I had a tear sometime in the 90s, and then not surgery until the 2000s, the good old cut your kneecap in half kind. The doctor I saw once a year prior seemed t

I had a tear sometime in the 90s, and then not surgery until the 2000s, the good old cut your kneecap in half kind. The doctor I saw once a year prior seemed to imply this. He implored me to do specific weight exercises, and claimed if I did it right 'you wont even need that surgery.' So it must have been at least a working theory for a while?