Knees are hard. It seems like surgery should be the answer but it doesn't always help much, so then you're stuck with meds/shots which are also only moderately effective. I had three scopes, several years of meds (biking, PT, and celebrex were more effective than the shots), and finally had partial replacements on both last year.
Preface: the American healthcare system is a broken racist, inefficient, and profit driven mess of ineffective care.
Take: Meniscus injuries are very difficult to identify in some cases anyway. Even if you were in a healthcare system that works well, it might not have been identified. The special tests for meniscus tears are not very reliable. The best ones rely on a patient's own subjective assessment of stability. So as a clinician, I have to rely on subjective information in the special tests and my own subjective opinion on the signs and symptoms a patient provides. The gold standard for diagnosis is MRI and due to limited resolution I've had multiple patients with torn menisci not have anything show up in MRI results.
Now, if you correctly identify a torn meniscus, surgical interventions aren't great either depending on location, extent of damage, and type of tear. Sometimes the best thing the surgeon can do is remove damaged tissue and clean up the area. The lack of blood flow means that reparability of tears isn't great. Sometimes you're fucked if you do and fucked if you don't. Fortunately, there have been advances in outcomes lately and hopefully that continues. But for now, sometimes the best option if you're not overly active is delaying surgical intervention until a knee replacement is a viable option.
Yea, I've been thinking about when it could have happened, and I still can't figure it out. I probably tore it and didn't know. However, I've had a minor knee pain for a couple weeks and the pain just started ramping up a few days ago
There's no American Healthcare System - there are numerous medical systems, insurance approaches, etc.
I say this as someone who's used numerous healthcare insurance models.
The worst are HMO. Those are the kind of systems most people rail about.
If you have PPO insurance, getting something addressed is much easier as those doctors are independent and not beholden to a bureaucratic system, so can operate as scientists, not party-line holders.
7 Comments
Oka@sopuli.xyz · 5 pts · 10h
I am 31 and dealing with the system over a repetitive strain from my current job.
rockSlayer@lemmy.blahaj.zone · 1 pts · 1h
Oof, good luck. I can send you info about the ADA if you think it would help
Today@lemmy.world · 5 pts · 7h
Knees are hard. It seems like surgery should be the answer but it doesn't always help much, so then you're stuck with meds/shots which are also only moderately effective. I had three scopes, several years of meds (biking, PT, and celebrex were more effective than the shots), and finally had partial replacements on both last year.
LincolnsDogFido@lemmy.zip · 2 pts · 1h
Preface: the American healthcare system is a broken racist, inefficient, and profit driven mess of ineffective care.
Take: Meniscus injuries are very difficult to identify in some cases anyway. Even if you were in a healthcare system that works well, it might not have been identified. The special tests for meniscus tears are not very reliable. The best ones rely on a patient's own subjective assessment of stability. So as a clinician, I have to rely on subjective information in the special tests and my own subjective opinion on the signs and symptoms a patient provides. The gold standard for diagnosis is MRI and due to limited resolution I've had multiple patients with torn menisci not have anything show up in MRI results.
Now, if you correctly identify a torn meniscus, surgical interventions aren't great either depending on location, extent of damage, and type of tear. Sometimes the best thing the surgeon can do is remove damaged tissue and clean up the area. The lack of blood flow means that reparability of tears isn't great. Sometimes you're fucked if you do and fucked if you don't. Fortunately, there have been advances in outcomes lately and hopefully that continues. But for now, sometimes the best option if you're not overly active is delaying surgical intervention until a knee replacement is a viable option.
rockSlayer@lemmy.blahaj.zone · 1 pts · 1h
Yea, I've been thinking about when it could have happened, and I still can't figure it out. I probably tore it and didn't know. However, I've had a minor knee pain for a couple weeks and the pain just started ramping up a few days ago
Onomatopoeia@lemmy.cafe · 1 pts · 34m
There's no American Healthcare System - there are numerous medical systems, insurance approaches, etc.
I say this as someone who's used numerous healthcare insurance models.
The worst are HMO. Those are the kind of systems most people rail about.
If you have PPO insurance, getting something addressed is much easier as those doctors are independent and not beholden to a bureaucratic system, so can operate as scientists, not party-line holders.
richardisaguy@lemmy.world · 1 pts · 52m
Where have you moved to?