I'm a 51 and just tore my left miniscus for the 2nd time 9 days ago.
I was bending into my van trying to hang up some garments when the knee gave out, twisting and hyperextending it. There was a painful sudden inaudible pop and I fell into the van yelling in pain. Although the initial pain was briefly quite severe, I was able to immediately walk it off and put a tight foam knee sleeve on it, take a couple of ibuprofins and head to the State Fair. It felt sore but not too bad for a few days, but now it seems to be somewhat worse, a bit tight, feels weak, and it aches some at night. There is still a full range of mobility and there's not much swelling or visible bruising. It hurts plenty locally when I tap it from the front to the outside, low on the knee. There is also some minor pain on the opposite side, the inside-rear, low on the knee.


The first injury was degenerative in nature and surgically trimmed about 5 years ago.
It started with a very serious and untreated lumbar injury @ age 12. We had 8 kids in the family, we were uninsured and there wasn't money for doctors, xrays and PT. My folks blew it off, and still won't go there.
The degeneration was caused by a duckfoot gait, esp. on the left, which came from chronic nerve disruption due to the resulting persistent hip rotation, a vertabral spur, slight lower body atrophy caused by insufficient physical rehab and the lack of chiropractic care for 4 decades.
The wear was further aggravated by a very large and recurring plantar's wart on the left big toe that forced me to learn to unconsciously walk on the outside of my left foot for 10-15 years.

A sidenote: In retrospect it is obvious that the lack of immediate care was the cause of my 14,000 day backache. At the time I was fairly industrious and made money shovelling sidewalks, delivering papers and mowing lawns. Certainly, I could've spent that money to see a doctor rather than for candy, bicycles and school stuff. The nerve impingement has led to fatigue, balance issues, leg pain to the ankles, thigh numness, parastesia (RLS) and occasional sexual incapacity.


The first surgery was paid largely by insurance that I briefly had with my employer @ HP. The insurance was eliminated to bolster stock prices shortly thereafter. Since then the jobs were sent to India and 140 of us were toasted overnight. Invent.

Here's the crux of my situation. How does one deal with a torn miniscus permantly? Regardless of the severity of this latest injury, I have to live with it for the rest of my life. I'm not looking for a way to prop up and wait for a surgery because I'm not insured and not flush enough for another $20,000 surgery and rehab. My health has been insured thrice, for a total of about 4 of my 52 years. Certainly with 100 million uninsured or under-insured Americans today, there are others out there in my boat.

Thanks, Jay