I wear the hinged ones and think they add stability, do not cost much, and may have the potential to do more benefit than harm. The key is potential. I reviewed the med literature on knee braces a year or two back and the evidence is mostly inconclusive for these as well as for the high dollar braces as primary prevention for knee injuries and you really have to rely on judgment and intuition. So if you think it will help you wear them, if not do not bother with them. The data is just not there one way or the other.
Anecdotally, I have witnessed a guy tear his ACL while wearing a hinged Mueller type brace. If you have the wrong kind of wreck bad things can happen either way.
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