Meniscus rehabilitation: Diagnostics and kinesitherapy exercises

The composition of the meniscus is cartilage and has the shape of the letter “C”, the main role of which is to stabilize the knee during movement.

There are two menisci in the knee:

Inner meniscus
Outer meniscus

Why does a meniscus tear occur?
Muscles and tendons are responsible for stabilizing the knee. With weak or dysfunctional muscles and tendons, and at the same time with fast and unexpected movements, the joint capsule and ligaments are strained, the head of the knee joint puts too much pressure on the meniscus, and the meniscus is injured.

Sometimes the injury occurs all at once, but more often the injury is just the result of many microtraumas to the meniscus structures.

Diagnostics and treatment
Diagnosis of meniscus injuries using classic tests is very unreliable, and such positive tests (when the orthopedist rotates the knee) are only an indication for further diagnostics. Magnetic resonance is the safest method, but only arthroscopy can provide 100 percent insight into the condition.

Meniscus injuries are treated:

Kinesitherapy – for minor meniscus damage where movement is possible
Arthroscopy – which is a minimally invasive method, i.e. surgery.
In the case of meniscus injuries, the maximum effort is made to repair the injury, and the removal of the meniscus itself is left as the last option.

Kinesitherapy after surgery of the medial meniscus
The following exercises are examples that could be used in the rehabilitation of the medial meniscus. Exercises include:

Mobility
Stretching
Strengths
Functional exercises
The program must be progressive, and you must not feel pain while performing the exercises.

0 – 1 week after the procedure
In the first week, the goal is to reduce the swelling and mobility of the knee to the point where you can stretch it and bend it up to 90°. In order to reduce swelling, ice therapy or compression is most often used in the first 24 to 48 hours.

Exercises:

1. Flexion and extension of the knee in the supine position

2 – 3 weeks after the procedure
In this phase, a full normal range of motion, the possibility of performing deep squats and the possibility of running and light training are desirable.

In this phase, the exercises from the previous phase are used, but with an increase:

Loads
Number of repetitions
Series numbers
and add the following exercises:

1. Squat with heels elevated