The meniscus is a cushion in the knee joint.
Depending on how bad the tear is, it might be treatable with rest and anti-inflammatory medications.
However, some meniscus tears need surgery and physical therapy.
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This article looks at the difference between a meniscus tear and other knee cartilage tears.
It also covers other types and symptoms of knee cartilage injury and how they can be treated.
Types of Knee Cartilage Tears
The knee joint has two types of cartilage: articular and meniscus.
They also help the knee move smoothly.
When someone refers to a tear in knee cartilage, they are usually talking about the meniscus cartilage.
Meniscus tears are common knee injuries, but tears can also happen in the articular cartilage.
Pain that comes on slowly or happens after a minor injury or overuse may get better without treatment.
Theyll also do an exam to see how your knee moves.
However, some tears in the meniscus will do best when they are surgically fixed.
Damage to both types of cartilage is often from long-term wear and tear (degeneration) and arthritis.
This bang out of damage may cause symptoms such as pain and disability.
However, surgery is not usually any better than non-surgical management for treating these symptoms.
Torn knee cartilage may heal on its own.
Physical Therapy
Doingphysical therapy(PT) might be part of your recovery from torn knee cartilage.
Youll usually do exercises with them at appointments as well as on your own at home.
If the injury is more serious, you might need to have more involved surgery (open).
This kind of surgery will take longer to do and your recovery will be longer.
Some people may need to have more than one surgery to fix their knee.
For example:
Summary
There are two types of cartilage in the knee.
Tears can happen in both the articular cartilage and the meniscus.
Meniscus tears are common.
When you hear someone refer to a cartilage tear, they are usually talking about the meniscus.
Knee cartilage tears can be brought on by injury, arthritis, or chronic overuse.
It may become too painful or the knee may lock.
This will prevent movement of the joint.
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