MCL sprain heal time?

hey, i pulled/sprained my MCL near the end of September, and was wondering if anyone knew how long it take to heal on average. It feels ok when i am walking around, but when i put pressure on the side of my knee it feels unstable and hurts a bit, and also when i bend down all the way it hurts and when i stand back up i can feel it in the top of my knee cap.

Do you think i should use a brace or not?

Doc said originally when it happened that i wouldn't need one and that a healthy knee is better than using a brace, however i am affraid that next time i decide to snowboard or wakeboard it will happen again.

Hey Peter... I've strained ligaments in both my knees (never torn anything, knock on wood) and I know exactly what you are feeling. My knees go back to feeling pretty good within a couple weeks, but it takes months for me to be able to kneel down again after a strain. My knees usually end up hurting for the rest of the season till I stay off them in the winter. It's kind of strange because when I'm off the water my knees feel very unstable and create a lot of pain if I twist or kneel wrong, but they never seem to bother me when I'm riding.

So far, what's worked the best for me is to rest for a couple weeks, then wear a brace for a few more weeks, then go without it till I strain my knees again.

Until this year I had only hurt my right knee. This year I proceeded to strain both within 2 weeks of eachother. The good news (at least for mine) is that after a winter of the weight room and rest my knees go back to feeling completely normal. The only bad news is that once you've hurt your knee once it seems that much easier to do it again.

Anyway, good luck. I'd recomend lots of stregthening excercises for your whole leg (everything that supports your knee).

Having torn my mcl partially... doc called it a 2nd degree tear... 3rd degree = fully torn, I suggest biking and doing some leg press/mobility exercises to get it strong again. Yes for a few weeks putting pressure on the MCL... inside of the knee is going to hurt, after about 3 weeks I'd say you are good to go at a moderate level, after 5-6 weeks I'd say you are ready to rock n roll at 100% no brace needed, just do quad related exercises and get those legs/knee strong and you'll have no worries

I strained my MCL last summer, and it took 4 months of physio to fix it.