Medial ligament tear
Has anyone done this before?
what treatment were you given?
How long until you could ride?
The doctor was useless and misdiagnosed the injury. said it was an impact injury and bruising and that if I iced it id be able to play football within 7days.
Physio says grade two medial tear and that I am out for 4-6 weeks. I get an MRI tmrw to confirm this 100%.
Treatment should be based on the grade of the tear, I am sure the physio will be able to help you out with recovery if it is grade 2. Unfortunately it is too late to tell you to not bother going to the doctor :(
Take care of yourself and I am sure you will be back on your board in no time 
MCL in your knee? I have done MCL + ACL before playing soccer. You just need to listen to the physio, seek out a good specialist if required and do what they recommend as much to the letter as possible.
I did and my surgery and rehab went great and my knee is great, in contrast my friend didn’t. He went back to soccer early and blew out the same knee even worse. If you follow professional advice you will be back safely and quickly, Good luck with the injury and hopefully physio and rest will be all you need, most MCL injuries don’t require surgery.
I have no idea why people go to doctors for injuries, ever - unless it is to emergency because it is an emergency!
I have no idea why people go to doctors for injuries, ever - unless it is to emergency because it is an emergency!
I agree!
My chiro is pretty much my primary carer for my body (bones, muscles, ligaments etc) obviously not colds and flu like stuff!
Crackers, I blew my medial type 2 tear doing a floater whilst surfing a few years ago. I went surfing the next weekend again before I knew exactly what I had done wearing a brace, probably not the best idea as after 3-4 waves I realised it just wasn’t working. I went to the physio as per above suggestions and that helped out a fair bit. In regards to recovery time I really can’t remember too much about it but I did wear a pretty decent brace similar to this one for quite a few weeks afterwards.
I had to wear it everyday as at the time I was doing a plumbing apprenticeship and was on my feet and working all day everyday, not sure if this did or didn’t help.
I was very diligent with the exercises that I was given to do, as a result the knee that I tore is far better than the supposed good one, my good one makes all kinds of cracks and creaking sounds when I squat!
Agree with above.
Unfortunately grade II can often hurt more than grade III which can sometimes hinder the recovery if someone’s got a big pain barrier. Best advice is to follow what your physio wants you to do, be really diligent with your rehab at home and stick with it. Time frames are often very individual but the 4-6 week mark is a rough guestamite for most grade IIs (sometimes less) so long as nothing else is complicating.
As also mentioned surgery is very rare for the MCL and LCL even with complete tears. Its just one of those things that they seem to heal just as well if left alone vs surgically repaired. The ACL is a different story.
So plenty of RICE, start your static quadricep contractions straight away with varying angles ie leg straight contract and hold for 5 sec then rest n repeat 10 times. Then also do with the knee at 30*, 60* (use a rolled towel under the knee for this if helps) and then 90*. Your physio will give you a complete run down.
Chin up. You’ll be back on your board before you know it. 
Apart from everything else (missing out on soccer, which he earns money from) and general weekend trips, its a big bummer cos it looks like he won’t be able to ride on pirate weekend! :-(
its a big bummer cos it looks like he won’t be able to ride on pirate weekend! :-(
This was my first thought when i read his story :-(
How long ago did it happen?
Acute management involves resting and ice.
This aim of acute management is to reduce the inflammatory process and manage pain!
You could also take anti-inflammatory meds if needed.
Once swelling has subsided, physiotherapy will help to get back your range of motion in your knee (I’m assuming you have some stiffness) with manual techniques and specific exercises. Other physio modalities such as ultra sound can also be used to promote healing.
Once you have full range, it’s all about strengthening strengthening strengthening!!
Your physio will prescribe specific strengthening exercises as well as proprioception exercises (balance type exercises)
Once you return back to football, you can tape your knee to support your MCL and provide extra stability.
My main adivce would be not to go back early 
Let us know the exact result of the MRI, as that shapes the treatment protocol specifically.
Lucky you havnt ruptured your ACL (and medial cartilage)- the rehab is long and not fun after surgery. I’ve done that 3 times myself! Ahh!
All the best, Becky.
already done his ACL and had surgery once…not sure if its the same knee though!
Thanks for all the advice. I had the MRI this afternoon and the physio gets it tmrw, so ill go in at 5 and find out a bit more.
I fell asleep in the MRI…ahahahah.
I hurt my knee last sunday, I had it elevated and ice on it within 20mins. I had it on the dashboard with ice on it the whole trip home as well, the next day I did the same, the doctor saw me that day and said ‘its not a tear because it isn’t very swollen. it must be an impact injury’. I told him that I hadn’t hit my knee on anything but he was adamant. Next day I couldn’t keep it elevated much as I was doing work at a desk and it doubled in size. I went to the physio that night and he said he was 90% sure it was a grade two tear of the medial…...so I asked for an MRI because I was getting two different opinions. He put me in a full leg brace as well and told me it would be 4-6weeks before it was better. It is aching and really stiff after a week in the brace though. The battle of the Doc v The physio will be decided tmrw when the scans come in 
Ill look into getting one of those braces NBG. Do suppose you remember how much they cost(ish)?
I havent had my ACL done cords….that was troutface and The ministry for reliability no2. I had an arthroscopy and the meniscus trimmed/slight tear in the medial ligament (about 8years ago) and ive never had a problem with it since.
start your static quadricep contractions straight away with varying angles ie leg straight contract and hold for 5 sec then rest n repeat 10 times. Then also do with the knee at 30*, 60* (use a rolled towel under the knee for this if helps) and then 90*. Your physio will give you a complete run down.
I have no idea what that is but it sounds like I will need to be asking my physio about that!
Chin up. You’ll be back on your board before you know it.
yeh thats the plan. fairly disappointed that I can’t ride the pirate day ive been organising, but oh well. Heckling from the side of jumps will have to make up for it!
How long ago did it happen?
Acute management involves resting and ice.
This aim of acute management is to reduce the inflammatory process and manage pain!
You could also take anti-inflammatory meds if needed.
Once swelling has subsided, physiotherapy will help to get back your range of motion in your knee (I’m assuming you have some stiffness) with manual techniques and specific exercises. Other physio modalities such as ultra sound can also be used to promote healing.
Once you have full range, it’s all about strengthening strengthening strengthening!!
Your physio will prescribe specific strengthening exercises as well as proprioception exercises (balance type exercises)
Once you return back to football, you can tape your knee to support your MCL and provide extra stability.
My main adivce would be not to go back early
Let us know the exact result of the MRI, as that shapes the treatment protocol specifically.
Lucky you havnt ruptured your ACL (and medial cartilage)- the rehab is long and not fun after surgery. I’ve done that 3 times myself! Ahh!
All the best, Becky.
I did it 8days ago. I followed the whole RICE thing the five days or so. how long should one Ice the injury for? it is still really sore. the physio has done some ultrasound on it and one really light session on an excercise bike (that didn’t feel like a good idea and I was really tentative). I will get the exact result of the MRI tmrw…maybe even get some pics.
thanks for the help
As long as it is inflammed/sore you should ice it. It wont do any harm!
Ha I am funny - just remember the Acronym H.A.R.M
Heat, Alcohol, Running, and Massage
After an injury you should do no H.A.R.M
As long as it is inflammed/sore you should ice it. It wont do any harm!
Ha I am funny - just remember the Acronym H.A.R.M
Heat, Alcohol, Running, and Massage
After an injury you should do no H.A.R.M
ok fair enough, ill keep icing it and put the compression bandage back on.
it just seemed that after a week, id want the blood flow starting to rip through and get the repair process happening again. too soon?