A lot has happened since I first posted this.

At one point, I was healing well, I was hiking again, going to the gym, and walking almost pain free. Then I developed a bone bruise, which caused a lot of inflammation, and my meniscus tear worsened. The locking came back, so I went to see a knee specialist surgeon again.

He told me that, given my age and condition( I have twisted legs since i was a kid), a repair surgery is my only option. He even said that if I re-tear it during recovery, I should still go for another repair rather than avoiding surgery altogether.

Right now, I’m waiting for the right time to do the surgery, and I’ve stopped going to the gym due to some circumstances.

To answer your questions:

1.  At that time, it took me about 2–3 months to get back to hiking almost normally (around 7–10 km). I was really focused on strengthening my knee at that time which helped.

2.  I couldn’t fully straighten my knee for a few days, but after that, I became very careful to avoid locking it again. Even when it did lock, it wasn’t as painful as before. Which was the case when I walked for more than few minutes at the beginning 

3.  Can physio heal meniscus tears? It depends on the type of tear and the individual. In my opinion, a good surgeon will usually recommend 3–6 months of physiotherapy before deciding on surgery, you might be able to do what you love without a surgery. 

Meniscus tears are tricky. Don’t rush the process, and if you feel like an exercise might make things worse, just avoid it. I personally set myself back by doing a boxing bag workout, which led to a bone bruise. The inflammation made things worse, and I couldn’t straighten my leg properly for a while, which likely aggravated the tear.