The Meniscus is the most commonly injured part of the knee. In young people a meniscus tear is usually caused by a traumatic twisting injury. In older people, in addition to traumatic injury, tears are often caused by weakness of the meniscus caused by degenerative changes in the knee joint. Meniscus tears are often described by their position: anterior or posterior, which meniscus: medial or lateral and the type of tear. Here are some examples…

A Medial Meniscus Tear describes a tear on medial meniscus often caused traumatically by sudden changes of direction and force in sports like football, soccer, basketball, volleyball and skiing. They can also be caused by repetitive use injuries like distance running and cycling and degenerative changes to the knee in older patients. Medial Meniscus Tears respond very well to Stem Cell Therapy.

Bucket Handle Meniscus Tear: The entire inner rim of the medial meniscus can be torn in what is called a bucket handle tear. These tears usually occur in an area of good blood supply in the meniscus. While these tears when caught very early are the one case that can be sutured, an injection of your own stem cells can accomplish the same thing without the risks and recovery time of surgery.

Meniscus Flap Tear: The meniscus can also have a flap tear from the inner rim. These tears usually involve a small percentage of the meniscus and do not have the ability to heal on their own because they occur in an area that does not have good blood supply. Flap tears are the type most commonly “trimmed” or “shaved”, (removed) leading to long term issues. BEWARE of any removal of meniscus tissue. Instead use your own stem cells to heal the tear.

Complex Degenerative Meniscus Tears: Just like other tissues of the body, the tissue that forms the menisci weakens with age, making the menisci prone to degeneration and tearing with just minor injury or no particular injury at all. These tears of the meniscus are usually seen as a part of the overall condition of osteoarthritis of the knees in older adults and cause the menisci to fray and tear in multiple directions. Thankfully, in these cases, there are so many tears, most surgeons won’t even try to repair them surgically. While surgery won’t help, Regenexx can place your own stem cells and growth factors into the areas that need help with just injections.