Conditions + Treatments
Meniscus Tear
Growing up in New York City, I fell in love with boxing and was active in the sport through my teens. In my 20’s, I moved to Alabama and have called this great state home for 40+ years. Fortunately, I’ve remained very active during my adult life, playing competitive sports and experiencing the positive benefits and satisfaction of living a healthy lifestyle.
Both basketball and racquetball have been my go-to-sports. For nearly 40 years, I’ve been a staple on the basketball court at my local YMCA. I played basketball 4 days per week in my 20’s-40’s, but cut back to 2 days per week in my 50’s. For the last 25 years I have also played racquetball on a weekly basis.
Like all athletes, if you play long enough, you’re going to experience the strains, sprains, pulls and occasional, more severe injuries. The thousands of basketball and racquetball games were no different for me. As I got older, the competition got younger and I’d find myself guarding a guy 10, 15, 30 years younger than me. I’m a competitive guy and I’ve also gone 100%, regardless of the age of the competition.
Over the years, my knees have taken the brunt of my more significant injuries. I’ve gotten to know my meniscus’ very well. Nearly 20 years ago, I had my first knee surgery – tore the meniscus in my right knee. I was in my 40’s at the time, had the surgery, did some rehab and was back on the court going 100% very quickly.
I’ve torn my meniscus two more times since then. Dr. Sam Goldstein performed both surgeries. About 11 years ago, I tore the meniscus in my left knee and two years later, re-tore the meniscus in my right knee (the same knee from my first surgery 20+ years ago).
Fortunately, both surgery recoveries went very well. I didn’t have any pain/soreness, went to my PT rehab sessions and continued rehabbing on my own – building up my quads and regaining my strength. I was back to 100% less than a month after both surgeries.
During my office visits and surgeries, I was always very impressed with Dr. Goldstein. He always had a positive, down-to-Earth demeanor and had a very reassuring nature. Dr. Goldstein always spent plenty of time with me, never felt rushed, and I was 100% comfortable with the decisions he made regarding my health. Dr. Goldstein and his team are first class and I highly recommend to anyone who has a sports injury.
