Allen Craig is having an awesome season with the St. Louis Cardinals, so it was a bummer he bruised his knee. Allen did it on an all out play for a foul ball, smashing into a gate. It was padded, but the damage was done.
We’ve talked about treating a bone bruise before, but Allen’s injury is a little different.It should take him about two weeks to bounce back to full health.
He’s suffering from a knee bruise on the front of his knee with very little tibia or femur involvement, but mostly patella related. The trauma of smashing the patella into the metal is what causes the bruising.
The bruising is swelling and a pooling of blood in the damaged tissue, so you’ll be affected in the following ways:
- Loss of flexibility
- Less stability
- Diminished strength
You can increase your speed of recovery by doing the following:
Ice packs – This helps reduce the swelling.
Heat – Yes, after the ice is finished. This increases blood flow and allows healing to occur quicker.
Stretching – Even though the patella is affected, you can increase the pace of recovery by light stretching.
Obviously, the best advice is to avoid the bruised knee in the first place, but if you suffer from a bruised knee you’ll be back and playing in two weeks or so.