After the age of 40, meniscus injuries can arise as a result of a degenerative process due to continuous stress exerted on the knee – explains Dr. Enrico Arnaldi, Head of Arthroscopic and Knee Reconstructive Orthopedics at Humanitas. – This can happen to those people who practice sport and physical activity, which can be arduous for the knee, but also to those people who work long hours in a crouched position.
Although lower in intensity, “micro-traumas” of the meniscus can also occur in older people, by performing simple daily movements, such as climbing up or down the stairs or standing up from a chair or the couch. In case of trauma, or “micro-trauma”, you feel a twinge, a sharp noise inside the knee, either in the internal or external part, and a breakdown that causes functional impotence. However, the knee block which makes you feel like something in the joint is out of place that impedes it from moving, occurs in the following days after the trauma. In meniscal degeneration, meniscectomy is not indicated because it could accelerate the arthrosic process, as shown by scientific data. Therefore, we often resort to infiltration of hyaluronic acid and lifestyle interventions in order to reduce any excess weight, limit the levels of physical activity or change the type of sport with the aim not to harm the knee any further.
