Ice For Meniscus Tear

A torn meniscus causes pain swelling and stiffness.

Ice for meniscus tear.

Use a cold pack a bag of frozen vegetables or a towel filled with ice cubes for about 15 minutes at a time keeping your knee elevated. Do this every four to six hours the first day or two and then as often as needed. Ice can reduce knee pain and swelling. Treatment for a meniscus tear will depend on its size what kind it is and where it s located within the cartilage.

Conservative treatment such as rest ice and medication is sometimes enough to relieve the pain of a torn meniscus and give the injury time to heal on its own. To heal a meniscus tear try to avoid activity for the first 24 72 hours after your injury. A cold compress or ice pack work best to relieve pain swelling and inflammation for new injuries re injury and during immediate post surgery recovery. When to use cold on a meniscus injury.

Your pt may apply heat to your knee to improve local blood flow and ice may be used to decrease swelling. This can be helpful for reducing swelling. You also might feel a block to knee motion and have trouble extending your knee fully. Treatment may involve resting icing compressing and elevating the knee in addition to wearing a knee brace taking anti inflammatory medications and stretching the knee.

Cold therapy should also be used during the first 24 72 hours of treatment combined with resting your injury. During this time put ice inside a moist towel and put it on your injury for 15 20 minutes every 2 3 hours. Symptoms and signs of a torn meniscus include knee pain swelling a popping sound and difficulty bending the leg. Meniscus tears are a special risk for older athletes since the meniscus weakens with age.

Rice which stands for rest ice compression and elevation is the standard treatment. Ice your knee to reduce pain and swelling. Ice is the next part of the rice method. The patient may find it helpful to apply the ice pack several times a day resting for about 30 to 40 minutes in between applications.

Various types of electrical stimulation may be used during your rehab for a meniscus tear. Do it for 15. More than 40 of people 65 or older have them. The cold will decrease blood flow and swelling while increasing the flow of lymph fluid which carries healing nutrients to the tissue around the injury.

For the first few days after injury ice should be applied every three or four hours for 30 minutes. Applying ice will help minimize the pain and discomfort.