Knee Brace anyone?

Ok so I tweeked my knee yesterday while I was riding and was wondering what's the best kind of knee brace to wear while out on the water? I don't want anything that will limit my mobility or that's uncomfortable.

Got any suggestions?

There is no such Knee brace that will not limit your mobility. sorry

Limiting mobility is the idea behing the brace. It keeps you from moving too much. A normal sports knee brace with hinged metal braces on the side, made from neoprene should be fine.

Are you planning to always use one. Just my opinion but I would advise against using one unless your doc says to use it. Knee braces are a crutch and could cause more harm than good in some cases because you restrict your bodys natural movement. If you are using one only until the pain goes away I would suggest a neoprene sleeve type knee brace, which will still give you some flexibilty in those awkward falls.

i just got a CTi2 knee brace because i tore my acl and i dont want to have surgery. if you sprained your knee i would rest for a week, maybe ride a bike and let it heal. if its realy sore and you have a hard time walking, go see your doctor

M Dub:

Are you still riding with a torn ACL? I jacked my knee on the 4th of July and tore my ACL as well as my miniscus and I am in the process of re-habbing to get ready for the surgery. I am just wondering what your plans are for riding in the future and what your doctor stated about doing this without ACL surgery.

M Dub and Chris,
First off, M Dub why do you not want to have surgery? If its to get through summer first I can understand that, but not ever I am curious what the hold up is? I just passed my 1 year mark Post op and am doing great. That surgery is so dialed in now a days there is no reason to not get it reconstructed.
Chris, I destroyed my ACL, shredded my MCL bruised my femur and tore and dented my meniscus last year on the wakeskate. Surgery as I mentioned above is so advanced with todays medicine it is amazing how they do what they do in such tight quarters. I have easied my way back into the scene over the past 2 months and am feeling better and better each session. I rock CTi2's on both legs now as my ortho specialists says my other ACL is pretty much gone as well so it is a preventative measure and more of a mental thing then anything.
As mentioned above braces can sometimes do more bad then good, but since you have a serious injury I highly recommend for at least your first season back to get hooked up with a CTi2 just so you can take that off of your mind and get back focused on the water...
P.S. the best braces in the world are strong Hamstrings and quad muscles. Make sure you have a solid foundation before you build to big of a bag o tricks...

E Money:

Same exact injury except of a strained MCL, not torn. What is the CTi2 brace that you guys are referring to? I have a hinged brace currently that seems hold up pretty well. Just need to get the ROM back before the doctor will perform the surgery. The rehab is getting my hamstrings and quad back into shape as we speak on the left leg. It is amazing how much muscle mass I lost in just a couple of weeks using crutches.

tweaked your knee? what were you doing? if you were doing a heel 7 off the dub then I can understand, but if you just tweaked it on a w2w then work on getting stronger, and stretch......a lot.

I blew my knee on my first set, 3rd trick, which was a trick that I had landed 100+ times. I didn't stretch before my set, and my legs weren't near as strong as they are now, and I'm 5.5 months post-op.

M-dub - you don't want to have the surgery? I'm also curious as to know why. Both of my doctors thought I would be able to rehab, and not have surgery, get a cti2 and go ride and I would be fine. They were wrong. Yeah I've been out for about a year, but I'll gain 5 good years of riding in the end.

My daughter was wearing the neo hinged braces on both legs because of patella problems. Yesterday she had ACL surgery. Those braces help, but they didn't prevent the big one. They told me that the custom braces for her fixed knee are around $1,200.

Oh by the way Emily, there was a big article in the sports page in our town talking about how girls/womens ACL's are fragile compared to men's. It had something to do with the way girls vs guys jump and land as they grow up. I'm not a doctor, but I did stay at a Holiday Inn Express.

I tweaked my knee playing baseball so I can't blame it on the wake. My legs were plenty strong but I did not stretch before the game and hyper-extended the knee stepping on 1st base trying to lunge to beat out a throw. Pretty stupid really and would rather have hurt it riding which I do multiple times a week before the injury without so much as muscle pull. They say the ACL will blow out when you least expect it. My doctor also stated that girls are much more susceptable to ACL injuries then guys.

