Knee injuries and braces

So September the 5th I just had my 3rd knee surgery. No ligament damage luckily, but I have less than 20% of my cartilage left in my right knee. Doc prescribes a don-joy type knee brace and I get fitted. Today the company calls, says I will have to pay $500-$600 out of pocket because my insurance only covers up to $1000. Adding to my delimna of what to do...the representative who measured my knee this morning said that the brace will probably have to be replaced every other year if I use it in water a lot. Is this true? Kind of pisses me off that I only have to pay $25 co-pay for a $7000 arthro surgery, but I have to pay $600 to prevent another one. I feel like I should just get an off the shelf from Academy or somewhere with the metal supports on the sides. On a side note...I boarded last Saturday and it felt fine. just a little sore afterwards. What would you do and why? Thoughts??

Shop around the internet. There are lots of places to get knee braces - including Donjoy. Some will work with your insurance as well. You can easily find a custom Donjoy for under a grand.

Unrelated to the brace, but have you thought about glucosamine/chondroitn?

I used glucosamine a few years back but stopped. Looks like I need to start taking it again. I never thought it helped much, but a lot of people swear by it.

I have been around a lot of these braces with my work and you can't go wrong with Don Joy or Bregg. I also like the CTI brace (which is what I'm getting) because of the material that touches the skin. It has tact to it which will help the brace stay in place after getting wet. Also, all of these companies have an off the shelf brace. They look just like the custom fit and cost a lot less. Most of the reps are going to try to get you in a custom fit because of this. Ask them to just put you in a off the shelf and your co-pay will be a heck of a lot less.

I had surgery a few years ago and got fitted for a CTI II brace. I was fully covered and the brace has been great. I have not had any problems with it and I can't imagine having to replace it every other year. I don't wear it a whole lot any more but When i do it is still in good condition. Just take care of it.

i'm pretty sure my cti2 has a lifetime guarantee - and they know i use it on the water! i have had to replace the velcro straps though, but it's not that big of a drama. mine cost about $1000 (in australia - sent from us, custom fit), so you should be able to get it cheaper than that over there!!!!
definitely shop around too. i think some places think it's ok to rip you off because they think insurance will pay for it all...

(Message edited by aliwake on October 25, 2007)

I'm a CTI II brace user also and aliwake is correct that they have a lifetime guarantee except for the straps and you can get those replaced for $15 or $20.

I've had mine for 7 years and I'm just now having to get the straps replaced and I've used it for snowboarding and wakeboarding constantly.

For anyone interested I was also told that you can send the brace in and they would totally recondition it including painting it any of the standard colors I wanted for about $250 making it basically brand new. It could use it since it is scratched up from all the abuse over the years but I can't justify that expense.

In motocross circles, CTI and Asterisk braces are popular. I don't have one myself (yet?) and so can't recommend one or the other, but I think Asterisk (think I spelled it right?) has some off the shelf models.

I just got a custom CTi Pro Sport for both knees, one knee which I had surgery on and the other is just damaged, but no surgery. I met the rep for CTi in Hawaii while she was on vacation and she measured both my legs and hooked me up with a sweet deal, $750 each! These braces normaly go for over 2K (I got the Pro Sport model with Custom Paint and the MotoCross Kit for when I ride my dirt bike). They are kick-ass for sure, I plan on using them this weekend. PM me if you need the contact info for the rep I worked with.

On my 3rd year with my CTI II Vapor; I dont have any problems with it, other than loosing a pad. They just sent me a new one. Insurance payed for all of mine.

www.buywake.com has some knee braces for around $350, and for those that have used those, i hear that they fit better than custom fitted ones.

i just picked up my first brace monday, and it was only around a grand, and it wont have to be replaced, just tweaked. Paying that much ever other year is crazy.

EVS WEB......