Over the past few weeks, I have been having issues with my left knee. After a workout a few weeks ago, I had a lot of pain in my knee that hurt when I walked or bent it. This eventually went away in a day or two and then came back a week later out of nowhere. The second time the pain was worse and I had to rest it for several days before it felt better. I went to a Sports Medicine doctor and he was pretty sure that I have a "bucket handle tear" in my meniscus. I had an MRI and the findings were inconclusive. He showed me the results and there is a piece of my meniscus that looks abnormal but it isn't a definite tear. I do have a cyst on my ACL, but he said that is usually not symptomatic. My knee pain comes and goes and since I don't play professional sports, the doc wants me to wait it out and not rush into surgery. He said that if I played for the New York Yankees they would scope it out immediately, but since that is not the case, he wants to wait and see. What worries me is that I had the MRI when things were feeling OK and so most likely if I do have a tear, it was in the down position and that makes it harder to see. He said that tears can flap up and down and when they are up, they hurt and that's why I am OK from time to time. So, I guess I have to play the waiting game which is a little frustrating! He said I could go back to working out and so I did yesterday and had a sharp pain in my kneecap the entire workout. I also get that when walking down stairs. I can walk fine, but any squatting or jumping and the sharp pain comes on. I hope I don't have to deal with the intense pain I felt a week ago again. I was limping everywhere for a few days. I emailed my doc to ask him if it is OK to workout through the kneecap pain and am waiting for a response. I am also unsure about this cyst thing. Someone that works with me told me that Tiger Woods had an ACL cyst and needed to have it removed and that he also knows of someone else that happened to... I guess it is a rare finding and so doctors debate on what to do about it. Some think it is nothing, and some think they can cause problems and so they remove them. Do you have any opinion on all of this? Do you think I should get a second opinion? Thanks for your help in advance!

It sounds just like the meniscus tear my husband had. The doctor told him that only surgery would "fix" it, but that it would not be a permanent solution to a life altering problem.

Lady Viper... uh oh, didn't want to hear that... does my issues sound like his? Did he have surgery?

It sounds a lot like his, he did say that he had a "clicking" and "locking" feeling in it. No, he elected not to have surgery for a number of reasons. One, it was not permanent the Dr. advised it would have to be redone in 10-14 years, my husband was 31 when it happened. Two, he is a large man and it would be impossible for me to care for him if he was laid up. There is no way into our home without going up several steps. Then the third reason, he was traumatized by doctors at age 15 with a serious ankle injury and has not cared ofr doctors since.

It has been 3 years since the incident, and like the doctor said the meniscus deteriorated and no he no longer has one. His pain it mostly gone, but it does come back during long periods of standing, and walking. Which, weightloss for him would probably curb a lot of the weight bearing pain he does have.

Honestly, I think in this instance, surgery is the way to go. It could completely resolve the pain for several years, although there are no guarantees.

Whether you get surgery or not
One of the best things I found for clicking aching knees and joints is Hylaronic acid.
It can be taken with meds.
Also vitamin D3 is good too.