Thanks for the reply. I saw the orthopod who specializes in sports medicine and he didn't read the radiologists report but did read the mri. He thinks the medial meniscus tear is small and he is more concerned about the extensive arthritis on the lateral side.
I have a new dilemma... the radiology report says the lateral meniscus looks intact... the ortho thinks the lateral meniscus is torn. Since that meniscus was sutured 18 years ago and the metal fragments make the lateral side hard to see on MRI I'm wondering who is right?
We're going to shoot some cortisone in there and I got a new hinged brace. I'm going to ski about 8 days next month on it and see how it feels. We'll make the decisions about where the pain is coming from then.
Next actions..... TBD
I always tell patients with a meniscus injury, its not the meniscectomy that causes post-traumatic arthritis, its the injury the meniscus. There really is no way to tell whether you are worse off leaving the tear in place and living with it, or having it removed. However, you are less likely to have pain if you have it treated.