normal aging process because the collagen fibers that make up the buffer layer between the thigh and tibia are broken. This damage weakens the support to the knee and makes the meniscus tear easily. Tear caused by meniscus degeneration rather than trauma usually occurs in the horizontal direction, that is, they tear the meniscus, producing the top and bottom. According to an article edited by Carol C. teitz, M.D., this kind of horizontal tear may cause your knee to be stuck or locked. On the website of Department of Orthopaedics and sports medicine of Washington University, the symptoms of degenerative meniscus are

you can have degenerative meniscus until your cartilage finally tears. This degeneration may be the result of years of high-intensity impact activity or long-term normal wear, but usually this weakening will lead to cartilage tears. This tear can cause pain, difficulty moving the knee, weakness and / or inability to move the knee as freely as before. The knee joint problem that causes these symptoms should be examined by a doctor immediately. The treatment of avulsion of the meniscus may require surgery, whether it is caused by degenerative diseases or trauma. Whether you need surgery or not depends on your age, your level of activity, and the type and level of tear you are experiencing. If your condition does not require surgery, it is usually treated with anti-inflammatory drugs plus rest, ice, compression and sit ups, called rice. If your cartilage has degenerated to the extent that these treatments are ineffective, you may need to undergo arthroscopy of the knee and the surgeon will repair or replace the cartilage.