Question: I have received advice from several other physicians here on this topic recently, and I would like to seek one additional opinion. I was diagnosed several weeks ago with a tear of the posterior root of the left lateral meniscus. My symptoms began in early January with mild tightness, but I did not begin experiencing pain until late February. For the last few years, I have run 6-8 miles per day, but I had to stop running in late February due to knee pain. I have uploaded a copy of my MRI scans to my Dropbox account, which is linked below:

https://www.dropbox.com/s/2z60sgg5nos50a8/Knee%20MRI%20Complete.zip?dl=0

Based on my MRI scans, how bad does the root tear look? Is it only a partial tear of a few millimeters, or is it much bigger? Is it likely to heal on its own, or will it likely require surgical intervention? Also, does it appear to be in the red zone (healing zone) or white zone (non-healing zone) of the meniscus?

Thank you...

Dr. XXXXXXX thanks for answering. In your opinion, do you believe that the tear is approx. 4-5 mm in length? Also, is the entire meniscal root generally considered to be vascularized?

Dr. XXXXXXX do you know how wide my entire posterior meniscal root at the attachment is? The reason I ask is because I am curious as to how much of the root remains attached to the tibia. (For example, if the entire root is 12 mm in width, and the tear is 7-8 mm long, then that would leave 4-5 mm of root still attached.)

Dr. Buhshan, thanks for the advice. In your estimation., how long do you think the injury should take to heal? My pain first began in late February, but I still have some pain, so I was wondering if it should have been healed by now or if it still needs a few weeks to heal.