Men-is-cus issue, I think

otoole4info

Barefooters
Feb 3, 2013
257
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Waverly, NY
Anyone else ever experience a meniscus issue. Not sure it I have just a strain, sprain or slight tear, either way I have a Marathon to run Sunday 10/4 and will motor through it.

I did a 15 mile (of 14.5 mile) run last Thursday and have refrained from running since because of an achy pain that has gotten a bit better each day. With the upcoming marathon and having had a stress fracture in the past, I went to an urgent care and had the stress fracture ruled out......

I'm super happy that there is no stress fracture and I plan on holding off on doing any type of running until the day of the marathon. Just gonna stretch and stay flexible until the morning of and hope for a meniscus pain free run. I'm sure I'll be hurting but hopefully it'll just be fatigued muscles.

Now to play off of the actual name - Meniscus, it is an appropriate type of name for a male. I usually answer to cuss words as I have been referred to as A$$h@l3, sh!*h3ad and other such pleasantries - so I suppose it's a fitting injury, I just hope it goes away soon.
 
Anyone else ever experience a meniscus issue. Not sure it I have just a strain, sprain or slight tear, either way I have a Marathon to run Sunday 10/4 and will motor through it.

I did a 15 mile (of 14.5 mile) run last Thursday and have refrained from running since because of an achy pain that has gotten a bit better each day. With the upcoming marathon and having had a stress fracture in the past, I went to an urgent care and had the stress fracture ruled out......

I'm super happy that there is no stress fracture and I plan on holding off on doing any type of running until the day of the marathon. Just gonna stretch and stay flexible until the morning of and hope for a meniscus pain free run. I'm sure I'll be hurting but hopefully it'll just be fatigued muscles.

Now to play off of the actual name - Meniscus, it is an appropriate type of name for a male. I usually answer to cuss words as I have been referred to as A$$h@l3, sh!*h3ad and other such pleasantries - so I suppose it's a fitting injury, I just hope it goes away soon.
Kevin, I found out this summer that I have a degenerative meniscus tissue issue. If you got an x-ray at urgent care, an ortho might be able to spot something just by looking at the gap between the bones--one side (medial or lateral) might be less than the other--but only an MRI can confirm it I think. If your insurance covers it, I would get an MRI. It's nice to be sure what you have.

I don't know if you have a specific question but I've looked into it quite a bit and, depending on the severity and cause of your meniscus problem, running is either perfectly fine or something to be avoided, or falls somewhere in between. Do you have any swelling or stiffness? If not, you are probably good to go for your marathon.

If your meniscus injury was acute, like from a twisting motion, surgery might be able to repair it. If your meniscus injury is degenerative, like mine, and you can manage it well and avoid aggravating it too much, then the consensus seems to be that surgery is unnecessary and won't do any good. Surgery in this case is mainly to relieve chronic pain.

I've found some stretching and massaging both the lower and upper legs and around the knee can help. Icing also seems to help. Counterintuitively, I think squats also help, but if you're not doing squats now, you might want to hold off on starting that till after the race, right? In general, you want to keep the knee joint strong so that it is supported, which will help protect the meniscus. The pumping action of running and cycling can also help. It's just a matter of finding the right balance between aggravating the joint and maintaining fitness in it, as far as I can tell. I'm starting to get better at reading the cusses. Like yesterday, I got cussed at when attempting some conventional deadlifts, so I quickly backed off.
 
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Male names for conditions...ah let's see. MENopause = Men-on-pause is the way I like to think of it. How about MENstrual cycle = oh yes, another one related to the "male" of our species, along with MENstrual Cramps, no doubt caused by the male of our species. And how about GUY-nocologist and HIS-terectomy? :kiss:
 
Male names for conditions...ah let's see. MENopause = Men-on-pause is the way I like to think of it. How about MENstrual cycle = oh yes, another one related to the "male" of our species, along with MENstrual Cramps, no doubt caused by the male of our species. And how about GUY-nocologist and HIS-terectomy? :kiss:

Alright TJ you're on a roll keep them coming:happy:
 
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Male names for conditions...ah let's see. MENopause = Men-on-pause is the way I like to think of it. How about MENstrual cycle = oh yes, another one related to the "male" of our species, along with MENstrual Cramps, no doubt caused by the male of our species. And how about GUY-nocologist and HIS-terectomy? :kiss:
Alright TJ you're on a roll keep them coming:happy:
If you really want to keep them coming, don't forget: FELLA-tio & Serv-a-DUDE!
 
What did I start here with this post?

Well anyway here is an update on my men-is-cuss issue. I think my issue goes deeper, I'm going to see if I can get an MRI of the knee.

I haven't run since last Thursday and decided to go out for an easy 2 miles to see where I stand.

Needless to say as much as I don't want to do it, I'm going to skip the 26.2...... It really ticks me off, but I guess ultimately it's my own fault for pushing too hard with training.

I've located a spot on the inside of the tibia, just below the knee that if you lightly tap on it, it sends a sharp pain that I would say is equivalent to a knife being stabbed into the bone.

What are your thoughts?
 
What did I start here with this post?

Well anyway here is an update on my men-is-cuss issue. I think my issue goes deeper, I'm going to see if I can get an MRI of the knee.

I haven't run since last Thursday and decided to go out for an easy 2 miles to see where I stand.

Needless to say as much as I don't want to do it, I'm going to skip the 26.2...... It really ticks me off, but I guess ultimately it's my own fault for pushing too hard with training.

I've located a spot on the inside of the tibia, just below the knee that if you lightly tap on it, it sends a sharp pain that I would say is equivalent to a knife being stabbed into the bone.

What are your thoughts?
Bummer about dropping the marathon. I feel for you. Very hard after all the training.

That could still be a men-is-cuss is-sue. For a long time I thought I had a sore MCL or something at the attachment to the tibia. I could never figure it out.

The actual meniscus cartilage is aneural, so it won't give you any pain, but when the meniscus isn't doing its job properly--stabilizing and shock absorbing--the articular cartilage at the ends of the bones and the bones themselves can become irritated, arthritic, and this causes the pain. For me it's usually a two-inch square area on the lower, medial side of the knee joint that becomes very painful to the touch, just as you describe. It only becomes stiff and swollen if I continue to push things. The MRI should clear things up one way or the other.

The meniscus is also largely ahemal, with a poor blood supply, which is why it, unlike, say, the skin, has a hard time regenerating itself. Instead, it can simply wear out before the rest of the body does, like hair coloring. Basically, it rots.

My knee continues to feel better and better. It's just a little stiff now after a workout, might feel completely normal within another two weeks or a month. So I'm hopeful it will be manageable for many years to come before I have to consider the dreaded knee-replacement surgery.

This is an incredibly common problem for people in their fourth or fifth decades. A lot of people never get it diagnosed. They just learn to live with cranky knees until the pain becomes chronic, then insert titanium. It's a genetic predisposition, so there's nothing you can do about it. Bipedalism is still evolving, and middle-aged people have learned how to survive without having to run much. Then humankind discovered bicycles, many millennia after the wheel, to help stay fit.
 
tapping on your bone and feeling that sharp pain suggests fracture. it's good of you to skip the run and go get checked out.
 
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Had an appointment this past Tuesday at a sports clinic locally and the PA there was able to trigger the pain doing a bit of manipulation. He determined and is pretty certain my issue is Pes Anserine Bursitis, need to do some cross training and some muscle strengthening for a bit and ease back into running.

I am at fault for attempting to train for a marathon in 30 days after not running once 2 months prior. Oh well, this will give me time to work out a race schedule for 2016.