How Much Pain -Knees

ive been having knees issues for a little over a month. Starting pt Wednesday …I’ve also been reading everything I can find about this and others experiences.

I initially started off with excruciating pain, then varying degrees…some days I have constant aching and episodes of locking. I always feel the knee and depending what I do depends on how much I feel it. I suspect I have a minor meniscus tear because of the locking but ortho thought strain because of my pain tolerance,

So, I’m curious about how bad your pain was prior to surgery? I feel like I’m getting better but still have the knee locking issue. Kind of wondering how bad off people are when they go down the surgery path.