I tore my meniscus in my right knee three years ago, and after surgery, seems to be OK now. In 87' I tore two ligaments in my left knee, major surgery and it held up till last year. Severe knee pain. My surgeon (the one who fixed my meniscus) said to walk as little as possible and to ride as much as possible with a good brace. I got the brace and I look like a football player with that thing on. At first I didn't wear it and my pain continued. then, started wearing it and low and behold, it stopped hurting and I'm up to 21 miles now. The brace made all the difference. I urge you to look into that, they do make them for meniscus tears. I have also found some really cool ones that are made for motorcycle dirt bike racers and they look like really cool body armor, for the knee. Since I ride gravel 99% of the time, I may get one of those. But seriously, look into the correct knee brace for your injury. I would not be riding without one. I hope you find a solution. Knee pain sucks and it will get you down.