Damage to the knee joints, in particular the meniscus, is the most common injury, because it is this joint that undergoes huge daily stresses in everyday life. But especially often injuries are found in athletes and people involved in dancing.
In a healthy knee, joint movement should not be accompanied by any sounds or pain. It is these signs that appear when there is a meniscus injury.
Symptoms immediately after a knee injury are pronounced. This is a crunch and a sharp piercing pain, which gradually weakens and almost disappears. How can this be dangerous and what is the role of the meniscus?
Signs of injury
Why is there no friction in the joint during flexion and extension of the knee, and how is its stability ensured? It is the meniscus in this case that acts as a special gasket, which, in fact, is a shock absorber that stabilizes the operation of this joint. Symptoms of a meniscus that is damaged when falling on a knee or during sudden extension with a simultaneous rotation are an extraneous sound in the joint and sharp pain, along with which swelling may appear after a while. Here are a few basic signs of injury associated with this important part of the joint:
- Sudden severe pain that eventually stops in one particular place. Symptoms of a meniscus damaged by an external rupture are discomfort almost on the surface of the knee. If the pain is somewhere inside, then most likely there was a rupture of the inner part. In most cases, it is the external that suffers.
- The knee is in a more or less normal condition only when it is bent.
- Later meniscus symptoms that occur after 2-3 weeks are a feeling of rolling part of the joint during flexion and a clear click.
- Sometimes there is a feeling of the presence of a foreign body inside the knee.
Diagnostics
There are several options for examining the knee for damage. This is x-ray, MRI and arthroscopy. Due to the fact that the meniscus is a cartilaginous formation, it does not come out clearly enough in the picture, which limits the possibility of a correct diagnosis. As for arthroscopy, this is a rather unpleasant procedure, since a special device tube is inserted into the knee through which the doctor sees the entire organ from the inside, but it allows you to establish an accurate diagnosis.
Treatment
Symptoms of a meniscus damaged by falling or due to improper knee rotation, confirmed by the diagnosis, allow the doctor to determine the degree of injury and prescribe the appropriate treatment, which can be conservative and prompt. The surgical method is resorted to with an internal rupture and concomitant damage to the ligaments. If the damage is minor, then the treatment is carried out on an outpatient basis.
In conclusion, it is worth noting that you should not let the injury drift, because this can lead to a complete deformation of the joint, in which the meniscus is completely lost. Symptoms, treatment of such consequences, how do they look and how does everything happen? When moving, the cartilage begins to shift and gradually erases, and without such a gasket, the joint begins to deform, and subsequently arthrosis or, even worse, complete knee blockage can occur . And, unfortunately, this situation can no longer be corrected.