A knee sprain is an injury to your knee ligament. This type of injury may vary in severity from a slight stretch to a complete tear of your ligament.

This type of soccer injury is more common at women players as they have naturally weaker ligaments in the knee.

There are generally 3 knee sprain grades. Grade 1 stretches your ligament and causes your pain with swelling.

A grade 2 partially tears your ligament and is more disabling comparing to grade 1. Grade 3 is a complete rupture and needs surgical repair in most cases.

R.I.C.E

The most common self treatment method for a Grade 1 or 2 knee sprain is called R.I.C.E.

However, before starting to treat yourself you need to always let a professional evaluate your injury first.

Now, let’s take a closer look at the different parts of R.I.C.E.

(R) Rest

The first 24 hours after a knee injury is considered to be the most critical one. It is therefore important to avoid playing soccer to prevent more damage! Try also to use a splint or crutches in order to rest your knee.

(I) Ice

For the first 48 hours of the injury you should ice your knee 20 minutes at a time every 3-4 hours.

You may use a pack of frozen vegetables which will allow you to reuse the bag several times.

However, you need to keep in mind that you should never ice your knee for more than 20 minutes at a time.

You will not heal the injury faster and you may even cause damage to your tissues.

(C) Compression

Try to use a compression in the early days of your knee injury. When using compression you should avoid wrapping the knee too hard.

If your finger or toes start to get blue, you should immediately remove the compression and re-wrap!

You should not either wrap your knee before going to sleep without testing your compression first.

You want to still make sure that you have proper circulation for healing purposes and general health.

(E) Elevate

While sleeping you should try to have your knee higher than your heart whenever possible.

One good way to achieve this is to place one or more pillows under your injured knee.

Summary

The R.I.C.E is a great way to decrease the damage of your injury. However, my experience is that knee related injuries should always be evaluated by a professional!