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Knee Braces

Blew my knee out last weekend. What are people doing for knee braces? Need to get surgery and get back on the snow as soon as possible. Need a brace I can trust so I don't ride scared!

thanx!

Karl
 
What did you do to your knee?

Last fall I tore my knee up playing softball of all things. Destroyed my ACL, tore through my MCL from the top to the bottom and tore both lobes of my meniscus as well (nothing worth doing if you don't do it right :) )

They went in and harvested a section of my patellar tendon and turned it into my new ACL (held in with some screws and bone grafts), repaired both lobes of my meniscus but decided that my MCL was already beginning to heal on it's own and looking good so they didn't work on it. I was off my feet (no weight bearing at all) for two weeks and then was in physical therapy for 3 months plus. I'm still not back to 100% strength in that leg but I am close. My mobility is good, no limp when I walk or anything, I can do some running and I can ride with no issues and no brace.

I got caught a few times being lazy and standing with my legs locked out, hit a bump I wasn't expecting and got a shock through the knee. If I keep them bent it's not an issue at all. At the end of the day's I was sore but no more so than after a day of riding before the knee surgery. Actually, my knee gets more sore sitting around in a chair or truck than it does riding. Riding I am moving it and using it so it doesn't get stiff.

I have a buddy that is a athletic trainer at a university, he gave me a bunch of recommendations on knee braces but I don't remember them now. I can get them from him and post them up. I also learned a lot about knees, knee injuries and recovery in the last 4 months so if you have any questions just ask.
 
Take it easy first. I blew mine out a couple months ago in football. I was riding within about a month with no brace. Even 5 months later i still feel it when i take a hard landing. I never even had a brace after surgery. My docter said it will get stronger faster and will be stronger with no brace so i don't think i am going to get one. After surgery you will not be able to ride for a while especially if you blew out your ACl like i did. Good luck.
 
i have had multiple acl repairs and as a result little cartlidge left. i wear a brace that is referred to as a unloader brace. Gen II is the manufacture. it has to be custom fit and can cost up to $1800. without it on im watching thunderstruck DVD's and wishing i could ride, with it im not limited. i still get sore but as we alll know its worth it.
 
Take it easy first. I blew mine out a couple months ago in football. I was riding within about a month with no brace. Even 5 months later i still feel it when i take a hard landing. I never even had a brace after surgery. My docter said it will get stronger faster and will be stronger with no brace so i don't think i am going to get one. After surgery you will not be able to ride for a while especially if you blew out your ACl like i did. Good luck.

that really only applies if you wear the brace 24/7. for a couple hours at a time once in a while, the brace will NOT affect how fast you heal or how strong it gets. it WILL prevent further damage to an already weakend knee

i have had multiple acl repairs and as a result little cartlidge left. i wear a brace that is referred to as a unloader brace. Gen II is the manufacture. it has to be custom fit and can cost up to $1800. without it on im watching thunderstruck DVD's and wishing i could ride, with it im not limited. i still get sore but as we alll know its worth it.

donjoy makes a great brace. nice and lite, but custom fit as well and can be in ther $1500 range
 
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I tore my MCL just before Christmas, and if I didn't wear a brace it would have gotten worse and I would have injured it further. I went to a physical therapist and followed their recommendations. If your knee feel unstable or gives away you need to wear a brace to protect it. When I went riding, I wrapped it in addition to the brace for extra support and protection.

Last ride out (which was 2 weeks ago) it felt real good, too bad i ruptured my achilles tendon on the opposite leg! :face-icon-small-con First several rides post injury I wasn't able to do much as when I tried I would wrench my knee, that was with it wrapped very well and a deceint brace.

Not using a brace anymore and my knee feels good, this is about 6 weeks post injury.

Get a hinged brace that you can limit the flexion and extension, especially for riding. You should be able to pick one up for under $200, but well worth it.

Good luck and just take it easy for the rest of the season, otherwise you may have alot more problems with it down the road it you reinjury it.
 
i've had a couple ACL's done on the left knee, lateral meniscus tear all they could do was a clean up on that and a microfracture behind the knee cap on the last go around.

first surgery 8 years ago i got a custom brace from EBI. it was a decent brace.

after this last one i got a CTI custom brace made by ossur ($1500 thank you insurance) the CTI is often seen on allot of pro motorcross, wakeboarders, skaters etc. it's super light and so far seems to work out pretty well.

here is a great youtube vid of some of the athletes using CTI
CTI Custom Knee Braces

since this is my second ACL the brace will be on for any strenuous activities from now on. i will not go through another surgery again if i don't have to.

usually the docs like you to be on a brace for a year once you are allowed to give it your all.

it takes time and is a process to get back to full bore. don't rush it or you'll start over.

good luck.
 
i've had a couple ACL's done on the left knee, lateral meniscus tear all they could do was a clean up on that and a microfracture behind the knee cap on the last go around.

first surgery 8 years ago i got a custom brace from EBI. it was a decent brace.

after this last one i got a CTI custom brace made by ossur ($1500 thank you insurance) the CTI is often seen on allot of pro motorcross, wakeboarders, skaters etc. it's super light and so far seems to work out pretty well.

here is a great youtube vid of some of the athletes using CTI
CTI Custom Knee Braces

since this is my second ACL the brace will be on for any strenuous activities from now on. i will not go through another surgery again if i don't have to.

usually the docs like you to be on a brace for a year once you are allowed to give it your all.

it takes time and is a process to get back to full bore. don't rush it or you'll start over.

good luck.




CTI by Ossur is definately the way to go. I blew my ACL a few years back and never had it reconstructed, and I got a custom fit Don joy. I had nothing but problems with this brace because it wants to slide down the leg when I did any kind of activities. Just before Christmas I re injured my knee sledding and never was wearing the brace cause it got to a point where it was a nuisance to wear. I went in and got fitted for the CTI and it is night and day compared to the Donjoy. It is way lighter and twice as comfortable! I will wear it every time I ride unlike the old one.
 
Broke me knee cap two years ago and tore cartilage as well.

I use an ascics(sp?) one when i ride.
 
"sprained" left ACL (doc told me this-I guess a damaged ACL, not torn enough for surgery). Destroyed meniscus- what little I have left is torn again. Asterisk work well for the price. Keeps my knee feeling strong while snowboarding, dirt biking, mtn biking, sleddin'- oh wait I just blew up my sled....... soooooo sitting around looking for a new sled. EVS makes a good one also. Probably a lot better braces out there, but for the price, I think they will do the job. Good luck. stretch, strengthen and RICE.

http://www.asterisk.com/
http://www.evs-sports.com/product/knee-braces/web-knee-brace/
 
I tore my MCL in December and it was very minor compaired to some guys but I did what the doc said, did my therapy and took it easy and bought a set of Astricks knee braces. I rode for the first time with the braces on Sunday and love it and was back to hitting jumps.
 
I blew my knee out in april of 08 and was in the middle of mx season so i ignored the pain and i had surgery in november of 08 my pcl was gone and my mcl was a thread... doc said stay off sleds and bikes until spring... i didn't i was riding in january but i was worried about blowing it out again so i bought a donjoy knee brace it is custom fit to your let and they make different types of braces for the different injury's i love the thing to death i believe i paid 600 u.s. for it but it was totally worth it... just talk to your doctor about braces and they usually can recommend you with one of the top companies that make them... just be ready to hear the price because thay aren't cheap.
go to www.donjoy.com see what you think
 
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