I “strained” my MCL 15 days ago (no MRI) and have started running the last few days. Is the healing process similar to a muscle where scar tissue forms and you’ve got to work through the scar tissue to get things going again or do you just wait until you feel absolutely nothing in that area? I ran this morning and started feeling not pain but feeling maybe stretching after 20 minutes or so. The ortho doc I saw 10 days ago said he thought I should be back at 90% by now but I’m afraid to push it to find out. What am I supposed to be feeling at this point?
Depends of the degree of sPrain (sprain = ligament injury, sTrain = muscle/tendon injury). A 1st degree sprain means minimal damage to the ligament (microscopic tears at best), 3rd degree is complete rupture of the ligament. If your doc told you that you should be at 90% by 2 weeks then it was likely only a 1st degree. The other issue is that the medial collateral ligament (MCL) has a direct connection to the medial meniscus. If you have injured your meniscus as well then your recovery will take longer. Assuming it’s only a 1st degree MCL sprain, you should be feeling much better by now and would likely only really notice it with lateral movements and breast stroke kicking. Should be no problem with straight ahead running, cycling and for the most part swimming, but you may want to avoid breast stroke. Apply ice after activity and you should be good to go shortly.
I’m not a physical therapist, but had a 2nd-degree (almost 3rd) strain of my MCL a number of years ago. The physical therapist told me not to bend my knee into pain. It was bad advice, which I found out when I went to see the doctor three months later and still unable to bend my knee. He told me I had to work at bending my knee again, even through pain. 2 weeks later I was back to normal.