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Meniscus Tear Recovery Time Without Surgery – Spokane, WA

3124 S. Regal Street Spokane, WA 99223

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FAQs

Can A Torn Meniscus Heal On Its Own?

Yes, since the meniscus is a living tissue, there are parts that have good blood circulation, and tears in those areas heal best.

Physical therapy can be effective in healing some tears, but frequently, the body needs a helping hand to facilitate and speed up the process. That’s where Regenexx’s regenerative orthopedic procedures come in.

Meniscus tear recovery without surgery

3124 S. Regal Street
Spokane, WA 99223

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Doctors

As a board-certified physician in both physical medicine and rehabilitation with a subspecialty in pain medicine, Dr. Lewis treats patients throughout eastern Washington and northern Idaho. He treats spine conditions, full-body joint pains and complaints, muscular issues, and complex regional pain.

Dr. Lewis is the medical director of the Center for Integrative Pain Medicine, the Center for Regenerative Medicine, and the Structured Intensive Multidisciplinary Pain Program at St. Luke’s Rehabilitation Institute in Spokane, Washington.

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Areas treated: Cervical Spine (Not Upper Cervical or CCI)*, Elbow, Foot & Ankle, Hand & Wrist, Hip, Knee, Lumbar Spine, Shoulder, Thoracic Spine

Dr. Nemri’s extensive experience has brought many patients the expertise of a compassionate and caring physician.

He practiced anesthesia and pain management for several years in the largest pain management group in northwest Indiana and the greater Chicago area before moving to Washington State to be closer to his family.

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Areas treated: Cervical Spine (Not Upper Cervical or CCI)*, Lumbar Spine, Thoracic Spine

Dr. Gilmer hails from McCall, Idaho, where a love for the outdoors ignited a passion for health and well-being. This passion fueled his academic journey at Idaho State University, where he earned both a bachelor’s and master’s degree in microbiology. Dr. Gilmer then earned his medical doctorate at the University of Washington School of Medicine.

Following medical school, Dr. Gilmer completed his residency in Physical Medicine & Rehabilitation at Providence, serving as Chief Resident during his tenure. His dedication to patient care extends beyond the clinic, with a special focus on pain management, graduate medical education, and regenerative medicine.

In his free time, he finds joy in activities like skiing, mountain biking, and fishing.

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Areas treated: Elbow, Foot & Ankle, Hand & Wrist, Hip, Knee, Lumbar Spine, Shoulder, Thoracic Spine

Areas Treated

Cervical Spine (Not Upper Cervical or CCI)*, Elbow, Foot & Ankle, Hand & Wrist, Hip, Knee, Lumbar Spine, Shoulder, Thoracic Spine

*This provider is NOT authorized by Regenexx to treat the C0-C1 or C1-C2 levels of the neck or CCI (craniocervical instability).

How Does Regenexx Work For Meniscus Tears?

At Regenexx, we invented a new approach to orthopedic care we call Interventional Orthopedics. This minimally invasive alternative to meniscus surgery uses ultrasound-guided technology to precisely inject your own bone marrow concentrate — which contains stem cells — directly where it’s needed in the joint.

The cells in your bone marrow concentrate work at the site of your injury to promote your body’s natural healing abilities to treat the tear and avoid surgery1.

In most cases, knee surgeries require months of recovery and, frequently, additional months of painful rehabilitation to regain strength and function. The exact length of this recovery varies with the type and severity of the tear, the procedure performed, and the patient’s health status, but it can be as long as six months.

Regenexx procedures are intended to help avoid the side effects of surgery and support the healthy, cushioning environment the meniscus provides for the knee. Generally, the recovery time is much shorter than with surgery, and patients can return to normal daily activity levels within a matter of weeks and to more active sports within a few months.

Am I a candidate?

Note: Like all medical procedures, Regenexx procedures have a success and failure rate. Not all patients will experience the same results.

Regenexx Procedures For Meniscus Tears

During appointments, Regenexx physicians examine your body in motion and often use Ultrasound to observe the inner workings of the joint in real time. This gives them a much more accurate picture of what’s contributing to your pain, how function is affected, and ultimately, the root cause of the problem. 

