? about torn miniscus....

You should get to a ortho doc to get this checked out, preferrably one who works on athletes. With that said the knee anatomy is very complicated and the issues you describe could be any number of things. There are several ways the meniscus could be torn or damaged and it's common to have the clicking come and go depending on the type of tear you may have. I'm not a doc, but did go through an ACL replacement last year along with a meniscus repair so I'm purely speaking from my own experience and from what I found while researching my own injury.

People want to be helpful, and that's great, but I don't think it makes sense for us to try to diagnose your problem online.  You need to see an ortho, and he or she will probably have you undergo an MRI.  That should reveal your problem, which could be any number of things.  Suffice it to say that clicking (even intermittent) and pain on stairs and stiffness not directly attributable to very intense activity are all signs that ... you need to see an ortho.

I think that the best advice that is reasonable to give at this point is to find a good ortho, and one who is sensitive to athletes' concerns.  Some of them will assume, unless you tell them otherwise, that your only goal is to be able to get from the car to the front door without falling down.  Make it clear what your goals are. 

thanks for the input.

I am definitely not expecting a 'diagnosis' online....but there is a lot to learned from other peoples' similar experience/knowledge.

I was able to get squeezed in with my GP on Friday morning...and I will be asking for a referral for an Ortho - there is a good Sports Med Clinic at UBC hospital (5 mins from my house).  I have no idea how long I will have to wait to get an appointment or MRI though (I have had 3 MRI's in the past for suspected MS - each time ruled out - and I had to wait months for those).....that's potentially a LONG time to sit and wonder what the actual diagnosis for my knee issues so I thought I would ask here in the meantime to help 'prepare' myself for potentially that diagnosis.

I will definitely let the docs know my goals - to race again next year!!!  I am about to miss my second race this year because of these injuries and it SUCKS!

I hear ya.  I've been coming back from multiple knee surgeries for a LONG time now.  Only in the past month have I approached anything even remotely like what used to be normal for me.  It's a long road.  You have to think of the whole thing as yet another challenge.

Best of luck.  Sometimes the sports docs can get you in to MRI quicker.  I hope so for your sake. 

Mike nailed it on the head.  I've had two knee surgeries, most recently a ACL replacement, MCL and meniscus repair.  That was in 2006 and it has taken me this long to even start to get back to where I was.  My biking is almost there, swimming issues are really with endurance.  My running totally sucks, but the times are coming down slowly.  It's hard work and takes a lot more time than expected, but it will be worth it.  The one other positive for me is that I'm in grad school to become an Orthopedic PA so at least I can talk to my patients from actual experience!

I'm responding having not read any other responses, so keep that in mind.  I have a lot of experience with a torn meniscus, have had it twice, once right now as a matter of fact, same knee both times.  First time I tore it, I felt it when it happened.  I was sprinting and it hurt like h*ll.  Couldn't put weight on that leg the next day.  This time, I don't recall any trauma, but a recent MRI confirmed another tear.  How I know I had a tear is that my knee would 'give out' and lock in a bent position.  Trying to straighten it was extremely painful.  Eventually whatever is in the way moves and I can straighten it.  This can take anywhere from a couple hours to more than a day.

My experience with a torn meniscus is that is actually NOT constantly painful or uncomfortable.  The discomfort and pain associated with this particular trauma is separate from the clickiness or crunchiness you experience.  I have that as well, and that is attributed to chondromalacia patella, which is a wearing away of the cartilage within the knee.  The crunchiness or clicking is actually loose cartilage in the knee.

The only way to diagnose a torn meniscus is with an MRI.  You may know this already, but for a knee MRI you either just go halfway into a large MRI machine, or they may just use an extremity MRI machine.  In the meantime, the treatment for these problems is:  icing of your knee after exercise, do not bend your knee beyond 90 degrees in a weight-bearing position, take an Aleve a couple times a day to help with minor swelling (this should be a short-term treatment, by the way, only until you see the doc) and an overall higher awareness of the position of your knee, especially when bearing weight.

Hope this all helps and your knee feels better whatever the diagnosis.