Can I walk with an MCL injury?

An MCL injury of the knee is one of the most common injuries athletes suffer. While you might not need surgery for an MCL tear, it can take a long time to heal and return to sports. In this Ask Dr. Geier video, I discuss the initial treatment and rehab of this common knee injury, including when you can walk with an MCL injury.

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Click the link above for more information about an MCL injury and other resources for your sports or exercise injury.

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Earl asks:
Can you walk on grade 3 MCL injury?

WHAT IS AN MCL INJURY?
The medial collateral ligament (MCL) is the thick ligament on the side of the knee closest to the midline of your body. You can suffer an MCL injury when someone hits you on the outside of your knee. Or you can cut to change directions and injure it.

TREATMENT FOR A SPRAINED OR TORN MCL
Fortunately, most MCL injuries do not require surgery. You can often recover in 6 weeks or less depending on how severe the injury is. You might wear a brace and do physical therapy to regain knee range of motion and strength.

WHEN CAN YOU WALK WITH AN MCL INJURY?
In this video, I discuss when you can walk, exercise and return to play sports after an MCL injury and how to do it safely.

[DrDavidGeier]

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[samwiseman]

I sprained my knee last winter while slipping on some ice. I couldn’t put it ounce of pressure on it or walk on it without being in tremendous pain. Recovery took around 6 weeks, until I could comfortably walk on it without any pain

[philross]

I picked up an MCL injury refereeing a football game just over a week ago . I turned near the end of a game & felt a slight uncomfort.. My knee swelled slightly overnight so I used 'Deep Freeze' to cool the knee. I have not had too much pain but after a week I discoverd the knee exercises on the internet which I have have found extremely useful to get the knee working again & get rid of the stiffness. Thankfully my MCL seems to be just a Grade 1 Injury !

[sayantanghosh]

Got grade 2 mcl injury while playing football, it didnt pain but seemed like my leg lost the entire balance it was pretty bad until my doctor adviced the knee support, some calcium medications along with regular exercise and ice therapy. Took around 3 months to heal completely and its ok now, sometimes if i jog or run for long i do feel something is giving me trouble however its much better

[Brokenankles]

Just tore my mcl and acl and I limp around and can put about 80% pressure on it. Never really hurts just uncomfortable and tight and side to side/ straightening out my leg is impossible

[tutu-uwzz]

Thx Doctor, thank you for your sharing and knowledge. Now I am more clear about what to do.

[cynthiaclaffey]

I have a MCL injury but the orthopedic surgeon didn’t say what grade, just preferably recommended a straight knee brace (or hinged brace) to immobilize it but couldn’t put it on because I can’t straighten my knee. This is day 11 after the injury. He said to use crutches without a brace or wrap & come back when I can straighten it.

[solidstomak]

I was cycling and fell on my bike, sprained both knees but one knee stopped hurting after about 2 weeks. The other knee though, I got diagnosed with a grade 2 MCL, and a small fracture in the lateral femoral condyle. Between waiting to see how I felt after a week, doctors appointments, MRI appointments, and being referred to an orthopedic surgeon, was about 4 weeks after I jury before I saw an orthopedic. He has me wearing a hinged brace now for 6-8 weeks, I was only wearing a cheap brace from Walmart before, but their strongest available. Was doing some light cycling every few days before, but orthopedic surgeon now says to stop all exercise for 3 weeks until a follow up visit

[meredithdupre]

I got knocked down on the deck by our sweet two-year-old Golden retriever and ended up with a grade two MCL injury and a bone bruise. It has been almost three weeks and I have not yet been able to put full weight on the injured knee due to pain and a wobbly feeling knee. This feels very scary to me as I have an underlying Muscular Dystrophy diagnosis which puts me at risk for irreversible atrophy of my muscles. The injured knee was my stronger, more reliable leg, so overall this is a hard pill to swallow. Yesterday I got in the therapy pool I go to and was able to walk in the water with some pain and stiffness. The shallower water was very difficult. I will be starting to work on walking on a treadmill with a hoist to keep me from falling or putting too much weight. I have been working on straightening with exercises. I am praying that walking and doing other strengthening exercises in the pool, will get me back to walking again.

[anipushaj]

I have a grade 2 MCL injury now. 5 weeks on braces, my second week without braces and still feeling pain

[fruitloopyt]

I completely tore my mcl and it took 3 days for me to be able to walk on it and it took one month until I had minimal pain however I couldn’t completely straighten my knee

[JR]

It has been 8 weeks since my MCL tear....level 2 I absolutely could not walk using the affected knee My biggest problem now is pain while lying in my bed I often wake up in pain if I sleep on my side Also putting weight on my knee while fully bent really hurts Physio made things worse and seemed to bring on nerve related shooting pain Could there also be meniscus injury? I had x-ray and ultrasound

[jullianadardanha]

I'm on the 4° day of my MCL injury. It hapened in a BJJ match, and I'm gonna do a image exam to determine the gravity of the damage on monday. Hope to get well and walk without support soon..

[deborafinkler]

Hey Doc, thanks for the video. A question: you generally CAN walk on MCL injury but is it recommended? My doc gave me crutches. Should i use them as much as possible or should i be trying to walk so i don’t lose muscle mass?

[Santanabat]

I tore my mcl almost a year and 2 months ago and I’m probably 60% recovered and don’t think it’ll get any better

[deborahstout]

Mainly struggling with pain even though the swelling not so bad

[rolienpotgieter]

The doctor at my local hospital said I had an MCL tear. My therapist thinks the same and gave me strengthening exercises to do until our next appointment. He is also going to put me in a back-brace as he reckons my Degenerative Disk Disease (app. 12 years now) is causing my knees extra work, therefore I do not recover fast enough from the MCL injury. It has now been 6-weeks and although I walk short distances without help, I still suffer from severe pain by night time. Prior to my injury I was walking 12 - 15km per day, at least 3 times a week, now I can barely walk to the gate. (ie: I am from South Africa, do not have a medical aid and therefore have to make use of our Government Hospital for treatment.)

[ajeebladka]

I got a car accident. Doctor suspected MCL injury. But I changed the doctor because I want to visit nearest one. He did x ray. Gave me bed rest. After 4 and half months, I was told that I need no further treatment. But after that 4 months has gone and can't run properly and when I climb stairs, I feel pain

[syndysimmons]

My right leg completely run over by a vehicle. The accident caused grade three MCL tear, torn ACL, damage to the patella, Meniscus tear. My Orthopedic doctor said I will heal on my own. 1 year later, I am still in a hinged knee brace because I have a fear of more damage. My doctor said my MCL healed very tight. It has a very small give. He also said, Me still being in a brace is more mental than physical. I have no pain, but I am tired of the brace.

[FreshDeath]

It’s been five months since my injury and I’m still in pain. My doctor keep trying to downplay everything or make it seem like I’m faking it, but they did not even give me an MRI until months after the injury and saw that it was completely severed.