Mild Ligament Spain

[calder1874]

I have been told by an Orthopaedic Surgen that I have a mild sprain to the anterior cruciate ligament which happened during martial arts, and that I dont require any surgery. I have been strengthening my legs up at the gym, mainly my quads, hamstrings and calves aswell as balancing exercises. The strength in my legs is great but Im still feeling a lack of stability in my knee. Can anyone recommend anything else I could be doing to help?

One more thing, should I be taking any supplements ie cold liver oil or Glucosamine? I wasnt sure if coating the injured ligament with these supplements would prevent the ligament from contrating back to normal at all?

[Heidi]

You have been doing all the right things in the gym, keep this up!
I don't think there is really any evidence for glucosamine to help with ligaments - I believe the only possible use is for cartilage - and this is even doubtful.

Did you have an MRI scan when you first injured the knee? Or did the Doctor just assess it?

If you didn't have an MRI I would push for one. It is very difficult to tell the degree of damage just from using certain tests. Even if you had one initially I would still be tempted to try for another one which may show up more damage after the initial swelling etc has gone.

How long ago was it? And does the strength in your injured leg equal the good leg? If it does, if there is only a sprain (minor tear) the knee should be fairly stable.

[calder1874]

I injured my knee last October but rushed back to Tae-kwon do too quickly and have aggrovated it 3 times since the initial injury. I saw the specialist in September this year who assesed me, I never had a scan unfortunatly...I did see him when there was no swelling around the injury if that makes any difference? I havent aggrovated it since I visited the specialist.
Strength in my legs are the same I reckon, the stability isnt. I heard that exercises in a swimming pool could help ie treadding in deep water, would this help stabilise it at all?

Thanks for getting back to me.

[Heidi]

I don't think swimming will make any difference if you are capable of performing squats etc. It won't strengthen your muscles more than performing weights exercises does, and this is the only way to stabilise the joint.

Even though your assessment was after swelling etc had gone down (which does make it harder to assess for stability), I would still return for an MRI. I don't think that following a 'minor sprain' and having regained equal strength you should be experiencing such a degree of instability.

Good luck!