What is an LCL sprain, the injury Joel Embiid has?
After Game 3 between Philly and Brooklyn, Embiid reported swelling and soreness in his right knee and underwent an MRI, which revealed a sprain, team officials said.
The Sixers handily swept the Brooklyn Nets without their biggest star on Saturday — but team officials have given few details about the knee sprain that kept Joel Embiid out of Game 4.
Embiid sprained his right knee in the Sixers’ Game 3 victory over the Nets last Thursday. Sixers head coach Doc Rivers said over the weekend that Embiid has a 50-50 chance of returning to play for the opening game the second round of the NBA playoffs.
On Tuesday, a source confirmed to The Inquirer’s Keith Pompey that Joel Embiid sprained his lateral collateral ligament, or LCL, and could wear a brace upon his return.
Here’s what to know about knee sprains, how to treat them, and what Embiid’s trainers might be considering as he prepares to return to the court.
What is a knee sprain?
A knee sprain occurs when a ligament in the knee is overstretched, said Ryan Bair, a sports physical therapist and the founder of FLASH Momentum, a West Chester physical therapy practice.
The LCL is one of four main ligaments around the knee that may be damaged in a sprain.
“[An LCL sprain] is definitely better than an ACL sprain or tear,” Bair said, referring to the anterior cruciate ligament, which is inside the knee joint.
After Game 3, Embiid reported swelling and soreness at the back of his right knee and underwent an MRI, which revealed a sprain, team officials said. A source later confirmed that the sprain affected Embiid’s LCL, a ligament on the outer side of the knee.
The Sixers have not specified whether Embiid tore or simply overstretched ligaments. A tear to a ligament would be more serious and take longer to recover from, Bair said.
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How do you sprain a knee?
Knee sprains occur when the knee twists too much or sustains a direct impact, such as during a fall.
Basketball players sometimes sprain a knee by landing awkwardly after a jump — coming down from a jump and twisting a knee, or landing on a hyper-extended knee, said physician Alyssa Marulli, a physical medicine and rehabilitation specialist at Jefferson Health’s MossRehab and the Einstein Spine Institute. Neither Bair nor Marulli are involved in Embiid’s care.
“Balance exercises are really important in basketball in particular — they sometimes land on one leg, and have to maintain balance,” Bair said.
Knee sprains are common among athletes but can happen to anyone, though an LCL sprain is a somewhat unusual injury, Bair said. Embiid sprained his LCL when he tangled with Cam Johnson and fell to the ground after blocking the Nets forward’s shot in the third quarter Saturday.
“You have to get hit a little more from the inside for the LCL to be overstretched or create tearing,” Bair said. “[When Embiid tangled with Johnson], it wasn’t like he was knocked from the inside, but his leg had pressure on it in such a way that it stressed the LCL.”
How is a sprained knee treated?
Ice and compression help reduce swelling.
Athletic trainers who work with professional athletes may use cryotherapy, a treatment that uses extreme cold, or a physician may prescribe anti-inflammatory medications, Marulli said.
“Especially in light of where we are in the post season, you definitely want to get that swelling down,” Marulli said.
As he recovers, Embiid will likely be working on balance exercises with his trainers, strengthening his quads and hamstrings, Bair said. Single-leg exercises and plyometrics, or exercises that involve jumping, can help athletes maintain strength and better control of the muscles that support the knee joint, Marulli said.
For his clients, Bair uses single-leg deadlifts, where a patient balances on one leg and hinges from the hip to lower and raise a weight, to help develop better muscle control around the injured knee.
A brace could help Embiid stabilize his knee while it heals, Bair said.
How quickly can someone recover from a knee sprain?
Recovery time varies depending on the severity of the sprain and which ligaments were injured.
An average person might take a few weeks to recover from an overstretched LCL, or a grade 1 sprain. A grade 2 sprain, where a ligament is partially torn, would take four to eight weeks to recover, and a grade 3 sprain, where a ligament is completely torn, could take more than eight weeks, Bair said.
But Embiid’s recovery will look a bit different from an average person’s.
If he suffered a grade 1 sprain, a quicker return for Embiid could be feasible, Bair said. “He’d have a good shot at being ready for the start of the next playoff round, if not the first game, then hopefully some of the ones right after that,” he said. “If it really is a full grade 2, it may delay his ability. They’re saying a 50-50 shot he’ll be back, so it’s probably in between.”
Preparing to play in a basketball game a week after a knee sprain is “a little more accelerated than what most people would do,” Bair said. “[The Sixers’ trainers] are doing so much more for him than anyone else would ever get.”