Restoration of ligaments of the knee joint after sprain

A knee sprain is a common injury that damages the connective tissues of the joint. Athletes are most often injured, but the domestic origin of the injury is not uncommon. Stretching can also occur during heavy physical work. But in any case, damage requires the advice of a specialist. After the course of treatment, rehabilitation of the ligaments of the knee joint is to be done, how long it takes depends on the severity of the injury.

Injury classification

There are three degrees of severity of damage to the knee joint, depending on the nature of the stretching of the connective tissues.

1. Easy degree. In this case, the muscle fibers are strongly stretched, a partial tear is possible. The recovery period is fourteen days; no surgery is required to heal the tears.
2. Medium severity. It is characterized by torn ligaments in the amount of 50 percent of the connective tissue, sometimes more. The efficiency of the knee is partially lost, movements become difficult.
3. Severe degree. There is a complete rupture of one or more ligaments. There are situations when the victim falls into a state of shock. A distinctive feature of such a gap is damage to nerve tissues. Medical assistance is indispensable here.

Establishing diagnosis

A knee injury does not cause difficulties for doctors, the diagnosis is established quickly. The doctor prescribes certain examinations. This may be an ultrasound of the knee joint, which allows you to assess the extent of the injury. The procedure of computed or magnetic resonance imaging is also carried out, with its help the structure of the damage is most accurately determined. An arthroscope can be used to examine an injured limb. In the case when there is no tomograph, an x-ray is performed. This method provides little information, with it you can only view the bone tissue or identify a fracture.

Recovery time

How long does the recovery process take after a knee sprain? Recovery time is directly related to the type of injury. Since the ligaments are designed to strengthen the knee joint and connect the bone material, when they are stretched, sometimes torn, there is a restriction of movement in the knee. In case of partial damage, traumatologists use conservative methods of treatment, but with a complete rupture, surgical intervention is required. There are situations when, together with the ligament, a piece of bone is torn off, then the healing process slows down, and after it a long rehabilitation is required.

So, the recovery time after a knee sprain is as follows:

• with a mild degree of injury, a plaster splint is applied for about three weeks, but the elderly are an exception - their knee is immobilized with an orthosis. Rehabilitation lasts from one and a half to three months, it all depends on the patient's body. Young people recover faster because their joints regenerate more efficiently. Elderly victims recover slowly, they do not produce collagen, which is necessary for the body as a building component for all connective tissues;
• in the case of a complex and severe injury, surgical intervention occurs, the recovery time for the ligaments of the knee joint increases. Patients need four to six months for rehabilitation.

After removing the plaster splint or orthosis, patients are prescribed a course of physiotherapy and physiotherapy exercises, which consists of a set of exercises to build up the muscle corset. Physical education and procedures will help the knee joint to start functioning again. Of the procedures, the patient is mainly directed to magnets and currents. The load on the knee should be low, otherwise the cartilage tissue will begin to wear out faster. Physiotherapy will help to avoid gonarthrosis, which can occur as a result of an injury.

The structure of the connective fibers and the performance of the knee joint are restored in full over a period of one month to six months. When stretched, this time is at least three weeks. Ligament tears take three months to heal, and tears take about six months to repair.

Principles of the rehabilitation process

With conservative treatment, the patient is prescribed medications that slow down and eliminate the inflammatory process. Two weeks later, they are no longer needed. But there are a number of drugs that are shown to take the entire period of recovery of the ligaments of the knee joint. These drugs include:

• complexes of vitamins and useful microelements. The most common are Vitrum, Multitabs and Complivit. Vitamins of group B contribute to the restoration of the working capacity of ligaments. In addition to them, microelements containing copper, sulfur, iron, molybdenum, calcium and phosphorus are recommended. Doctors include fish oil in the course of treatment, as it contains unsaturated fatty acids and fat-soluble vitamins;
• chondoprotectors. Of these, Chondroxide is the most popular. The preparations of this line of medicines restore cartilage, bone and connective fibers after sprain of the knee ligaments. Already seven days after the start of use, such drugs relieve swelling and inflammation;  
• ointments that have a warming effect, for example, Viprosal. Used in the first two weeks of rehabilitation, they improve microcirculation and regeneration of damaged small blood capillaries.

After stopping the inflammatory process, physiotherapeutic measures are prescribed. This can be laser and magnetic therapy, ultra-high-frequency procedures, electrophoresis using calcium solutions and analgesics. All physiotherapy procedures are based on different factors, but they are united by one goal - improving blood circulation, which contributes to the removal of residual inflammation, and the elimination of nutritional deficiencies. In addition, the course of the regenerating process is accelerated, the risk of scarring on tissue fibers is reduced.

Passive recovery stage

This stage of rehabilitation for sprains of the knee joint includes the time during which any load on the injured joint is strictly prohibited. Its duration is about two weeks. The period involves physiotherapy, the use of cooling compresses. This is the time to stop swelling of soft tissues, reduce muscle pain spasms due to lymphatic drainage massage.

The main goal of this recovery stage is to prepare for the next stage of rehabilitation.

Low-power electric current therapy reduces the likelihood of muscle atrophy. In the first fourteen days, only one exercise can be performed - the tension of the square muscle of the thigh, which is responsible for extension and flexion of the leg. Exercise will help keep the muscles in good shape, normalize blood circulation in the knee joint. In addition to tone, hip tension will help supply the knee with the nutrients it needs to speed up the regenerative process and prevent gonarthrosis.

