Flexible knee Brace

[matrix]

Hello TT,

A little history about myself. I've been playing sports pretty much my whole life...cant live without competing and being active. When I was 12, I tore my ACL playing soccer and was sideline for a year to recover. Since I was so young I could never get surgery with fear or stunting the growth of my right leg. However, that didn't stop me from continuing soccer and tennis with the help of one of those huge, clunky, custom fit braces. I really hated those things and it made me have to quit soccer when I was a junior in HS.

I went on to play college tennis and got cleared to play even without an ACL.
my doctor gave me the OK to play college WITHOUT a knee brace because theres I knew there was no way I could compete wearing one of those things. All I did was build up the muscles around my knee to protect it and it worked great. I was never hesitant about it and I forget all the time I don't have an ACL. I have spent half my life without one....

Okay, yes I'm not an idiot and know that I cant keep doing this forever without totally destroying my knee. I understand that I'm young and my body can compensate for no ACL RIGHT NOW blah blah. This is why I'm asking you guys what I can do to help protect my knee going into the future. I love tennis and don't want to shorten my career.

Getting surgery is my LAST OPTION. I just want a flexible light weight knee brace that will help support my knee/leg even more to help protect my other ligaments and cartilage from getting damaged to the point of no return.

 

[LeeD]

Most will agree a custom carbon fiber OrthoTech or CTI as amoungst the best availible. They are used by quite a few professional football players, especially in the interior line. Some CB's and some linebackers use them as well. Unit cost close to 2 grand, with doctor's fees, fitting, and referrals added atop.
You can also by production tunable knee braces that strap like the two above, preventing twisting, and have one or two pivots like the above. Most have flex and extention limiters, so they might do the job on a budget. Availible at high end sports stores and most medical supply stores.
I sometimes use a one sided pivot brace, double velcro straps below the knee, single above, to protect my twisted medial collateral. It's got limiting stops for flex and extention...adjustable screws.

 

[Chas Tennis]

My knee injury & brace experience

You are in uncharted territory with no ACL.

The ACL is a ligament inside the knee joint itself and, like all ligaments, connects bone to bone. It acts sort of like a steel cable that connects the femur (thigh) to the tibia. Like ropes ligaments can only pull. I believe that the function of the ACL is to limit motion within the joint for proper function and to prevent injury.

In 1998 I torn my medial meniscus playing tennis. Arthroscopic meniscus surgery is usually really partial meniscectomy. In my case, the Dr estimated that he had removed perhaps 30-40% of the medial meniscus.

Often such meniscus injuries are associated with ACL injuries but that does not now seem likely in my case. When it was repaired the surgeon said that he thought that the ACL might have shown some previous injury but he was not certain. As a precaution he prescribed a custom Donjoy brace. This is the type brace with a hinge and a strong, rigid composite structure. He explained to me that in my case if the ACL was lax that the brace would limit motion and help prevent injury. I guess now that he meant especially injury to the repaired medial meniscus.

About a year and a half after the surgery he said that I could stop using the brace. However, every now and then something felt out of place in the knee for only a short time such as three games of a tennis match. Because of the occasional brief pain I decided to continue using the brace for another 3 years. At that time I strengthened my knees at the gym, all pain had stopped and I stopped using the brace. I have played a lot of tennis in the several years since and the knee is OK.

What I get from all this is that a specific type brace might limit the particular motion that can damage the meniscus.

The brace worked very well, felt smooth, and did not restrict my motion or affect my speed. But to some degree I did not like the robo-man/damaged goods look of wearing the brace.

How much of your dislike for your brace was due to the young person not liking the feel or appearance of the brace?