Is this a tear that should be surgicaly corrected?

[dancingwife]

I have had knee pain for 6 weeks.  Sports med dr sent me for mri and the results are as follows:

1. Significant signal abnormality posterior horn medial meniscuswithout convincing tear. 2. The anterior cruciate ligament appears bowed.  Please correlateclinically to exclude ACL insufficiency. ACL femoral and tibialattachments are intact.  3. Mild to moderate cartilage thinning in all 3 compartments.

He was vague with me and said that since the pain comes and goes let him know when it hurts bad enough and we'll do surgery.  He gave me no other options.  Waiting on 2nd opinion but would like advice.

What does the mri say to you?  Dr says it's a tear.

Other info, I'm a 35 yr old mother of two and former competitive dancer.  

[dancingwife]

Thanks, I know competitive dancing is out...I'd settle for normal walking.  The dr I saw didn't prescribe PT or anything.  He just said surgery under general anesthesia for cleaning it up.  I had to get into hospital records to get the info I have.  

I see that the cartilage is thinning, I knew that, my knees have been noisy for years.  What stood out in the report is "without convincing tear".  The dr told me I have a medial meniscus tear.

Some days it is bad some days it feels like it's almost normal.

I'd like to do PT and strengthen the muscles around it and avoid surgery.  Maybe I'm just wishful thinking.

[caregiver222]

Well, you are probably eventually going to have to have it repaired. It won't ever get better. The good side is that it could be a lot worse. You will have to favor it. It does not appear there is an immediate requirement for surgery. That is probably what the second opinion will tell you. It is in a weakened condition and for the present competitive dancing is out.  There are a number of varying views as to methodology of the repair procedure. Experimentally, they have been evaluating using a medication produced from small intestine pig mucosa (do a search) to produce regrowth. Curiously, the substance appears to act as a growth stimulant for human tissue. The Veteran's Administration has been using it to promote regrowth of battle-damaged muscle. Contact the manufacturer to see if you can get in a clinical trial.