What is a mild degeneration within the posterior horn of the medial meniscus?!
Question: mild degeneration is the type of pathology. posterior horn is the location. medial meniscus is the structure. the guy above did a good job explaining what the meniscus is. but that's just defining the anatomy. so the problem lies in the inside of the knee, towards the backside. again, mild degeneration is not the same as a tear, it is what it is...mild changes. at this point, you can live with it. symptoms can go come and go, but since this is a mechanical problem, the meniscus is avascular (doesn't have blood supply) so it wont' heal on it's on. if anything, expect arthritis to occur. possibly modify your daily activities, limiting impaction in the knee. a lot of this stuff is just "getting old". wear and tear on the knee.
Answers: mild degeneration is the type of pathology. posterior horn is the location. medial meniscus is the structure. the guy above did a good job explaining what the meniscus is. but that's just defining the anatomy. so the problem lies in the inside of the knee, towards the backside. again, mild degeneration is not the same as a tear, it is what it is...mild changes. at this point, you can live with it. symptoms can go come and go, but since this is a mechanical problem, the meniscus is avascular (doesn't have blood supply) so it wont' heal on it's on. if anything, expect arthritis to occur. possibly modify your daily activities, limiting impaction in the knee. a lot of this stuff is just "getting old". wear and tear on the knee.
Your perceived mental condition? Or is it my loss of remembering names with faces?
The femur (thigh bone) ends in what looks like two small balls next to each other. The top of the tibia (the main leg bone) ends in a fairly flat surface (called the "tibial plateau"). Imagine two tennis balls on a dinner plate.
If you look at the space between the edges of the balls and the plates you'll see that they're triangular in vertical cross-section and form two circles on the plate. The menisci are two semi-circular pieces of cartilage that fill that space, distributing the weight of the femur evenly over the surface of the tibial plateau. The center of these circles of cartilage are thin and can tear or break down fairly easily.
"Mild degeneration" implies that there some thinning or breakdown of the meniscus but probably not enough to need surgery.
Hope this helps.