I had MRI on knee and it came back with lateral meniscus tears and medial meniscus tears.Also signs of mild to moderate irregular degenerative thinning of the patellofemoral hyaline cartilage is present. Osteoarthritis degeneration of both menisci -lateral and medial. Prior to MRI I had swelling, not able to straighten knee and not able to walk without a cane or limping. Swelling has minimized over a relative short period (1-2 days). More movement but still very painful and hard to sleep. Doctor advised that surgery would possibly increase rate of arthritis and that best course would be cortisone shots. I am 50 years old and very active, enjoying exercise workouts. Would surgery not be the answer to clean up the tears and the meniscal tearing? does the cortisone shots not soften or weaken the cartilage?