Your ligaments are connective tissues that connect your muscles to your bones in order to provide movement. Depending on the location and severity of your injury you may require surgery to repair a strained, or pulled, ligament. This kind of injury ranges from a mild pull that manifests itself through pain and swelling to a complete tear that can require surgery and months of rehabilitation to correct. Whether your injury is mild or severe, you will probably have to undergo some rehabilitative therapy to help restore strength, stability and range of motion to the area of your injury.
Phase 1
This is the period immediately following your injury, and the goals of this period is to reduce the pain and swelling around the location of your injury. You will probably be advised to stop any activity that could aggravate your injury, up to and including a few days of bed rest. Your doctor will prescribe anti-inflammatory medication and could wrap your injury in a compression bandage. During this period, and depending largely on the location and grade of your sprain, you may be instructed to begin very light stretching exercises or strengthening exercises of your joint. Be advised that you should only perform these at the express direction of your doctor.
Phase 2
This period ranges from a week to two weeks after your injury. The goals of this phase of your rehabilitation are to completely eliminate any swelling around your injury and regain movement in your affected joint. You should begin walking and moving your joint through this period, but you should stay away from any hard exercise. Your doctor may prescribe cold compresses and continue the use of pain medicine during this period. Your rehabilitation during this phase includes range of motion and strengthening exercises that progress from the easier movements of phase 1 to more difficult, and painful, stretching and strengthening movements.
Phase 3
This period is from two weeks to a month after your injury. You should be completely free from swelling by this point. This phase of your rehabilitation will focus on restoring full mobility and strength to your affected joint. Your exercise program will focus on more dynamic exercises that include movements to strengthen the muscles around your injury while improving the range of motion to your joint.
Phase 4
A month after your injury your doctor is likely to begin sport or work-specific training with the goal of restoring your pre-injury performance. This period of your rehab should focus on sport-specific activities and strength training with progressively harder exercises. You should continue range of motion exercises in conjunction with your strength training to help improve your confidence in the stability of your affected limb.
Member Comments