Introduction 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 need surgery for your MCL tear or sprain? 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 ... How do you know when your MCL has healed? 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 How long for an MCL to heal? 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 How we can help 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!