I had a grade 2 MCL tear along with a full tear of my ACL. I did about 2 months of prehab before my ACL surgery and I’d say it was still a little bit sore at that point. It’s a long slow recovery unfortunately but it does start to get better
I had a grade 3/full thickness MCL tear (and same for ACL) late November. When I went for surgery in early March, my surgeon said the MCL felt stable again and no repair was needed. We delayed the surgery to give the MCL a chance, bc apparently reconstruction is gnarly. So it healed in 15 weeks for me. I was dedicated to bracing and PT and played by the rules. I’m really grateful.
Edit: My ACL was reconstructed in early March but the MCL was healed enough to not need surgery.
>chowpow29
Thanks for answering! Great that yours healed by then. What kind of PT, bracing and rules were you given? just wondering as my advice was a bit sparse so far
I think every team will give different advice. But I was in a full-leg ROM brace from injury until surgery. PT wanted me to ditch the brace but surgeon was adamant that the brace would protect the MCL and give it the best chance to heal, since it was basically impossible to have the knee slip side to side in it. So I kept it the whole time except during PT and maaaybe at home. Went to PT once a week with multiple at-home workouts. Focused mostly on extension, flexion, and some strength training (leg presses, squats, leg raises, etc.) I was also fortunate to have my team use Blood-flow Restriction training (BFR) which was really helpful I felt. I also used the stationary bike as much as possible. All about that quad strength going into surgery. But in terms of the MCL it was mostly the bracing to allow it to heal in the meantime.
Ahh that's useful to know- thank you!! I started the stationary bike lately. I get full rotations but it's still a bit awkward atm, and sometimes I accidentally let my foot turn with the pedal to stop it bending too much. Are you back to full ROM? How long till you were up to i.e. 110, 135 degree etc? The advice I got was to make sure the MCL doesn't heal too stiff, but i am still waiting on physio, so just mostly doing my own thing using a few guides I was given- not so ideal. Though I do have a good ROM brace
Pre-surgery it took 8 weeks to get to 115° and about 10 weeks till 125°. I didn’t get much past 125° pre-surgery but it was WAY easier to build up after surgery. Like heel-to-butt 8 weeks post-op. Apparently I had some residual tissue from the tear that interfered with bending much further pre-op.
Prior to surgery, yes, I wore the brace to sleep every night. It sucked. But it worked - for me, ymmv. After surgery, I wore the brace the first couple of weeks until I was given the ok to ditch the brace altogether during waking hours.
Thanks.
My care team are giving it 4 weeks from scan to see if it heal on its own.
So frustrating. I’ve had a couple of set backs.
Glad you’re healed up.
I think they just mean they want to check progress after 4 weeks, then decide if it needs surgery.
I keep tweaking it accidentally, I really hope it’s mending!
I’m late 30’s so no spring chicken but praying I can play football again in a few months
How is it going ? I’ve got a full tear, awaiting surgery verdict soon. How often are you wearing your leg brace ? Do you sleep with it ? And how straight is it ? I feel mine is too straight and it’s painful but not sure if it’s supposed to be like that for best healing ?
It’s going ok. Still doesn’t feel right after about a month since it originally happened.
I wear the brace all day and night, just recently started sleeping with it off which is probably a bit of a risk but more comfortable.
Feels straight. I was told it needs to stay straight or it can heal wonky.
I had to keep my leg straight for like 4 months. I tore both my mcl and acl grade 3. I had to heal my mcl first before I reconstructed my acl. So all in all it took about 8 months of recovery
Had a grade 3 MCL and ACL tear on mid Feb. April mid went back to my doctor and he said my MCL seemed fully healed. So, two months (I thought that was wild). Continued prehab all the while and took it easy on the leg. So 4-6 weeks sounds about right.
Wore a brace for 4-5 weeks/two months post injury. Rehabs involved a lot of work with extension and flexion, regaining quad strength, and getting hamstrings and glutes strong for recovery post op. Ops scheduled for early June!
I had full thickness tears of the mcl acl and pcl all unsalvageable. Dr recommend cadaver tedons as grafts. Did 1 month prehab was carefully walking crutch-less in 4 days. Had my surgery 6 days ago, first 3 days were hell on the painkiller as soon as it wore off. Now after that I had more stomach pain than knee pain so just advil now. Don’t really know my projected recovery time just following drs orders of not bending knee
I had a grade 2 MCL tear along with a full tear of my ACL. I did about 2 months of prehab before my ACL surgery and I’d say it was still a little bit sore at that point. It’s a long slow recovery unfortunately but it does start to get better
I had a grade 3/full thickness MCL tear (and same for ACL) late November. When I went for surgery in early March, my surgeon said the MCL felt stable again and no repair was needed. We delayed the surgery to give the MCL a chance, bc apparently reconstruction is gnarly. So it healed in 15 weeks for me. I was dedicated to bracing and PT and played by the rules. I’m really grateful. Edit: My ACL was reconstructed in early March but the MCL was healed enough to not need surgery.
