medial meniscus tear

[bet643]

I was told by my orthopedic Surgeon that I may have a medial meniscus tear but need an MRI to confirm. I was told that the MRI would cost me around $3500.  Is there another way of doing this? Why couldn't he just scope me, find the problem and repair it? Other than that, I  have to have a costly MRI and surgery which he would scope me anyways. Also, is there something other than cortizone that can be injected into the knee for some quick relief? I had a injection twice, and it did nothing.The pain is getting worse and I cannot sit with my knee bent for any length of time. Car rides are impossible and can no longer drive, and I hardly sleep because the pain is that bad. Whenever I sit, I have a hard time standing and can't straighten my leg without screaming from the pain, not to mention the popping sound coming from my knee also. I have been unable to excercise because of it, I tried getting on my stepper and end up falling off of it because of the stabbing pain in my knee. What am I suppose to do?

[sara_eagle]

Sorry I didn't post back sooner, I didn't get a message that you responded.  What ended up happeneing with your knee?  Did your ortho ever call you back?  If you are still dealing with this, you could always just go to the office in order to speak to the nurse.  If the Dr. finds out that you have called requesting to speak with him and he wasn't given the msg, odds are he isn't going to be very happy!

[bet643]

Thanks for responding. However, I did ask them and one of his assistants said that they would have him call me and he never did. I called twice and got nowhere.I'm thinking that he doesn't want to go that route? I think that I may have to get another Ortho since the calls are not being returned. His employee's are not very helpful and I don't even think they gave him the message. I'll just have to suffer in silence until I find myself one that is willing to listen. I guess it's back to the calling my insurance co. for a list of doctors in the network. Thought I had one, guess I was wrong. But I do thank you for your input.  Bet

[sara_eagle]

If it's a meniscal tear, cortisone isn't going to give you any relief because it's a 'mechanical' pain and not inflammation.  You could ask your surgeon if he would be willing to just scope it without the MRI.  The ortho that I used to work for would do it all the time if a patient preferred to go that route.  It's worth giving his nurse a call to talk with her about it and go from there.   Good luck!