An MCL injury is a sprain or tear to the medial collateral ligament. The MCL is a band of tissue on the inside of your knee. It connects your thigh bone to the bone of your lower leg. The MCL keeps the knee from bending inward.

An MCL sprain is an injury to the medial collateral ligament of the knee. A sprain defines that it’s a ligament, and it’s a stretching injury to ligaments.Looking on a model of the knee, again, we’ve got the kneecap, your thighbone, your shinbone. This is the medial side of the knee and the lateral side of the knee. The medial collateral ligament is this structure that runs along the medial side of the knee, and it stops the knee from opening medially.

So when you injure the medial collateral ligament, you stretch this ligament. It usually is injured from a blow to the lateral side of the knee that causes the stretch to the medial collateral ligament. A local chiropractor may work with your local massage therapist and your local physiotherapist to create the best health or rehabilitation plan for your situation. That’s what results in a medial collateral ligament sprain. There’s a number of degrees of sprains, from 1 to 3, 3 being the worst, which is a complete tear of that ligament.

The majority that we see are Grade 1 and 2, and they’re just a stretch and a little more significant stretch. They’re usually treated non-surgically. They rarely require surgery. If you do have a medial collateral ligament sprain, you will have pain along the medial side of your knee. You will have some swelling. You will have stiffness. The best way to treat them initially is with ice and rest and anti-inflammatories. You should potentially see your family doctor if these symptoms are more significant.

Your family doctor may choose to refer you to a physiotherapist for treatment. If physiotherapy does not relieve your symptoms within the first six to eight weeks, then you may be best to be referred to a  Physiotherapist or a surgeon.

If you have any questions regarding an MCL injury or you think you have an MCL injury that you have further concerns about, then I would seek consultation with your family doctor. Local Physiotherapist Video Title: MCL (Medial Collateral Ligament) knee injuries.

Presenter: Dr. Jordan Leith, Orthopaedic Surgeon, Burnaby, BC

Local Practitioners: Orthopaedic Surgeon

While downhill skiing MCL injuries are very frequent and beginner, intermediate levels it usually happens in that snow plow position. You do need good quads to hold that position but then from a fall or when tips cross usually you get a valgus load to the knee and a valgus load is when the force is coming from the outside and the ligament on the inside which is the MCL here gets stretched okay and it could also happen from a twisting. A local chiropractor may work with your local massage therapist and your local physiotherapist to create the best health or rehabilitation plan for your situation.

In more advanced skiers, it usually happens when you catch an edge. Now when that happens you are going to get joint tenderness on the inside of your knee and also pain with weight bearing. Now in the first twenty-four to forty-eight hours you want to protect that joint. You want to ice, compress, and elevate, the RICE principle. You want to get to a physiotherapist as soon as you can so we can determine the severity of the injury and to see how quickly we can get going with your rehab.

The rehab is going to involve looking at your whole biomechanics to see if there is any predisposing factors that led to this and also to make sure that we can get your muscular activity going sort of coordination, balance, flexibility everything working together. Leaving an injury of this nature for three to four weeks could lead to some irreparable damage and getting to a qualified physiotherapist can really increase the chances of optimal rehab and recovery.    Often seeing a local family physician or a physiotherapist in conjunction with a registered dietitian and athletic therapist is a great option to take control of this condition. Smart Food Now and exercise is also optominal for overall health.  Presenter: Mr. Behnad Honarbakhsh, Physiotherapist, Vancouver, BC

Now Health Network Local Practitioners: Orthopedic Surgeons