How to Heal a Torn Meniscus Naturally
Over 510,000 meniscectomies were performed in the United States in 2014. If you’re thinking that sounds like a lot, you’re right! Especially since this type of surgery can lead to complications later in life.
But oftentimes we can heal a torn meniscus naturally without surgery and still alleviate our pain while regaining our mobility and strength. For this article, we define “heal” as an increase in knee function and/or significantly reducing or eliminating knee pain. In fact, a 2018 study2 showed that people undergoing a course of physical therapy and those undergoing surgical arthroscopy had the same outcomes after 24 months.
What is a meniscus?
But first let’s back up for a quick lesson on the meniscus and some of the causes and symptoms of a tear. Our knee joint is made up of a large thigh bone (femur) and shin bone (tibia). The meniscus is connective tissue that sits between these two bones and acts a shock absorber for the knee.
Typically, you tear your meniscus with sudden twisting movements from high contact sports but you can also injure it during everyday movements like bending over or squatting. As we get older, the menisci become weakened and therefore more susceptible to tears.
After a tear, you can experience swelling of the knee, also known as inflammation, and pain, especially when the knee is fully extended. Sometimes you might experience joint locking or clicking followed by a feeling of weakness in the knee.
Here are the top 6 ways to naturally “heal” a torn meniscus:
1. Active Rest
The first thing you want to do is to stop any sudden cutting movements (like soccer) but still engage in light movement like walks or swimming, which is great because it’s non-weight bearing and won’t put any stress on the knee.
2. Range of Motion
Next, you want to maintain or improve the range of motion of the injured knee by focusing on exercises where you can sit or lie down and gently bend and straighten the knee as far as is comfortable. This helps prevent stiffness and improve blood flow to aid in healing.
3. Strength training
It’s also important to maintain or build strength in the muscles surrounding the knee like the quadriceps, hamstrings, and hip muscles, which all work synergistically to stabilize the knee and prevent a torn meniscus in the future. Exercises include stair climbing, leg presses, and lunges as long as there’s no pain.
4. Balance training
Often after a meniscus injury, proprioception in the knee and leg is inaccurate, meaning our balance is compromised, which can lead to further injuries and instability in the knee. Simple ways to work on this is with balance exercises like standing on one leg and calf raises on one leg.
It can be hard to go through this journey alone — and you shouldn’t have to. Losing mobility in your knee is scare enough already. This where doing something like a structured physical therapy program with an experienced physical therapist can help restore pain-free movement and provide guidance for range of motion, strength and balance training.
5. Post-Rehab program
This is the next step after the completion of a physical therapy program. The focus here is on easing back into more complex activities and returning to your favorite sports like playing soccer, squatting in the gym or running marathons.
7. Nutrition Support
Staying hydrated and eating a diet that is high in nutrient-dense and anti-inflammatory foods can help aid the body in healing your torn meniscus and keeping joints lubricated. At the root of your pain is inflammation. Oftentimes though, food is not enough and you may need to incorporate nutritional supplements like turmeric extract, which is a safe and effective way to reduce inflammation while you heal.
Curcumin is the active component in turmeric and it works by reducing certain inflammatory markers in the body. When taken in therapeutic doses of 1500 mg a day, can help provide anti-inflammatory3, antioxidant and pain-relieving benefits throughout the body, including the knee and any associated arthritis4 as a result of a meniscus tear.
It’s also important to maintain or build strength in the muscles surrounding the knee like the quadriceps, hamstrings, and hip muscles, which all work synergistically to stabilize the knee and prevent a torn meniscus in the future. Exercises include stair climbing, leg presses, and lunges as long as there’s no pain.
Why is rehab important to recover from meniscus tears?
We have outlined basic principles for healing a torn meniscus naturally, but as previously mentioned, it is best to be diagnosed by an experienced physical therapist and to follow the exercise program they prescribe.
Just remember, surgery is not always necessary and following a regimented exercise program may allow your meniscus to heal on its own.
If you need help getting started with rehab, then download our Free Meniscus Tear Quick Start Guidebook for 5 simple exercises to get begin rehab.
Enter your name and email below to access the Free Guidebook. You will also receive an email with access to our Free meniscus tear support on Facebook.
How Adam recovered from a meniscus and ACL tear
Let me tell you a quick story about one of my client, Adam who twisted his knee playing indoor soccer since he was wearing outdoor soccer cleats on artificial turf. After undergoing surgery for a torn ACL and meniscus, Adam still had pain and inflammation that was affecting his quality of life and ability to play his favorite sport. Looking for a more natural inflammation relief solution, Adam tried Active Atoms Turmeric alongside his physical therapy and in just two weeks, he noticed significantly less swelling, pain, and inflammation in his knee.
Over the past seven years as a physical therapist, I discovered that most of my clients wanted to stop taking Ibuprofen and switch to natural alternatives, but they didn’t know what could be as good as Ibuprofen.
After months of research, I found out that turmeric extract, not turmeric root has been shown by studies to improve knee function, reduce pain, and improve joint health. These benefits were similar to Ibuprofen but without the harmful side effects.
I went on Amazon looking for a good turmeric supplement to recommend to my clients and realized that many of those companies were very misleading in their advertising by claiming they had a potency turmeric when in reality, they filled their capsules with cheap and less effective turmeric powder. This was the moment I decided to launch Active Atoms.
I believe Active Atoms Turmeric Extract is the highest potency turmeric supplement available to promote a healthy inflammation in the body so you can increase your odds of a successful meniscus recovery.
Learn more about our Active Atoms Turmeric today and join our Free Meniscus Tear Facebook support group to connect with others who understand what you’re going through.
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