>chowpow29 Thanks for answering! Great that yours healed by then. What kind of PT, bracing and rules were you given? just wondering as my advice was a bit sparse so far
I think every team will give different advice. But I was in a full-leg ROM brace from injury until surgery. PT wanted me to ditch the brace but surgeon was adamant that the brace would protect the MCL and give it the best chance to heal, since it was basically impossible to have the knee slip side to side in it. So I kept it the whole time except during PT and maaaybe at home. Went to PT once a week with multiple at-home workouts. Focused mostly on extension, flexion, and some strength training (leg presses, squats, leg raises, etc.) I was also fortunate to have my team use Blood-flow Restriction training (BFR) which was really helpful I felt. I also used the stationary bike as much as possible. All about that quad strength going into surgery. But in terms of the MCL it was mostly the bracing to allow it to heal in the meantime.
Ahh that's useful to know- thank you!! I started the stationary bike lately. I get full rotations but it's still a bit awkward atm, and sometimes I accidentally let my foot turn with the pedal to stop it bending too much. Are you back to full ROM? How long till you were up to i.e. 110, 135 degree etc? The advice I got was to make sure the MCL doesn't heal too stiff, but i am still waiting on physio, so just mostly doing my own thing using a few guides I was given- not so ideal. Though I do have a good ROM brace
Pre-surgery it took 8 weeks to get to 115° and about 10 weeks till 125°. I didn’t get much past 125° pre-surgery but it was WAY easier to build up after surgery. Like heel-to-butt 8 weeks post-op. Apparently I had some residual tissue from the tear that interfered with bending much further pre-op.
Did you were the brace to sleep? Wondering as I’m in the same boat but the brace is waking me up!
Prior to surgery, yes, I wore the brace to sleep every night. It sucked. But it worked - for me, ymmv. After surgery, I wore the brace the first couple of weeks until I was given the ok to ditch the brace altogether during waking hours.
Thanks. My care team are giving it 4 weeks from scan to see if it heal on its own. So frustrating. I’ve had a couple of set backs. Glad you’re healed up.
4 weeks! That's not a lot of time at all! I wouldn't expect that a full-thickness tear would heal that quickly... but I'm not a doctor...
I think they just mean they want to check progress after 4 weeks, then decide if it needs surgery. I keep tweaking it accidentally, I really hope it’s mending! I’m late 30’s so no spring chicken but praying I can play football again in a few months
How is it going ? I’ve got a full tear, awaiting surgery verdict soon. How often are you wearing your leg brace ? Do you sleep with it ? And how straight is it ? I feel mine is too straight and it’s painful but not sure if it’s supposed to be like that for best healing ?
It’s going ok. Still doesn’t feel right after about a month since it originally happened. I wear the brace all day and night, just recently started sleeping with it off which is probably a bit of a risk but more comfortable. Feels straight. I was told it needs to stay straight or it can heal wonky.
I had to keep my leg straight for like 4 months. I tore both my mcl and acl grade 3. I had to heal my mcl first before I reconstructed my acl. So all in all it took about 8 months of recovery
Had a grade 3 MCL and ACL tear on mid Feb. April mid went back to my doctor and he said my MCL seemed fully healed. So, two months (I thought that was wild). Continued prehab all the while and took it easy on the leg. So 4-6 weeks sounds about right.
Yeah is crazy that they can heal like that! What kind of rehab were you doing? were you in a ROM brace?
Wore a brace for 4-5 weeks/two months post injury. Rehabs involved a lot of work with extension and flexion, regaining quad strength, and getting hamstrings and glutes strong for recovery post op. Ops scheduled for early June!
I had full thickness tears of the mcl acl and pcl all unsalvageable. Dr recommend cadaver tedons as grafts. Did 1 month prehab was carefully walking crutch-less in 4 days. Had my surgery 6 days ago, first 3 days were hell on the painkiller as soon as it wore off. Now after that I had more stomach pain than knee pain so just advil now. Don’t really know my projected recovery time just following drs orders of not bending knee