Meniscus Tears and Physical Therapy: To Operate or Not to Operate?

At a certain point it seems like no one is exempt from a certain amount of knee pain. Whether you're older, younger, an athlete, or just a regular Joe-- you'll likely have an issue with your knees at some point in your life. The damage can be from a sports related accident, even stepping down the stairs wrong could do it, or the damage could be unavoidable degenerative effects of your day to day activities. The question then becomes: To operate or not to operate? Ultimately the decision is one you should carefully ponder with your specialist, but we do have a solid argument for physical therapy sans surgery to consider as you're weighing your options.

Not all meniscus tears are created equal and there are several options for surgery (all of which require physical therapy for post-surgical meniscus recovery...) but there is a strong argument in certain cases to give physical therapy alone a try before resorting to surgery. Nearly half a million knee surgeries are performed each year when there's a strong chance that physical therapy alone could do the trick. That's all fine and good if you're keen to go under the knife, but it means a longer recovery time in most cases and a much higher bill for your troubles.

In a recent study, only about 30% of patients who tried physical therapy treatments over surgery wound up going in for surgery anyways. That leaves a strong 70% in the case study who were able to heal with only physical therapy exercises. Since spending time in our New York City and Westchester physical therapy clinics is basically like going to a spa, even if you're in that 30% it won't be a trying experience.

As you're pondering the best approach to recovering from your meniscus tear, know that physical therapy alone might just do the trick and ask your physician if that might be a good option for you. The recovery time might be long, but we've got views of the Upper West Side that will blow your mind at our Lincoln Square office and you can hear the water of the Hudson River from our Westchester pt clinic. If you've got to sweat through a long recovery, shouldn't it be in the lap of luxury?