Originally Posted by davester

As a 68 year old, I have a torn meniscus (diagnosed about 5 years ago) and moderate to severe arthritis of the knees. At the time of my meniscus diagnosis I was having a lot of difficulty with knee locking, difficulty on stairs, impossible to run without pain, etc. I looked into surgery but for the typical meniscus trimming and cleaning out of the joint followed by physical therapy) the success rate (compared to physical therapy alone) was less than 50% and the downsides (long recovery, risks) were not great. Cortisone shots didn't do anything either. So, I embarked on a quest to find the best physical therapist. After going to and rejecting two (who just gave me generic handouts and exercises) I found one who really wanted to get to the bottom of what was happening with MY knees and developed customized exercises for me. She also said things like "how much are you willing to work on this to achieve the results you want", which motivated me to be much more involved in my own therapy. After a few months I was feeling much better and I can now hike, do trail runs, and bike with zero pain at all. No drugs either.