I had pain walking & running in the left knee at about your age. Had two meniscus tears fixed. After about 15yrs, started having pain again and found out from the orthopedic doc that it's arthritis in the knee now. Half the cartilage is now gone in that knee. Signs of arthritis 10-15years after the meniscus repair is apparently common. No complaints--I got 15 extra years of pain free use from it. I am at the "manage pain" point right now. I got a cortisone shot 2yrs ago that helped with the initial pain for a couple months. I cut back on my running (still hiking w/pack) and that seems to have helped as the pain has not resumed (yet). Ultimately, I will wear this knee out and and at some point the pain will push me into the total replacement--and that seems to be a pretty straightforward solution--when the time comes.
