"I don't recommend surgery. And, I'm a surgeon, I like doing surgery."

It's a torn meniscus. If it bothers me come in for a cortisone shot. MRI confirms that the ACL & PCL are undamaged. PT prescribed for the chondromalacia (arthritis under the kneecap). I do have some cartilage there but not much.

I have a slightly torn one myself - sometimes the "flap" gets out of place but by now I know how to mess with my knee to get it so it goes back in. Good to hear the P/ACL are all good- heh I have a partially ruptured ACL in my left knee but it does not bother me that much.

... good luck with it and keep up your leg curls and presses!

A lot depends on what kind of tear it it. If it's a bucket handle tear, you run the risk of having it fold upon itself whenever you catch air, and then the knee could collapse, potentially causing damage to the ligaments.

That's what happened to me a long long time ago -- but I had already detached my ACL in the incident which caused the bucket handle tear. I just didn't know that for three years.

I'd get a second opinion.

Having your knee scoped is no big deal. I walked out of the day surgery center about an hour after recovering from the anesthesia. No pain. No swelling. I was fully mobile almost immediately.

I've had no ACL in my left knee since 1992, and wear a brace. The knee is fully functional. My only concession to the ACL is that I don't do any jumps.

Good luck with it, whatever you decide.

No going down stairs for you for the foreseeable future, eh?

I can go down stairs just fine and with no discomfort. I am not going to run downhill, perhaps I could but given the damage I have it seems wise to seems wise to try to stretch out the lifetime of the joint by not doing those things that are known to shorten the joint life.

You are lucky bro, go buy a lotto ticket.