I have personal experience in this matter; I have played football and also worked as a physical therapist assistant. I play college football and I hurt my knee twice once was a sprain and the next injury on the same knee was a slight tear of the ACL. And if you did not know what a knee sprain actually is, well I will tell you. It is a injury to a ligament in the knee, it can be a small stretch or a severe tear, which I have done both. A slight stretch of a knee ligament may seem mild or not a big deal when in fact it can do a couple of things. One if you have never had a knee injury before you will feel a pain that is not too bad however it is a pain in which you may have never felt before, in that case can be very scary. Second this slight stretch if not properly diagnosis, or treated, as in my case, can and will lead to a more severe and way more painful injury.
An easy way to determine the severity of your knee injury is similar to other injuries but far more crucial. Unlike an ankle a knee injury is not recommended to just walk it off. If there is any discomfort in your knee please seek medial attention. Even if it is not that big of a deal at least do something as a preventive tool. This mild injury will be far more noticeable then a severe one, trust me, however it will be difficult to notice at times especially if you are an athlete. Some possible signs of a mild knee sprain are slight pain (depending on the person’s pain tolerance) and swelling, you will still be able to have movement in your knee. If you were to do a quad stretch and bend your knee towards your butt, you will feel the inflammation, and swelling, it will feel as if you have something behind your knee. Also bend your knee if possible inside and outside you will feel were the discomfort is. This is key in knowing what is wrong and were to begin treatment at.
The next severity is a grade 2 or mild tear this will be way more noticeable and far more painful. This pain will feel as if your ligament is pulsating like a vein and you may be able to see this as well. If this occurs on the inside of the knee it is called an ACL tear, if it is on the outside it will be called MCL tear. I don’t know which one I preferred probably depending on your activities and if you play a sport. The next severity is not good, a complete tear of the knee ligament is in any circumstance not going to pleasant nor will it be a fast recovery. You will immediate know when this happens, the knee will become swollen and you will not be able to move your knee, the pain will be pulsating with your blood pressure. This will require surgery, and if not treated correctly more damage will be caused. The ligament will repair itself, however it will not repair or grow back normal, and discomfort will be felt from that point on.
In any of these cases, form my experiences; do not attempt to stretch your knee as you would if you strain a muscle. This will only cause more damage and more pain. First get to a trainer, or a doctor ASAP, then ice should be applied immediately. What happens next depends on the severity, but usually as a preventive measure a knee brace will be put on and to demobilize you knee so no further damaged will happen. The next morning your knee will be stiff and swollen and in my case I seen the bruising right were the ligament was torn. Do not expect to return to your normal activities, for a while again depending on the severity of the injury.
Rehabilitation of the knee will depend on the severity and the location of the knee sprain. If the knee injury is a less sever injury then begin rehab on a stationary bike do this for 20 minutes on a high seat and do not use any drag or pull simply ride easy to get back some range of motion to your knee. You may not be able to get your injured knee at full speed or full motion, just do what you can and it will get better. Do some easy and light weight if any weight at all muscle exercises, such as leg extension and hamstring curl exercises. Leg extension, is when you sit down at the machine and keep your back straight, and do one leg at a time use light weight and if that feels uncomfortable use no weight. Simply raise your leg to a straight point and then hold it for 5-10 seconds, then return to resting position. Go very slow to work out the muscle better, do 4 sets of 10 reps at first.
Leg curls are when you lay down on your stomach at the machine and simply raise your leg to your butt, again go slow and do the same 4 sets of 10 reps. The leg curls will most likely be the harder of the two because their will be loose tissue in the back of your knee and it will feel not normal do not panic just go slow and use no weight, or very little weight. For those who are thinking these exercises are not for the knee they really are. Leg extensions use a range of motion in your knee to work out the quad muscle and the leg curls use a range of motion to work out the hamstring, both are muscles that control the knee ligaments and are very important in a fast and accurate recovery.
What you should also be doing is simple and not painful at all. What you will hear from any doctor you go to is this Rest, Rest, and Rest. You will need to get off that knee as much as possible. Second you will hear Ice; this will bring down some of that swelling and allow more movement in the knee, as well as help with the pain. When icing it or when just lying around resting, always elevate the knee, this bring s blood flow, do this so the knee is higher then your heart, that will allow blood flow from the heart to work its way through all that scar tissue. And again this will help in bringing down the swelling and breaking up the damage tissue.
Last, is wrapping the knee up in either a knee brace or an ace bandage, this will minimize the movement in the knee to eliminate further injury. You may be required to wear a brace even after you have healed to simply prevent another injury, because most of the time when you injure a knee you will likely re injure it again later.
There are no preventive stretches to as there are for hamstrings, and other muscles. Just be careful and protect yourself at all times.
