What are the causes of meniscal tears?

The causes of meniscal tears could be either due to trauma or due to wear and tear or part of the aging process. Trauma, they happen when they play sports such as football, rugby, any sport that involves a twisting, injury or crunching to the joint itself, it can lead to a meniscal tear. These are usually acute tears and depending on the location, the size and where they are and they can be managed either by treating them conservatively or they can need to have surgery in the form of chemo surgery. The age-related wear and tear of the meniscus or what is known as degenerative meniscal tear is part of the wear and tear. This is usually a precursor to the development of osteoarthritis when the meniscus starts to degenerate or break down in the knee and that's part of the aging process. So this is very important to differentiate between an acute meniscal tear late to trauma or injury and a chronic degenerative meniscal tear because the management is different. The symptoms of meniscal tears are usually associated with locking, for example, where you are unable to straighten or bend the knee. There may be symptoms of tenderness along the joint line where you feel the joint and it's painful, especially on the inner aspect of the knee. This can be associated with clicking, feeling that the knee will give way or being unstable or that it's about to pop out, the swelling, the development of swelling, or what we call the fusion in the knee can also be a manifestation of meniscal tears.