Hi, healing of a meniscus depends on the location, the size, the pattern and the chronicity, however, in general, the healing of a meniscus tear is typically not good.
Hence it depends on your symptoms, if you only have mild ache with no swelling on prolonged running, then I will suggest conservative treatment with muscle strengthening and you might be able to return to running, although you might have to cut down the distance.
However, if you tend to have recurrent swelling after each run, it means that your knee is constantly inflammed and irritated by the meniscus tear, it's not recommended to run through the pain and you should seek treatment from an Orthopaedic Surgeon. We will need a MRI scan to determine the location, the size and the pattern of the tear.
Generally, small, simple and "fresh" tear might be amenable to repair. But those big, complex and chronic tear, the damages are beyond repair and we might have to trim and smoothen it for you.
In those huge "bucket handle" meniscus tear, the damaged meniscus fragments may get dislodged and jammed in between the knee and cause "locking". Then you might require emergency surgery to remove the dislodged fragments.
Hope it alleviate some of your concerns.
Cheers,
Dr. Henry Chan
