Table 1: Graded return to sport based on activity-based goals by days after the injury.

Day(s)

Signs/Activity level

Rehabilitation Principles

0-10

- Daily activities limited by lateral knee pain (struggled to sit, squat, run, jump or change direction).

- Did not seek medical attention.

- Self-initiated stopping painful activities.

10

- Mild improvement but ongoing activity-related lateral knee pain.

- Moderate tenderness to the posterior fibular head and distal biceps femoris tendon.

- Pain provoked on resisted prone knee flexion, particularly nearing terminal extension.

- 2 weeks of off-loading the injured knee from impact and forceful hamstring contraction.

- Abstained from jogging, running and ballistic activities.

- Continued to work on general fitness and leg strength by means of un-cleated cycling, swimming and cross training.

- Continued to participate in gym activities, mainly upper body, with avoidance of weighted lunges, weighted squats and weighted dead lifts.

24

- Performing daily activities (e.g. walking) without any pain or discomfort.

- Trivial tenderness to firm palpation of the distal biceps femoris tendon and fibular head.

- Able to perform full passive and active range of motion on the injured knee without any pain.

- Able to perform ballistic-style kicking, heavy resisted prone knee flexion with and without lateral compartment bias and varus stress testing without provoking pain.

- Participated in half training, starting with graduated return to pain-free running from jogging.

- As above, except allowed to jog and run as long as pain free.

- The subject’s injured knee was taped to offload varus force for all training sessions.

26

- Participated in full training including the contact component.

- Full training as long as pain free.

29

- Returned to playing AFLat a local club level for at least a half a game.

- Full training as long as pain free.