Meniscus Tears...

SignCaller'sMa,
My son had surgery for a torn meniscus in his right knee last year right after Thanksgiving. He was off for about two weeks and then began a PT schedule with the teams trainer which was quite intense. He came home from school middle of December and was advised to find a place here wher he could continue PT while on break. He went 3 days a week for three weeks here and when he returned to school in early January he was catching bullpens the first day back.The knee was a little sore as he caught quite a few kids but by the third session of bullpens his knee was fine with no pain and he has been healthy and pain free since.He still does some of the exercises prescribed now just to make sure it stays healthy and strong a year later.
Best of luck ,
catchersdad

Thanks, catchersdad...

My son made his JV team as an 8th grader last year and worked as a back-up catcher... He's been conditioning and now attends a catching clinic, to prepare for the upcoming season, as he will move into the starting spot behind the plate... The season won't begin until mid-March, so based on what your own son's experience was, it sounds like there'll be plenty of time for recovery and rehab if surgery is needed!

Good luck to him, it is hard work for sure , but if he follows the Physical trainers drills and recomendations I am sure he will be better than ever and happy not to have the constant pain.
Hope he has a tremendous season upcoming!!

catchersdad

If it really is just the meniscus then the surgery and recovery time are pretty easy. Hopefully that's all it is. But x-rays and MRIs aren't perfect, as was the case for me. They couldn't tell what was damaged until they scoped it. It wasn't much fun going in to surgery not knowing if it can be fixed and what the recovery will be like.

Best of luck and hopefully they'll have a good answer for you after the MRI. That would be the best news.

Thanks, YHF and catchersdad~ I'll post again when we know something!

SignCaller'sMa,

My son hurt his knee last February playing hockey. The MRI showed a partially torn MCL with no damage to the meniscus. PT was prescribed for 8 weeks. Once returning to baseball, my son’s knee gave way and it locked in a bent position where he could not straighten it out. The new MRI then clearly showed that a piece of the torn meniscus was lodged in his knee joint, causing it to lock in a bent position. Surgery was performed three days later.

The orthopedic surgeon ideally would have liked to repair the meniscus, i.e. stitch it back together. This procedure would have required about 6-8 months of no sports in order to heal properly. However, once the surgeon looked at the knee through arthroscopy, it was too badly frayed to repair. So the surgeon did a 50% partial meniscectomy of the left medial meniscus. My son was able to start playing baseball about 6-8 weeks post surgery after another round of PT. He had a little bit of pain for a few weeks after he started playing again.

It is now 7 months after surgery and my son says his knee feels the same as it did before he hurt it. He played baseball most of the summer and all of the Fall. He is playing ice hockey again this season.

And yes, MRIs are not always accurate as in the case of our son’s first MRI. The first MRI also showed that my son’s ACL might be partially torn, but the surgeon took a look at the ACL with the scope during the meniscus surgery and it was perfectly normal.

Some athletes are able to return in 2-4 weeks after a partial meniscectomy. It took longer for my son because he hurt his knee twice before we learned what was wrong.

Good luck to your son!

SignCaller'sMa,

My son tore his meniscus last year when he tried to pop up from a slide into 2nd base. We feared it was an ACL injury as he couldn't walk off the field on his own. The MRI really wasn't conclusive so he had athroscopic surgery to determine the damage. We were hoping for the partial meniscectomy as the recovery time is much shorter but once they could see what was wrong they determined he had what is called a bucket handle tear. The good news is they can save the meniscus, the bad news is the recovery time is much longer. Initially we were told three to four months but now I believe 6 months would have been a more accurate timeframe.

Based on your description and your son's ability to play through the discomfort it sounds like your sons case may be less severe and PT and time off could do the trick. Unfortunately an MRI may not provide the answer. It sounds like you are going about this the right way. Best of luck.

My son's meniscus tear was also a bucket handle tear.

Wow, a lot of variables here, huh? I am really keeping my fingers crossed that my son's injury(ies) are not too serious and that his recovery time, following PT and/or surgery, will be quick! I'd hate for him to miss his upcoming season, should he have a drawn-out rehab period; but, of course, his overall health is what is important... Your replies have been wonderfully helpful, as the information you've all provided has helped me to further understand what we may be facing and led me to more (online) research... There's nothing better than actually having some background information BEFORE my son receives his diagnosis!

Son had same problem last year. Had surgery and then went thru the PT. Was cleared one day before HS tryouts for varsity. He went hard at it as he realy wanted to play varsity. Two days into the tryout knee was very sore. He tried for a couple of more days and the pain was to much. Had to get a cordizone shot. Did not reinjure himself, but as the doctor said he ****ed it off. Even though your son will be cleared it does not mean he is 100%. Keep an eye on him and have him go slow and not hide any pain. In the end son had a wonderful season on JV.

First of all I'd venture to guess that your son does not have anything wrong with his miniscus. I've heard of cases such as jmepops where the tear seemed to be pretty bad where it could take upwards of 6 months to recover. Other people are ready to go after 4 weeks after surgery. Others still elect to never get the surgery and are able to play so long as they can deal with the discomfort.

Either way I'm sure your son will be able to play come march. If it was the worst case scinero tear that takes about 6 months your son wouldnt even be able to walk right now.

It is very good advice to monitor my son's progress, should he have to have surgery at some point, and make certain that he's truly ready to resume catching when the dr. 'clears' him... I am a firm believer in going on one's own level of comfort/discomfort as a measure of actual 'readiness'!

It is also very good for me to read that my son may not have a problem with any meniscal tears... I do question what will actually turn up, on the MRI, as he has played, and played hard, since last March or April, and still functions well... We found that anti-inflammatories and compression braces, on game days, as well as icing after games, was very effective... I just hope that the dr. will know something, conclusive, and be able to guide us in the right direction!

another thing to take into account is hes young and growing and that can cause many pains and discomforts that cant really be identified by an MRI or a doctor. I know when I was that age i had frequent pains in a lot of my joints and muscles and I believe it was just from growing.

Yes, there certainly could be 'growing pains' at work here, too... My son is 14 and is already 6' and 180 pounds and the dr., who just looked at his x-rays, said that he still has quite a bit of growing to do... I have read that taller catchers can actually have more knee trouble~ any truth to that?

seems like a blanket statement that nobody would really be able to prove. Make sure your son is doing a lot of stretching. The more flexible his muscles are the less stress will be placed on his joints.

We got some good news today~ no tears or other injuries in either of my son's knees! There were a total of 414 images taken, on the MRI, and both the hospital radiologist and the orthopedic surgeon deemed them 'unremarkable'... SOOO, at this point, we'll be as proactive as possible, having my son work on a regular stretching routine, take anti-inflammatories on game days, contiue to have him wear his compression braces, and ice when he gets home each day (from practice or a game)... The dr. did tell us that if the pain intensifies or just doesn't improve, by the end of the season, that he'll refer him to a rheumatologist, though the images show no signs of arthritis, either...

Good news for you.

Sounds like a rehab with PT is necessary to get
the hamstrings and ligs around the knee stronger.

Also check out a relatively new drug call Supartz.
It's an injection for Joint Fluid Therapy. Has helped millions of people worldwide, and it may be the right solution for his knee pain.

With youth and lots of blood flow around the knee, recovery time is 2 months sooner than the over 50 catchers (~ 3 months)

Good luck