Sprains are an incredibly common injury, and we would wager a guess that everyone has experienced one at some point in their lives. However, when most people think of sprains, they generally think of ankles. They don’t tend to think of knees quite as often. But knee sprains do happen, and experiencing one can put your life on hold for a while as your lower leg is rendered immobile. In these trying times, it’s important to heal from any injuries of this nature as thoroughly and as quickly as possible. Fortunately, we at Greater Life Chiropractic may be able to help.

What Is a Sprain?

The way a sprain works all comes down to the ligaments and joints in your body. A ligament is a strong, rope-like band of tissue that connects two or more tissues or bones. They can connect muscle to muscle, muscle to bone, bone to bone, and even organs to organs. When it comes to sprains, however, only those that connect the tissues around joints are important.

The knee joint is composed of four bones and four ligaments. The bones include the femur (thigh bone), the tibia (shin bone), the fibula (smaller bone on the outside of the tibia), and the patella (knee cap). The ligaments include two cruciate and two posterior ligaments (MCL/LCL). Any activity or stress that causes the knee to bend inward more than the MCL is designed for could result in a sprain. The MCL can be injured by bending, twisting, or changing directions quickly. This is why most MCL injuries are associated with sports like football, soccer, or anything else where the leg is planted and a fast change of direction is required. When you slide on ice or in a wet spot on a floor, this is exactly what happens. The leg is planted, it loses traction, and as a result, you change positions quickly and slip.

How to Heal a Sprain

There are two primary ways of healing a sprain that we recommend. The first is the tried-and-true R.I.C.E method—rest, immobilization, compression, and elevation. As with any injury, keeping it still and protected in its early days can be paramount to healing it properly. In terms of severity, you should treat a sprain as you would a minor fracture and not walk on it under any circumstances until it’s deemed safe enough to do so.

The second method of healing a knee sprain is chiropractic, and for a simple reason: communication. The swelling and subluxations associated with a rapid injury like a sprain might obstruct nerves exiting the low back in the lumbar area, which run down into the leg. After a fall, it’s a good idea to contact a chiropractor like Dr. Grant Lisetor, who can evaluate if the lumbar spine needs to be adjusted to remove any nervous system obstruction and, as a result, speed up the healing process. If you’re curious as to just how much chiropractic and the corrections of subluxations can improve your quality of life, contact us at our Charlotte office today and consider becoming a practice member to see the benefits of chiropractic in action.

Sources

Corso, Melissa, and Scott Howitt. “Adolescent Knee Pain: Fracture or Normal? A Case Report.” The Journal of the Canadian Chiropractic Association 62.2 (2018): 105. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6173220/#__ffn_sectitle