I tore my acl and meniscus on left knee. I do a ton of extreme sports. I use the CTI brace also it's probably one of the best action sport medical brace you can buy. I did tons of research when it happened to me just because I thought I would never do anything cool again. I wear it almost everything I do once you put it on you really don't notice it till the end of the day at least that's when it starts bothering me. Everyone's experience is different on recovery but don't completely trust your brace it's just there for support.
If you're not getting surgery until december, honestly I'm not sure I'd be planning on anything resembling a full sled season.
I'll be wearing a CTI brace all winter because I had ACL surgery as well, but that was in April. I've been pedaling bikes up mountains all summer. You've still got the whole full atrophy thing post surgery to go through. I'd be looking at spring time for anything other than sitting on your arse trail riding stuff. Don't screw this up. If you hyperextend your knee before whatever graft you get has been incorporated into your own tissue, you're going to have a useless knee until you decide to get surgery AGAIN to fix it. I've been through 2 ACLs and 4 knee surgeries total. Let it heal. You're young enough that it will happen right if you let it. Be sure to do that and don't get caught up in whatever happens snow-wise in january and february.
But your ortho will give you all your options in terms of brands. One thing I don't like about the recovery with knees is that no one wants to do a custom brace until 6 months after surgery. My thoughts on that were, how the hell are you supposed to build your leg back up without excercises that potentially screw up your graft? For that reason, I got an off the shelf CTI that adjusts as your leg returns to its normal size. That way it's protected as you start using it again. At the very least I'd say go that way. And if you want, you can get a custom fitted one once you've returned to baseline.
I'll be wearing a CTI brace all winter because I had ACL surgery as well, but that was in April. I've been pedaling bikes up mountains all summer. You've still got the whole full atrophy thing post surgery to go through. I'd be looking at spring time for anything other than sitting on your arse trail riding stuff. Don't screw this up. If you hyperextend your knee before whatever graft you get has been incorporated into your own tissue, you're going to have a useless knee until you decide to get surgery AGAIN to fix it. I've been through 2 ACLs and 4 knee surgeries total. Let it heal. You're young enough that it will happen right if you let it. Be sure to do that and don't get caught up in whatever happens snow-wise in january and february.
But your ortho will give you all your options in terms of brands. One thing I don't like about the recovery with knees is that no one wants to do a custom brace until 6 months after surgery. My thoughts on that were, how the hell are you supposed to build your leg back up without excercises that potentially screw up your graft? For that reason, I got an off the shelf CTI that adjusts as your leg returns to its normal size. That way it's protected as you start using it again. At the very least I'd say go that way. And if you want, you can get a custom fitted one once you've returned to baseline.
C
CatRpillar
Well-known member
They just kept telling me I was nuts for riding! lol
Take a look into asterisk knee braces, my girlfriend is getting a set cuz she tore here ACL in one knee and MCL in the other. Asterix is super popular with the downhill mountain bike crowd. Where knee movement and support is paramount
I wear the asterix braces when I ride MX mainly because I had them before I hurt my leg but I trust my CTI that was molded to fit my leg way more than the asterix. They are nice adjustable brace's though on my bad knee I wear it so tight it almost hurts don't know if it would help but makes me feel better because I never want to go through that again!
I've had 2 full reconstructions (one each knee) and re-tore my left MCL and I won't get on my sled without both custom CTI's they are spendy but totally worth it
I had a torn miniscus several years ago that I think I actually did on my REV. It was so made they had to cut most of it out. To this day If I do physical activity that is very stressful or impact on the knee it will build fluid and bother me. For this reason I wear an EVS knee stabilizer. This goes over my under Armour and under my shin guards then my HMK Peak 2 pants go on. It really helps.
Tore left MCL skiing, both knees pretty beat up from cross country motorcycle racing and 30yrs. of roofing. I wear tight fitting neoprene pullovers next to my skin on both knees. Good support and the warmth will help keep your knees from getting stiff. Over my base layer I have a hinged Mueller brace for my right knee (the good one). I have a Berg MCL/ACL four strap hinged brace for my bad left knee. I found the Berg brace that retails for just under 1000$ on ebay for about 100$. Had a physical therapist adjust it for my knee and specific needs. Works great. Hardly notice it once you're riding. The neoprene is very important IMO, I would recommend them for everyone, with or without knee issues.
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