MCL injury – 2nd degree
I am a 40 yo weekend warrior who began playing soccer again after a 10 year layoff. I had been playing for 6 months solid without incident and then I had someone slide tackle me as I was striking the ball with the inside of my foot. I am diagnosed with a second degree MCL injury. I was able to walk after the incident, but my knee was swollen for about 1 week and there was surface tenderness as well. I am now 3 weeks post-trauma and there is still slight swelling, but I am finally able to walk up and down short stairs with little pain. I am now able to swim at this point, but not able to bend my knee and push off of the wall. I am able to stiffen and straighten my entire leg without any pain at all. I am looking for opinions as to what I should be doing in the way of therapy at this point or is it too early to get aggressive? I am anxious to start ROM exercises, but I am worried about whether or not I will do more damage than good. I read somewhere that said I should do very little rehab for the first 6 weeks. Is this right?
5 comments
M Simms
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M Simms
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Marty
well I my self just had a second degree MCL injury playing soccer. I went to clear the ball as someone took a hard shot.. It was indor so there was no give. I walked and all but I went to an ortho doctor in houston just to make sure I didn’t damage my ACL. This guy is good, he has treated Astronouts and people like that. He said that the best way to recover is to stay off it for 4 weeks. this mean cruthes and all. He gave me a range of motion brace and asked me to put little or no weight on that leg. When you are ready practice bending your knee without the brace. Then after about 5 or 6 weeks you can move over to a stationary bike. then after that you can start walking(recreational) and eventually jogging. I suggest that you take it easy, better safe than sorryMarty
jason
I have torn my MCL three times. Twice on my right and once on my left knee. Everytime the docs recomended no surgery and said that it was a little strange that I did not injure the ACL at all. In Septermber of 2011 I had my first 3rd degree MCL tear on my right knee playing college rugby. In I rehabbed it after two months and played the end of the season three months later with no injuries. In July of 2012 I was wakeboarding and hit a flip, landed on the board, and I tore the same MCL again with a 3rd degree tear. My suggestions to you is to take it slow. My knee is still loose from those two tears and it still gives me problems to date.
M Simms
Thanks Jason….but what did you specifically do during your rehab? Weights? Band exercises? Whirlpools? Ice? Stretching ?2 months sounds short….one doc recommended no less than 3 months for me….and I’m at 2nd degree.