I am a golf instructor who has right knee pain as I shift my weight when I hit a drive. My family doctor took an X-ray which looked normal. During the past two weeks, my knee has been catching and will actually lock up for several minutes. What is your opinion?

There are two meniscal cartilages in each knee. They are C-shaped wafers of cartilage that act as protective shock absorbers. A tear in the cartilage can be especially painful when twisting, pivoting and squatting. A meniscus tear can enlarge to a point where it will fold on itself and lock into position. Loose bone fragments also can prompt a knee-locking episode. Your normal X-ray should help to rule out bone fragments as a source of your symptoms. However, an X-ray is only one part of the information-gathering process. A thorough history and orthopaedic examination combined with your X-ray will lead to a diagnosis in the majority of cases. A magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) study can assist in confirming the diagnosis, but are not always necessary. Arthroscopic knee surgery should be considered for meniscus tear especially in those individuals experiencing locking. Depending on the location and the
pattern of the meniscus tear, some can be repaired arthroscopically. Meniscus tears that do not fit the criteria for repair are then
arthroscopically trimmed to remove the torn segments of the tear to prevent further tearing and locking symptoms.