I have a suspected medial meniscus tear. My ROM is limited to near full extension, maybe 5 degrees short of complete lockout, and limited flexion to around 80 degrees. MRI is on Thursday.

My understanding is when it comes to meniscus tears, the worst-case scenario is a bucket handle tear that has flipped and is obstructing the joint.

I have also seen a lot of evidence online that many meniscus tears, even bucket handles, can be treated non-surgically with a robust rehab program.

My QUESTION is, if a bucket handle tear is flipped and obstructing the knee from flexing/extending to full normal ROM, how is it even physically possible that any amount of rehab could ever fix this? No matter how strong your knee is, if the cartilage is a physical impediment to full ROM, like a small marble in the joint of a nut cracker (first analogy that comes to mind), I do not see how one could ever have full ROM or normal knee functionality without surgically removing the obstructing part of the meniscus.

Am I missing something, and/or has anyone here ever treated their bucket handle tear nonsurgically?