$1200? pssha! Mine was $1700, thank God for insurance.

Thane Dogg,
$1200 was an estimate from a nurse. My guess is that your number might be right if you bought one. Hope not!!!

Mike - I got the cti2 the standard one with an ACL cable. The ACL cable was an option and it wasn't a cheap one, if I remember correctly. I guard that brace with my life.

Mike if you dont have insurance check out Asterisk knee braces, they just came out with a new model for 2007 and its sick. and is a $550 for two.

cti2 knee brace & cwb marius

Kris - what brace are you getting? are you going with the asterisk?

yeah, I cant afford the EBI ones my insurance wont pay.
But after reading countless reviews from the MX sites and a few wakeboarders they seem to prefere the asterisks over the CTI2's

Hi dudes........., I have some problem with mine right knee. Now i need a brace to... My doc recommended a DonJoy armor. Its good or not? Can u help me with it?
-thanks-

Boy o Boy, Aren't we a group of the walking dead! I've got my MRI scheduled for this aft. It's believed that I hyper x'd both knees 3 weeks ago, still pain while walking and don't have full range of either knee. Guess I'll know more soon enough! My question is this, how does the insurance deal work on knee braces? Case by case, or is it a pretty normal deal for insurance to pick up the fee if the doc recommends it? Thanks guys and good luck to all you guys and gals above!

thanks guys

My knees fine now. Just needed some stretching

I was just wondering for future reference since I obviously know nothing about braces =]

Chris,

my acl has been torn for 4 years now. i tore it snowboarding. i went to physyo (sp?) and he said if i worked on strengthening the muscles, it would over compensate for not having an acl. for the 1st year after the injury, my knee was kind of wonky but i didnt have the money to get a brace. for the past 3 years, i've kept my leg strong and i havent had any trouble with my knee. just recently, my knee has been acting up again....not even from wakeboarding but wierd things like dancing and trampolines. so now that i have the money and my leg is fairly strong, i'm getting the brace to protect the knee.
i didnt want to get surgury because i'm young and my best days of snowboarding and wakeboarding are now. i snowboard 60+ days a year as well as wakeboard about 30 days a summer.....yes i live in canada.....so surgury really isnt an option unless it was absolutly nessecary.
i'll get the surgury when my lifestyle slows down a bit (ie, when i get married)

I bought a Gladiator neoprene brace from Overtons. Not the best in the world but VERY supportive and good mobility. Hinged brackets on the sides.

I'm not a big fan of the CTI and other hard braces. After years of seeing carnage on the MX circuit, I'd rather bust some ligaments that wreck a tib-fib or femur.

(Message edited by foxrepdc on July 27, 2006)

M Dub:

Just b/c you get married does not mean your lifestyle slows down. I would maybe make that statement once you have kids though. Good luck with the knee and I will be getting the surgery since my knee is pretty jacked. My ROM is coming back around though through PT and should be getting the surgery soon.

I'm part of the Asterisk club. Didn't quite save my knee this past weekend but the doctor said without it I probably would have done it in vs the severe muscle trauma I'm experiencing.

Chris:
Asterisk and CTi are one in the same. CTi is the flagship and Asterisk is the cheaper option. Nothing out there will compare to the quality of a CTi brace. You can not beat how custom the molds are and how well they are constructed. Life time warrantee and their customer service is second to none.
In regards to insurance issues some people are having, its all in the wording of your othro specialist. MY little bro did his knee in high school playing soccer. THey had to resubmit all of his paper work because the wording was wrong. I forget the actually key sentenses but bottmline they have to state that it is in their opinion that a custom fitted brace is going to be a necessary for you to continue with your normal way of life. I will see if I can dig up how mine was spelled out but with how mine was worded and how much we learned from my brothers situation I was able to get one for both knees! Very rare trust me...

asterisk and CTI are two completely serperate companies with a common owner.

Behind the scenes at asterisk: http://www.transworldmotocross.com/mx/features/article/0,13190,605423,00.html