What Physical Therapists NEED to Know About MCL Injuries

By dpope2020

March 15, 2025

dan pope, fitnesspainfree, inner knee pain, knee mcl sprain recovery time, knee pain, mcl, mcl injury, mcl knee injuries, mcl knee pain, mcl sprain, mcl sprain bjj, mcl sprain exercise, mcl sprain exercises, mcl sprain recovery workout, mcl sprain rehab, mcl sprain rehab exercises, mcl tear, mcl treatment, medial collateral ligament, medial knee pain, physical therapist, physical therapy, physiotherapist, physiotherapy, valgus stress test, what to do for mcl sprain

What Physical Therapists NEED to Know About MCL Injuries

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In today's video we go over: What Physical Therapists NEED to Know About MCL Injuries - FPF Show Episode 164

  • 0:00 Introduction
  • 1:32 How common are MCL injuries? (prevalence and incidence)
  • 3:01 What are the most common populations that get MCL injuries?
  • 4:29 How do MCL injuries occur? (mechanism of injury)
  • 5:29 How do you grade the severity of MCL injuries?
  • 7:54 What is the relevant anatomy for MCL injuries?
  • 8:50 Do MCL injuries tend to heal well on their own?
  • 10:58 What is the posterior medial corner and why do we need to assess it?
  • 14:04 What does the MCL do? (biomechanics)
  • 17:59 Which muscles help to support the MCL?
  • 19:13 History and physical examination of MCL injuries
  • 22:18 Special tests to help diagnose MCL injuries (objective measurements)
  • 24:39 Should we use MRI and X-ray to help in the diagnosis of MCL injuries?
  • 29:51 What other injuries behave similarly to an MCL injury? (Differential diagnosis)
  • 32:02 Are MCL injuries typically treat conservatively or with surgery?
  • 33:13 Physical therapy rehabilitation guidelines following MCL injuries (non-op)
  • 37:22 What are the return to sport timelines after an MCL injury?
  • 38:45 Which MCL injury patients are candidates for surgery?
  • 41:40 What happens if you have an MCL injury WITH an ACL injury?
  • 45:24 What surgical technique is used for MCL injuries? (repair vs. reconstruction)
  • 48:31 Physical therapy rehabilitation guidelines after MCL surgery
  • 51:24 Return to sport timelines following MCL surgery
  • 55:44 What physical therapists need to know about ACL injuries

My MCLs are sore!

- Dan Pope DPT,OCS,CSCS

Show Notes / Relevant Articles:

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Dan Pope DPT, OCS, CSCS

References: 

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  6. Aronson PA, Gieck JH, Hertel J, Rijke AM, Ingersoll CD. Tibiofemoral joint positioning for the valgus stress test. J Athl Train. 2010 Jul-Aug;45(4):357-63. doi: 10.4085/1062-6050-45.4.357. PMID: 20617910; PMCID: PMC2902029.

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  10. Thumbnail Image:https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/07/918_Knee_Injury.jpg OpenStax College, CC BY 3.0 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0, via Wikimedia Commons edited by fitness pain free LLC