Dr. Uquillas weighs in on Sixer center’s hampering injuries mean heading into 2nd round NBA playoff series versus Celtics.
Article Link: Three Joel Embiid burning questions for Sixers-Celtics second-round playoff series – The Athletic
To get a general idea of what Embiid is dealing with, I talked to Dr. Carlos Uquillas, an orthopedic surgeon at Cedars-Sinai Kerlan-Jobe Institute and a team physician for the Los Angeles Angels. Uquillas has not seen Embiid’s medicals but has experience treating these injuries.
“Typically, with an isolated, low-grade sprain of the LCL, you can walk around,” Uquillas said. “You can even do some athletics, kind of in-line, running and jumping. But there may be some pain and soreness. The stability issue comes more into play with side-to-side movements and cutting and pivoting. So, depending on the grade, typically once they’re able to walk around comfortably, you can get them into higher-level activities, like jogging.”
According to Uquillas, the risk of playing on this sprain is not only re-injury or more severe injury to the LCL, but also other injuries (meniscus, ACL) to the knee if a player is not moving or running normally.
“With improper mechanics, you risk other injuries to other structures as well,” Uquillas said.
