When it comes to understanding the types of knee injuries, ligament turns out to be a potential problem as it leads to severe knee pain and discomfort. The ligament is basically a tough fibrous connective tissue in a short band that is made up of stringy, long collagen molecules. They are responsible for keeping bones connected with other bones, particularly in the joints. Their task is to ensure proper mobility of the joint and prevent discomforting or those movements that may cause problems later on.
Causes of Knee Ligament
Knee ligament injuries are common in athletes or people who are involved in physical efforts on regular basis. Being sporty, you might face ligament injuries due to rapid change in direction, wrong landing from a jump or a blunt hit to the knees like in football tackle. The incident usually happens as the result of high speed that leads to muscle in-coordination or weakness to ligament tears or sprain.
Severity and Symptoms of Knee Ligament Injuries
When it comes to finding out the severity of the knee ligament, a professional orthopedic surgeon used to explain that it depends upon the tearing or stretching of the ligament.
Here is what you should always consider:
- When suffering from a mild grade I sprain, there is no tearing but stretching. Even though the joint does not swell or hurt but, it increases the risk of having more injuries in the future.
- In a moderate grade II sprain, there is partial tearing in the ligament. Bruising and swelling are quite common health issues but, really difficult and painful at the same time.
- In case of a severe grade III sprain, the ligament tears completely and causes swelling or bleeding in the skin. The joint loses its stability and strength to hold weight. The considerable part is that there is no pain in grade 3 tear because all pain fibers are torn during the injury.
Types of Knee Ligament Injuries
Based on the severity and need for knee surgery, it’s important to look at the following two types:
So now, let’s have a brief discussion on both and know how to identify these ligament injuries.
Medical Collateral Ligament- MCL
It is a thick, wide band that starts from the inner knee part from the femur (thighbone) up to the shinbone that is about four to six inches from the knee. Its major responsibility is not to allow the leg from extending too far while keeping it stable and moving in its position.
Causes of Tears in MCL
In order to save your sports performance, your responsibility should be to know how to avoid MCL injuries, especially to keep it safe from hitting directly from outside. When the knee gets pressure on its ligaments, chances are high that your knee area would tear too far then it should do.
Yes, it’s quite common to see athletes facing ACL and MCL tears at the same time. Even, the ligaments get damaged by repeated stress, thus causing the part to lose its elasticity and normal stretch.
Click here to read more on how to identify if an ACL tear.
