I recently injured myself and strained my MCL or medial collateral ligament. This is a simplified diagram explaining the various ligaments in our knee – P = posterior, A = anterior, L = lateral.
4 reflections from the injury:
(1) Don’t “scratch the wound.” In my first week after the injury, I found it tempting to keep checking on the strain. That doesn’t help.
I eventually went to see the doctor and got a knee brace. 3 days after wearing the brace, things were already feeling a lot better.
(2) Keep moving – to prevent undesirable side effects. Excessive rest, for example can cause more problems than it solves. It is important we keep our muscles moving.
Another example – wearing the brace for three days caused pain in other parts of the leg. I took it off eventually – I’d learnt my lesson on not scratching the wound.
(3) Take rehab exercises seriously. They helped gradually strengthen the muscles involved.
(4) Freak moments are often the cause of injury. As is often the case, the cause was a freak moment that resulted in an unexpected “split” that strained my MCL. A good reminder of the idea that we can always work on being safer – but if we engage in high intensity sports or exercise, such moments are an inevitability.
A good friend who I spoke to in the aftermath had a philosophical take – injuries are just a sign that we’ve pushed ourselves and lived… in the truest sense of the word.
(5) Exercise is the ultimate injury prevention tactic. The most important lesson on injury prevention was a realization I had immediately after the incident. I realized this could have been worse if I hadn’t been exercising my legs regularly. My flexibility has become markedly better in the past couple of years.
In essence, every hour we spend working out helps us prevent serious injuries.
Do the work. It matters.
