Each of us has a pair of small cartilage blocks in the knee cavity that line the joint surface of the femur and tibia, increasing the contact area of the joint and making it more stable and flexible. Without them, the joint will become unstable and the force on the joint surface will become very uneven. The articular cartilage will wear out faster in the parts that are under stress, while the articular cartilage will shrink in the parts that are under stress, and soon the joint space will become narrower and bone spurs will appear at the edges of the joint. The knee will soon be unusable. The meniscus is so important that we need to protect it. Unfortunately, the meniscus is particularly vulnerable to injury because they are ground in and out of the joint between the femoral condyle and the tibial plateau every day, and sometimes it’s not just the grinding and pressing that is unbearable. The problem is that the meniscus is not only easily injured, but also damaged and not easily repaired! Because the meniscus has very little blood supply, in professional terms the blood circulation is very poor, after the meniscus is broken the nutrients used to repair it are not supplied, plus the joint is still in constant motion, the meniscus injury site has been in a state of separation, so the meniscus injury is impossible to heal on its own, must be treated in time to heal. A ruptured meniscus not only fails to function normally in the knee joint, but also hinders the normal activities of the knee joint and accelerates the wear and tear of the joint, with clinical manifestations such as joint pain, popping in the joint, and interlocking of the joint. A broken meniscus in the joint will also be like sand in the eye, and the meniscus that has become unsmooth will rub and damage the cartilage of the joint surface, knowing that once our joint surface cartilage is damaged it is very difficult to regenerate! Therefore, if the meniscus is not treated in time, it is not only a problem of the meniscus, but also a problem of the articular cartilage, which is a problem of the whole knee joint! You may not believe this, but it’s true! It’s like a small screw that can affect a large aircraft or even the space shuttle! See here, you do not have to be afraid, there are doctors! In the old days, when the meniscus was broken, the doctors would cut it all out, and they would compete to see who could remove the meniscus cleanly and completely. Now it is different, if the meniscus is broken, go to the doctor early, the doctor will sew up the ruptured meniscus, and then rest for about a month, the meniscus will heal, so that a small part of our body will be saved, this operation is called meniscus suture. After all, the meniscus is a part of our body and we should do everything we can to preserve it, never remove it easily, especially not all of it! Of course, if the meniscus rupture is close to the joint cavity (doctors call it the free edge), there is no blood circulation inside the meniscus at all, so even if it is sutured, it will not heal, so we have to cut off the ruptured part, also called partial meniscectomy. There is another situation where meniscus suturing cannot be done, and that is when the injury has taken too long and the meniscus rupture site is not neat and regular and cannot be repaired, so it can only be removed, leaving as much of the normal meniscus as possible! Unfortunately, this is actually the most common reason why meniscus cannot be repaired in clinical practice. Because of the lack of blood supply to the meniscus and the lack of innervation, early meniscal injuries are painless and most patients simply feel discomfort in the joint, so they do not seek medical attention, thus losing the opportunity for early treatment. After reading this article, you know that meniscus injury should be treated early so that you can keep your meniscus.