medial knee meniscus injury playing basketball

[tompaynter]

Hello all,

I took a funny step playing basketball, felt a sort of pinch on the medial side of my knee, by next morning I couldn't put weight on that leg. Serious pain if I tried. Doesn't feel like a medial ligament strain, feels like a cartilage injury, as best I can tell. Some swelling, not a lot. (Just a funny step, no dramatic collision, twist, buckling, landing from a jump, anything like that.)

Now a couple of days later I can put some weight on it--I can get around on one crutch or hobble a few steps without. The pain is significantly less.

I saw my GP and he tested my ligaments/stability manually and said my knee seemed stable. He prescribed an anti-inflammatory, i.e., prescription-strength Aleve.

1) Would there be any point to seeing an orthopedist and getting an MRI? From what I understand, unless my knee starts locking up, there's no surgical solution.

2) Any advice on prognosis and recovery?

3) Before this acute injury I had noticed a little soreness in my knee in the same area. Did I gradually bring this on, i.e., was the acute injury the final straw in some kind of accumulative process? If so does that change the outlook in terms of what I should do and should expect in the future?

Thanks.

[Mark Rippetoe]

Tom, how old are you? Has nobody ever counseled you to leave court sports to the kids?