The exercise has its own characteristics of performance.

First, you should sit on the floor, and put your hands back and lean on them. After adopting this position, the injured limb should be stretched forward, and it is desirable to bend the healthy leg.

Secondly, it is required to strain the quadriceps femoris muscle, for this you need to direct the toe of the injured limb towards the body. If performed correctly, the patella will move upward.

Thirdly, you need to hold out in this position for five seconds, while you should relax.

Fourth, perform the exercise in two or three sets, the number of repetitions should be twenty.

If such physical education does not cause a painful feeling, then the number of approaches can be increased. Exercise therapy specialists advise to perform frequent swaying of the foot to the right and left sides, move the toe of the foot up and down. In case of discomfort or feeling of fatigue, it is necessary to rest for about an hour. If exercises are easy for the patient, then the attending physician adds a complex with lifts on toes, inferior squats leaning on the back of a chair.   

But one must always remember that loads are allowed only for physically strong victims, with a degree of rupture of 25 percent of the connective tissues.

First active stage of recovery

Fourteen days after the start of the restoration of the ligaments of the knee joint, drugs that relieve inflammation are canceled. Since the edema pressing on the nerve endings is stopped, severe pain also disappears. During this period, doctors prescribe to the patient gels containing non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs, as well as warming ointments. They help improve circulation. This step involves increasing the load on the injured joint. Over the muscles of the knee, lower leg and thigh, lost control is restored. The development of a normal gait begins, preparations are underway for more active stages of rehabilitation. But do not forget that training should take place in a gentle mode. Doctors advise to focus on emerging feelings and sensations, to repeat more intensively actions that help tension the square muscle of the thigh.

At this stage, many exercises give a positive result.

First, in the supine position, you need to straighten your legs, and stretch your arms along the body. Then take the leg to the side for a distance of about half a meter, then again take the starting position.

Secondly, lying on its side, the injured limb should be raised and lowered, while not bending the knee.

Thirdly, in the supine position, you need to bend your healthy leg, and rest your foot on the floor. Leave the diseased limb straight, and pull the healthy toe to the body, straining the thigh muscle. The injured leg must be raised at an angle of 45 degrees and held for five seconds.

Fourth, classes on elliptical trainers. Of course, their main purpose is pacing, but they have an additional function designed to recover from injuries of a different nature. The device acts as a treadmill and step machine. This helps a lot during the restoration of the lateral ligaments of the knee joint. All exercises on the simulator are carried out under the supervision of a physiotherapist.

The first active step involves moving with a cane, the crutches are removed. Swimming, exercise bikes, walking on stairs, doing incomplete squats, walking in the fresh air are desirable.

The second active stage of recovery

Three months after surgery or after a month from the day of a slight injury, they begin to use strength training equipment to help fully resume the functioning of the knee joint. Such exercises strengthen the muscles, give them endurance. The regularity of training will allow you to return to normal motor activity and loads. The knee begins to bend and unbend in the usual way, the muscle volume returns to its natural state. Two weeks of training on the simulator and the patient is ready to run and jump.   

You can buy a simulator at home and practice on your own. But such an effect from training, which is given by classes under the supervision of a medical specialist, will no longer be, because the physiotherapist always correctly selects and calculates the amount of load, approaches each patient individually.

The following exercises are most common at this stage:

• leg extension. You should take a sitting position, press your back, put your legs under the rollers. Then the lower limbs must be lifted and straightened, while it is necessary to lean with your hands on the side handles of the simulator. You have to stay in this position for three seconds. Then smoothly, without jerking, lower your legs;
• bending the legs in a prone position. It is required to lie on the stomach, but so that the knees are beyond the edges of the bench, and its kink is in the lumbar region. Then the legs are bent, and the rollers are brought to the lower back. In this position, hold for a few seconds, then the starting position;

Physiotherapy specialists advise doing two to four sets, and the number of repetitions ranges from fifteen to twenty-five times. There should be a rest of about three minutes between sets.

There is a possibility that during the session you may experience a burning sensation in the area of ​​the knee joint. Do not be afraid, this is a characteristic feature of the correct execution of exercises. The frequency of training is two to three times a week. A month later, long jumps and high jumps, running are recommended. The purpose of the second active stage is to reduce the likelihood of re-injury.

Prevention of knee injury

In order to avoid injury, you should follow simple requirements:

• shoes should not cause inconvenience;
• when playing sports, use protective devices: knee pads, elbow pads, helmets;
• exclusion of heavy physical exertion;
• performing exercises to strengthen the muscles of the lower extremities.

Damage to the ligaments of the knee leads to negative consequences, so it is important to immediately diagnose and begin a course of treatment. It depends on this factor whether the knee joint is fully restored. As practice shows, an untimely appeal to a traumatologist leads to the formation of fluid in the joint, gonarthrosis and cysts. The victim has to go to the clinic every six months to relieve the inflammatory symptom. The doctor diagnoses - degenerative damage.

The attending physician will always tell you how to restore the knee ligaments after sprain. He will recommend a rehabilitation center or a dispensary specializing in the health of the musculoskeletal system, give recommendations for restoring the joint's performance at home.