Choosing the Right Knee Brace
If your knee has been feeling weak or painful exercises can definitely help to reduce your pain and improve your function. But you may feel that you need additional support. There are many types of braces that can be used at different price points. The right knee brace for you depends on where your pain is and what bothers you. The key principle is that the brace should help to reduce pain not worsen it.
Outer knee pain
IT band strap
An IT band strap can be helpful if your knee pain is on the outer part of your knee and occurs with running. The strap is used above the area of pain and helps to reduce the stress on the healing area.
Pain on the front of your knee
Kneecap stabilization and tracking braces
These braces can be used after a kneecap dislocation or subluxation to prevent re-injury while you’re healing. They can also be used for kneecap pain syndromes caused by improper movement of your knee cap. These braces have straps on the front to prevent improper kneecap movement.
Patellar tendon strap
If your pain is on the front of your knee below the knee cap and is aggravated with jumping, a patellar tendon strap can be used to help your pain. Similarly to the IT band strap, this brace reduces pain of the patellar tendon and can improve your function.
Ligament braces
Medial and lateral support braces
These braces are similar to the pull on knee brace but generally have straps to put them on more securely and more reinforcement for your inner and outer knee. These supports (often described as "stays") may be springy or metal bars. These braces are used for helping with the pain from medial or lateral knee ligament injuries.
ACL and PCL braces
These braces have special strapping that reinforce the action of these internal ligament injuries. Different models offer different strengths depending on the activities you'll be participating in. Custom fit braces will fit you more closely than an off the shelf version. The physiotherapists at Family Physiotherapy are trained in measuring and fitting custom knee braces that come with a lifetime warranty on the brace against damage or breakage.
Braces for arthritis and swelling
Elastic knee brace
Elastic pull on knee braces are inexpensive and provide compression to your site knee. The compression can give very mild support and help with pain from swelling. These type of braces can be helpful with the type of swelling and pain commonly seen with arthritic knees.
Offloading braces
Offloading braces are designed to reduce the pain of arthritis or meniscal injuries. These brace have a built in decompression built into the frame that can be increased if more offloading is required using a key. These braces can also be made to support ligament injuries including those to your ACL or PCL ligaments. The custom models measured by the physiotherapists at Family Physiotherapy come with a lifetime warranty against damage.
