In this video, I'm going to answer two of the most common questions people ask us,
which is, one, “Do I need surgery for my MCL tear or sprain?” And second, “How do
I know when my MCL is actually healed, that I can play sports again?”
For those of you who don't know me, my name is Maryke. I'm one of the physiotherapists from sports-injury-physio.com,
where you can get online physiotherapy assessment as well as treatment of
your injuries. Have a look at the Description of this video if you want a link to our website.
Do you require surgery if you've had an MCL tear or strain? The good news is, no. The research
shows that even Grade 3 tears, where the whole ligament is torn, can heal really well if you
immobilise it in a brace for six weeks. Now, this is not a brace that doesn't allow any movement;
it's important to actually have some movement – it should just support the MCL. And I've made a
whole video about what type of braces are the best and what to look out for in that. So, have a look
at the Description of this video if you want more info about that. The second thing that's important
is, you have to do the correct rehab exercises to strengthen your leg muscles, strengthen the
ligaments, and also develop the control in your leg. There are some occasions where surgery may
be required, and one of them is, for instance, if the … when you tore the MCL, you also pulled
a small piece of bone out, and the part of the muscle … of the hamstring has now moved in between
the ligaments and the bone, and now they can't grow together. So, there are some cases where
your surgeon may say, "Uh, you actually do need surgery", but the vast majority of people will get away
without surgery. How do you know that your MCL has actually healed? Now, there are two things we're gonna ...
two concepts we're going to talk about. One is about, has it healed? And the second is, is
it actually strong enough for your sport? Because that's important as well. So, to know if it's
healed is, you can check, have I got full range of motion in my knee? So, can I bend it all
the way up, all the way straight, without any pain or discomfort? Second, when somebody tries to do
that gap test on my knee by pushing in, trying to gap it on the inside, is that pain-free and is it stable? If
you answer yes to both of those, your ligament has very likely healed. But now, it doesn't mean that
it's strong enough for your sport. So, let's think about this. If you're somebody who just walks,
your ligament doesn't get that much force through it. But if you're somebody who plays a sport like
soccer or football, you've got to be able to change direction, so that MCL is going to have
to withstand quite high forces. Now, the only way that you can get it strong enough for your
sport is to go through a step-by-step programme of slowly building that strength. So, you'll
typically start with your easy exercises that your physio prescribed in the first few weeks – really
just range-of-motion and stuff. And then, as you get stronger, you'll start doing like squats, and
you'll start then adding into different direction lunges, for instance, adding some weight. But
eventually you need to build up to jogging in straight lines, changing direction slowly.
Once you can do that, you start adding speed to it, because that increases the forces on it. So,
you can see it's a slow process, and there's no one moment, now you're ready for it. It's about,
what have I done in the last couple of weeks determines how strong I am at this point, and what
I should be doing in the next couple of weeks. So, your physio will be able to tell you when you're
safe to go back to sport, but it's important to go through that process. To give you an
idea of timelines: A very minor MCL sprain usually takes about four weeks, maybe six weeks
to fully rehabilitate. A medium one about 6 to 12 weeks, and a complete tear usually about 12
weeks or longer to get back to full sport. Now, remember, if you want more information about that,
I've made other videos about the braces and treatment options for it. So, have a look at
the links in the Description of this video if you want to watch those. Brilliant! Hope you found
that useful. And remember, if you need more help with an injury, you're welcome to consult one of
the team via video call – link to the website in the Description of this video. Take care!