Following increased concerns from Arsenal regarding Jurrien Timber’s issue versus Nottingham Forest, the recovery duration of knee ligament injuries is addressed.
Against Nottingham Forest, Jurrien Timber needed assistance leaving the field after sustaining an apparent knee injury. The Dutch international was seen emphasizing to the medical staff that the region of pain was, in fact, his knee.
In the first half, he had a difficulty caused by a challenge and required medical attention. After being examined by medical professionals, Mikel Arteta was adamant that the Dutchman was fit to play again in the second half.
“No, the officials, the doctors, they looked at him and they were happy to continue, him as well,” Arteta said. “But straight away in the second half, the first action he made a movement and it was a bit funny so we took him straight out and now we have to assess him to see what he has.”
On Monday, the 22-year-old underwent scans for the injury and is still being evaluated, according to football.london. However, the club is being cautious and will wait for more evaluations before drawing any conclusions.
A rupture of the anterior cruciate ligament (ACL), which would require surgery to repair, is the worst-case scenario. The Gunners will be praying that Timber has avoided this reality or at the very least does not need a full reconstruction because ACL injuries are notorious in the sport.
In light of this, football.london spoke to Doctor of Physical Therapy Dr Rajpral Brar. Regarding the potential timeline of an ACL injury, he said:
“The recovery time for an ACL injury is more ambiguous. For Grade 3 ruptures where surgery is typically done, the return is seven to nine months.
“However, Grade 2 moderate tears can also be deemed significant enough for operation which then effectively becomes the same timeline as a true Grade 3. Grade 1 and lower-end Grade 2 tears can range from three to six months depending on the specifics and other associated damage (often times the meniscus and MCL).”
The recovery time for this kind of injury is frequently defined as taking between seven and nine months. However, setbacks might occur and further prolong the time spent on the sidelines, as was the case with Tino Livramento.
A medial collateral ligament (MCL) damage to Timber would be preferable to an ACL tear in this case. This is the same injury that kept Gabriel Jesus out of action for 99 days last season, costing him 15 games.
“The length of time it takes to recover from an MCL tear depends on how severe the rupture is. For elite players, a Grade 1 tear typically lasts one to two weeks, a Grade 2 tear lasts three to six weeks, and a Grade 3 tear lasts ten weeks or longer (depending on whether surgery is required or not).
“A typical confounder that can add to recovery time is meniscus damage which is common with MCL injuries (the MCL actually attaches to the medial (inner) meniscus).”
In actuality, Jesus’ absence lasted more than 10 weeks. Dr. Brar’s term “confounder” may have contributed to the extension of Jesus’ condition. As a result, Arteta and the medical team decided to move forward with a follow-up treatment that Jesus just underwent to address some lingering problems from the recuperation.