I. What is meniscus? What is the meniscus for? The semilunar fibrocartilage in the joint space between femur and tibia is called meniscus. It is thick at the edges and is tightly attached to the joint capsule, and thin and free at the center. Each knee has two menisci: the medial meniscus and the lateral meniscus. The meniscus transmits loads on the knee, absorbs stress and shock, improves knee stability, cooperates with knee flexion and extension and rotation, and limits knee hyperflexion or hyperextension. It can also secrete synovial fluid to lubricate and nourish the joint. Why is the meniscus damaged? 1, acute trauma Commonly caused by the knee and meniscus to produce contradictory movement, the meniscus received a torsional force caused by external forces, or in the movement of the meniscus in the knee joint position and stress sudden changes. Such injuries are most often seen in sports injuries, such as tripping during running, landing unsteadily while playing basketball, or kicking a soccer ball in the air. 2, chronic lesions With age, the meniscus gradually degenerates and degenerates as a result of long-term repeated knee activities and friction, or further damage to the meniscus is caused by osteoarthritis of the knee with bone proliferation and degeneration of articular cartilage. 3. Structural deformity The most common structural deformity of the meniscus is the discoid meniscus. Compared with the normal meniscus, the discoid meniscus is not only larger and thicker, with less blood supply in the middle, but also has poor deformation ability and less concentrated stress, and is often combined with abnormalities in the knee joint bones and muscles and ligaments, which makes it more prone to injury. Third, how do I know I have a meniscus injury? 1.Significant pain, swelling and fluid accumulation in the knee joint. 2.Knee pain increases when squatting and standing, running, jumping and other movements. 3.Severe injury will have limp or knee flexion and extension dysfunction. 4, joint interlock: some injured people often feel a “click” when moving the knee joint, the injured knee immediately like something stuck can not straighten on its own, need to use external force or shake the calf and again hear the “click” sound before straightening. How can I read the MRI report on the meniscus injury classification? Generally speaking, degree I (degeneration) and degree II (more severe degeneration) are relatively normal physiological degenerative processes of the body as we age, and do not require any treatment. However, if a meniscus injury of degree III (tear) occurs and conservative treatment is ineffective for 3 months, then minimally invasive arthroscopic surgery is recommended. V. Should I treat my meniscus after an injury? How should it be treated? The edge of the meniscus has a certain blood supply and may repair itself after the injury is fixed with a brace, but if the pain of the other parts of the meniscus rupture persists for more than three months, it means that it cannot repair and heal by itself, so if you need to improve the quality of life, you need active surgery. Meniscus surgery is now basically arthroscopic knee surgery. The meniscus can be repaired by arthroscopic suturing or partial removal of the meniscus to relieve pain, reduce or delay the onset of long-term knee degeneration, and better restore the function of the knee joint. In summary, a healthy meniscus is important for our normal sports and daily work life. We hope that this article will help readers understand more about meniscal injuries and pay attention to them, strengthen self-protection in daily sports, focus on strengthening the muscles around the knee, and make sure to seek medical attention and treatment in a timely manner when injuries occur.