The medial collateral ligament is one of the four main ligaments that help keep the knee joint strong and stable. The medial ligament runs from the femur or thigh bone through the inside of the knee and connects to the tibia or shin bone. An injury to the medial ligament can be serious and can keep you out of the action for a little while, but exercises and rehabilitation is something you should do to help recover from the injury. The key is to exercise with supervision at first.
Precautions
Depending on the severity of your injury, and whether surgery was needed to treat it, you should have a hinged, flexible brace on your knee for three to six weeks. Your orthopedist and a physical therapist should be consulted about when to wear the brace and for how long. Also, following a structured rehabilitation and exercise program will lead to a better outcome, so avoid "pushing it" with your exercises and activities because your knee is starting to feel better. Overworking a ligament that is still recovering from an injury can set back your recovery.
Stationary Bike Riding
One of the first exercises you'll be advised to do after a medial ligament injury is ride a stationary bicycle. This allows you to work your knee muscles and ligaments, but without the pounding of running. A stationary bike is also safer for someone recovering from an injury than a road bike. You may find that you can't bend your injured knee enough to pedal in a full circle, so you may just need to pedal back and forth until your flexibility returns.
Range of Motion Exercises
Other exercises early in your recovery will include range-of-motion exercises. You should do these exercises slowly and under supervision until you are comfortable with the technique and pace. These exercises include a standing hamstring curl, standing toe raises, partial squats, straight leg raises and wall slides. Usually three sets of 10 to 15 repetitions each should be performed two to three times a week, again depending on the severity of the ligament injury and how far along you are in your rehabilitation.
Running
When your doctor and physical therapist think you're ready to run, and when you feel ready, you can ease back into running with a few days a week of sprints. For the first month, you may be limited to 10, 100-yard runs every other day. At first you'll run at half speed, and later in the first week you'll at 3/4 speed. After a week or two with that pattern, you can start to substitute a few 50-yard sprints at full speed for some of the 100-yard sprints at half or 3/4 speed. After that, if your knee feels good and your health care providers give you the OK, you can start on supervised drills involving change of direction.
