Ligament Tear Treatment: Non-surgical regenerative optionsLigament Tear Treatment: Non-surgical regenerative options

Understanding the severity and extent of the injury determines whether regenerative orthopedics is appropriate for your ligament tear treatment

Interview with Dr. Timothy Mazzola | Breakthrough Regenerative Orthopedics

Ligament injuries can range from mild sprains that heal with conservative care to more significant tears that create chronic instability, pain, and recurrent injuries.

Understanding the severity and extent of the injury is key to determining whether regenerative orthopedics may be appropriate for your ligament tear treatment.

What’s the difference between a mild ligament sprain and a complete tear?

Ligaments are strong collagen fiber structures that connect bone to bone. Their primary role is to stabilize joints throughout the body. Examples include the sacroiliac ligaments that stabilize the pelvis, the medial collateral ligament (MCL) and anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) in the knee, and the lateral ankle ligaments, which are the most commonly injured ligaments in the body.

Ligament injuries are generally graded from one to three. A grade one sprain is considered mild, involving a partial injury that will often heal on its own with conservative management. This is the type of injury commonly seen in athletes who may be braced for several weeks and then return to activity once healing has occurred.

A grade two sprain is more significant because more of the ligament fibers have been damaged, but the ligament is not completely torn. If you think of the ligament as a bundle of fibers, a grade two injury may involve up to half of those fibers being