Meniscal tear (Knee Cartilage)
What is the meniscus? The meniscus is basically a set of two half-moon shaped pieces of cartilage in the knee joint. They sit on the tibial plateau, which is the top of the shin bone. They are triangular in cross section and there is one each side of the joint: The outside one is called the lateral meniscus and the inner one the medial meniscus. The lateral one is more circular and the medial one is more open and it also attaches to the medial collateral ligament (MCL). The Meniscus has limited vascularity and the nerve supply it has is for proprioception not pain and these are in the outer third of the meniscus. It’s just as well really, otherwise you’d be walking around in agony and bleeding inside you knee joint, especially considering that it is considered that walking produces about 3 times your body weight in your knee! What does it do? It helps with shock absorption, it makes the joint surfaces fit together better so it therefore spreads the load out better, which...