Collateral Ligaments and other non-cruciate tendons & ligaments around the knee :

Medial collateral ligament (grade 2) - - Posted by jamerten (jamerten), 19 February 2003

I have torn my MCL during skiing last week. After a CT scan, the docter told me it was torn in grade 2 (menisucs and front cross ligament not touched). Anybody has any idea what this means? How many grades are there?

Treatment I am following = brace for 2 months and 27 times physiotherapist...

Does the MCL heal 100% and does it become as strong as before? Will skiing be possible next year? With or without brace?


THANKS!
Posted by liga_mod (liga_mod), 19 February 2003

There are 3 grades of MCL damage, Grade 1 is a mild sprain, Grade 2 is a partial tear of the ligament, grade 3 is a complete tear.

The majority of MCL injuries - even complete ruptures - heal by themselves whilst being protected by a brace and with controlled physiotherapy to avoid stiffness.

although under a microscope the scarred healing may not be the same as an undamaged ligament, most eventually heal so that you will feel back to normal and the knee should not be unstable. Most people would not need a brace to ski in the future with no cruciate damage.
It is also good news that your meniscus is not damaged - it means that you could reasonably expect to regain full function.
Good luck with the rehab

liga_mod

Posted by jamerten (jamerten), 25 February 2004

Dear all,

First of all thanks to liga_mod for the professional reply.

The healing went allright and after 3 months I was running and playing squash again... Actually, I am just back from short skiing trip (3 days) without injury. Even though I have no more pain nor instability in the knee, I did wear my brace though just in case off...

I hope this brief message may cheer up people with similar injuries!!

Jan
Posted by bec (bec), 19 April 2004

Thank you so much for your good news story.  I guess that when people are better they don't need the board for advice and so you don't hear from them - but we all need some good news now and again.



Hope that you had a great time skiing - I'm going to learn as soon as I get mended!

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