Once you’ve been evaluated, your physician will customize a treatment plan based on your specific needs. Our treatments include:

Regenexx-SD: A patented protocol using bone marrow concentrate that contains stem cells

Regenexx SCP: A proprietary formulation of platelet-rich plasma (PRP) that’s more concentrated than what a basic bedside centrifuge machine can produce

Regenexx-PL: Platelet lysate, which is a highly specialized derivative of platelet-rich plasma (PRP)

Watch a meniscus tear patient’s Regenexx procedure in this 4-minute video.

Am I a candidate?

Take a look at the outcomes of a patient who chose to have a Regenexx procedure instead of surgery.

Scroll to the right to see the MRI of the meniscus before treatment and to the left to see the outcome. The BEFORE shows a torn meniscus. Once treated, the area as seen on the AFTER image will look like a dark, diagonal band.

Patient MRI – View 1

Am I a candidate?

Patient MRI – View 2

The meniscus is a cushion of cartilage between the bony ends (condyles) of your femur (the bone in your thigh) and tibia (the bone in your shin). Each knee has two menisci: a lateral meniscus and a medial meniscus.

Together, they reduce friction during movement, help the femur and tibia fit together, distribute your body weight across the knee, act as a shock absorber, help distribute fluid that lubricates the knee joint, and protect the gliding cartilage within the knee. 

Tears of the meniscus can be the result of wear and tear on the joint or can occur when there’s an injury, such as some type of sports trauma.

The meniscus has a red zone — the outer third of the meniscus — with a good blood supply and a white zone — the rest of the meniscus — with no blood supply. Torn cartilage in the red zone has the potential to heal, particularly in those younger than 30, while tears in the white zone rarely heal due to lack of blood supply.

Research shows that surgery for a torn meniscus is overprescribed and often no more effective than physical therapy.2 Unfortunately, patients are not always informed of the low success rate of these procedures.

Whether patients have a partial meniscus “clean-up” (a piece is surgically removed) or a complete meniscectomy, outcomes are often unsuccessful. Both procedures change knee biomechanics and may later result in knee arthritis.

If you have a torn meniscus, you may experience knee pain or mechanical limitations. Some people have constant pain, some have intermittent pain, and others have no pain at all. 

Unless the torn meniscus has locked the knee, many people with a torn meniscus can walk, stand, sit, and sleep without pain. Other possible symptoms include:

Sometimes nothing, at least initially. If you have no pain or mechanical issues in the joint, you may choose to wait to see if it heals on its own. Depending on the type and severity of the tear, you may have pain, stiffness, and reduced function. There’s also the possibility of developing knee arthritis as a result of the damage.

Tears that occur in the red zone of your meniscus and have the best blood circulation heal the best with regenerative orthopedic procedures. The tears we see and treat most often are listed below; however, other types of tears may also benefit from regenerative orthopedic procedures. After a thorough examination and consultation, your Regenexx practitioner can answer this question more definitively. 

illustration of knee meniscus flap tear

Meniscus Flap Tear
These tears usually involve a small percentage of the meniscus and do not have the ability to heal on their own because they occur in an area that does not have a good blood supply. Flap tears are the type most commonly “trimmed” or “shaved”, (removed) leading to long-term issues.  

Illustration of bucket handle meniscus tear

Bucket Handle Meniscus Tear
The entire inner rim of the medial meniscus can be torn in what is called a bucket handle tear. These tears usually occur in an area of good blood supply in the meniscus

Illustration of degenerative meniscus Tear

Complex Degenerative Meniscus Tears
These tears of the meniscus are usually seen as a part of the overall condition of osteoarthritis of the knees in older adults and cause the menisci to fray and tear in multiple directions.

consistent MRI finding associated with pain is swelling in the bone called bone marrow edema (BME) or a bone marrow lesion (BML). Current research on knee pain due to arthritis has shifted from cartilage loss to this bone marrow swelling.

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