Recovery from ACL and MCL Sprain

Please do not take this injury lightly. Your son is fortunate his injury is only a sprain and not a tear.

Obviously follow PT, but a general rule of thumb is when you feel like you're 100% you're more likely 80%.

A sprain not 100% healed will significantly increase chance for a more serious injury (i.e. tears)

Thank you Jon. That is great advice. Yes, we are very fortunate that our son did not completely tear his ACL or MCL. We were really nervous waiting to learn the MRI results. My son is a high school junior and we all would have been devastated if he tore his ACL or needed surgery to repair his meniscus. In fact, he did partially tear both the ACL and MCL. They are really grade 1+ sprains. So, we are counting our blessings.

As an update, the hockey season is now over as team lost their opening game of the state tournament tonight. My son can now focus on getting his knee better, however long that takes. The PT is going well. He is now able to walk without crutches while wearing a brace.

One other question: would it be advisable to wear a brace on the knee for some period of time after he is able to return to play?

Thanks again.

I think a brace would be fine until he is fully comfortable to play without one. See what the PT says.

There is an awesome product that helps heal tendons, ligaments & bones very quickly. You may want to look into it. It's called SuperCissus RX by USPLabs www.usplabsdirect.com

Keep us updated.

As an update: it is now 15 days post-injury. My son is walking almost normally. He still has a very slight limp and wears a knee brace. We don't know yet when he will be able to start baseball, but things appear to be going in the right direction. I am amazed at how much the PT seems to be helping.

Baseball practice officially starts on Monday next week, and my son is really eager play baseball. The head coach and PT want him to heal and return strong as opposed to coming back too early and risking re-injury. It could be another 2-4 weeks before he is able to return. So we continue to take things one day at a time and are very thankful the injury wasn't any worse.

Update: It is now four weeks post injury. My son is able to walk completely normal with no limp. There is no more pain. He started running on the treadmill in PT this week. On the first day he ran on the treadmill, he had a little pain. On the second day, he had no pain and increased his running duration.

My son also participated in his first baseball practice this week! He is restricted to just throwing for now. Next week, the PT will start working with my son on pitching (my son is an infielder and pitcher). The PT is a former baseball player and he is bringing his glove to play catch next week. I don’t know who is more excited, the PT or my son!

It appears things are going in the right direction. With any luck, my son might be able to participate fully in practice in mid-April.

Great to hear!

Update: Today, my son was cleared by the doctor to play baseball!!!

The doctor wants my son to wear a knee brace when he plays for a few more weeks. He said the ACL and MCL are solid and the knee is strong.

The coach had him working on the mound at practice today.

Update: Not good news. My son's knee gave out at practice on Sunday. He was fielding a ground ball and had to be carted off the field. The MRI shows a meniscus tear. This probably happened in the original hockey injury but did not show up on the first MRI.

Anyhow, my son is having knee surgery tomorrow morning. The doctor will try to repair the meniscus if possible. If not, he will remove it completely.

Eaglesdad:
I am very sad with your news, I didn't knew about your son's case. I pass for the same last year.(go to the treat "MY TESTIMONY" at "General Items Forum") My son is back playing in the minors, from the same kind of injury. I wish the complete recovery of your son. My prays are with you and your family.

Oh dear, I am sorry to learn of the news. We will keep your son in our prayers for a successful surgery and recovery. I hope he will be able to play baseball and/or hockey again.

I've had a torn meniscus for two years and it hurts!
I am trying not to have the surgery for it....

Racab and play baseball, thank you very much for the kind thoughts and prayers. They really helped my son today.

My son had his surgery this morning and he is already home. The meniscus was too badly damaged to repair. The surgeon removed the damaged part and left about half of the meniscus intact. The doctor wants him to start PT on Monday and believe it or not, says he can return to baseball in 2-4 weeks!

We are very fortunate that we finally found the problem and hopefully he will get better now. The surgeon looked at the ACL with the scope and it was completely normal. All of the other ligaments and the lateral meniscus were in great shape, too.

Thanks also to all of the HSBBW family for the many thoughts and prayers. Things could have been much worse.

As bad as it seems it's actually one of the better case scenarios.

It may be a blessing in disguise as it will help your son overcome obstacles. I know that's what happened to me when I had a back injury in HS.

Tell him to keep his head up as he will be back to playing ball before he knows it.

quote:

Originally posted by Jon Doyle:
Please do not take this injury lightly. Your son is fortunate his injury is only a sprain and not a tear.

Obviously follow PT, but a general rule of thumb is when you feel like you're 100% you're more likely 80%.

A sprain not 100% healed will significantly increase chance for a more serious injury (i.e. tears)

Sprain IS a tear.

Yes of course sprain is very minor tear...I was referring to a more significant tear per discussion.

Update: It's now 3 weeks post-surgery. My son is walking normal and he says his knee is feeling pretty good. He has been going to PT almost every day since surgery. He might get cleared to return to play next week. He is looking forward to summer baseball.

Jon Doyle, thanks for all of your support. If you will be at the Norwich College Select showcase in July, I will definitely have my son introduce himself to you.

Update: My son started playing again!! His knee feels pretty good, although he says it hurts when he goes hard after a ground ball. My wife and I think it is due to him using muscles that he hasn't used for a few months. The doctor and PT say my son's knee is fine and that playing baseball is the best therapy for him at this point.

That is really great to hear!