Knee soft-tissue injury — sprains & strains
How to look after a sprained or strained knee at home, and when to come back.
You have a soft-tissue knee injury. The ligaments, muscles or tendons around the knee are strained or partly torn. No broken bone was found. Most injuries like this settle over a few weeks with simple care at home.
Your care details
To be completed by the team before you leave.
These need an ambulance rather than making your own way in.
- The foot or toes turn numb, pale, blue or cold
- The knee is badly out of shape and you cannot feel or move the foot
- There is a wound with bone showing, or bleeding you cannot stop
- You have calf pain or swelling together with breathlessness or chest pain
Come back to the ED or the urgent treatment centre named above — these need checking the same day.
- You cannot put weight on it or walk on it at all
- The knee locks, gives way, or will not straighten
- It swelled up large and fast, within an hour or two of the injury
- You felt a loud pop at the time of the injury
- Severe pain that will not settle with the pain relief you were advised to take
- Days later: calf pain, swelling, warmth or redness
- The knee becomes hot and red and you feel feverish
A knee that will not take your weight after 5–7 days, keeps locking, or keeps giving way needs review even if the first assessment was reassuring — these can point to a cartilage or ligament tear that was not obvious on the day. Contact your GP or the service named in Your care details.
For the first 2–3 days
- Rest the knee, but keep it gently moving — do not let it stiffen up.
- Ice wrapped in a cloth for up to 20 minutes, a few times a day.
- Use a compression bandage or support during the day.
- Raise the leg on a pillow when you rest.
- Take paracetamol or ibuprofen if you are able to.
- Avoid Heat, Alcohol, Running and Massage for the first few days.
Getting better
- Put weight on it and walk as the pain allows.
- Do gentle movements and thigh-muscle exercises to keep strength.
- Most injuries settle over a few weeks.
- Build back to sport and running slowly over a few weeks.
- See a physiotherapist if it is slow to improve.