The knee is a complex joint which makes it highly prone to an injury. The medial collateral ligament (MCL) runs along the inner edge of the knee and connects the thighbone to the shinbone.
Its main purpose is to stabilize the knee joint and assist in any form of movement like walking and running. When hit directly, the MCL can strain or tear causing an injury.
The damage is caused when the outer knee is hit directly while playing a contact sport like football, hockey etc. The MCL stretches too far out causing a strain/tear. This can also happen when the knee is suddenly pushed to the side or bends out too far. The knee is often slightly flexed at the time of an injury.
The damage caused leads to the knee over-extending or to bend in a direction that it is not supposed to making the joint unstable. This causes pain.
MCL when injured hurts. Some of the common symptoms to determine the injury include:
The best thing to do is to rest it immediately after an injury. Icing the swollen knee helps in bringing down the swelling and pain.
Once the swelling and pain go away, start rehabilitation exercises to ensure that the muscles don’t get stiff and get stronger to minimize the risk of another injury.
Before starting any rehab, it is advisable to get an expert opinion on the injury. These exercises, help in regaining muscle strength and helps an athlete get back to the field.
These are a few exercises that will help in regaining strength in the knee. The focus of rehabilitation should be to ensure that the muscle activation is happening. Choosing an exercise is secondary. If you are feeling the correct muscles working, you will be back to your sport in no time.
This website uses cookies.