thoughts on knee braces

[llsoszynski@gmail.com]

My knees have been giving me problems for a long time now. I run a lot, weight train and am pretty active. I've been told before tp avoid knee braces because they can hinder the healing process and/or make your knees rely on having the brace for support. I would like to know if anyone's tried knee braces and if theyve worked/ if they got rid of the constant pain without the brace for support in the end. I don't want to become reliable on one if I give it a go.

[notanartmajor]

Try a wrap instead, it should increase blood flow without restricting you the way a brace would.

[mandy75]

i have to wear a brace and I was given neoprene brace that slips over my knee. it works pretty good

[Crusader]

If you are having chronic or long term problems with your knees as your post suggests, you should talk it over with your doctor.

From a personal standpoint, I had several knee surgeries and wore braces my first few years of returning to running. I started with a custom brace and went to an Ace brand one that slipped over with metal supports in the side, to just a regular neoprene brace. I don't use anything at all now.

You may also want to investigate some strength training programs for your legs as that could help strengthen the knee tendons as well, which may help alleviate the pain during your runs.

[Barbarossa]

When I first started cycling, my knees weren't in the best shape (lifelong gamer up to that point). I used the cheap neoprene brace all the time for a while, then began to only use it for long rides, then stopped using it completely. So, it worked for me while my knees were getting strong enough to not need them.

As has been suggested above, though, you should talk to your doctor for sure; knee injuries suck.

[llsoszynski@gmail.com]

If you are having chronic or long term problems with your knees as your post suggests, you should talk it over with your doctor.

From a personal standpoint, I had several knee surgeries and wore braces my first few years of returning to running. I started with a custom brace and went to an Ace brand one that slipped over with metal supports in the side, to just a regular neoprene brace. I don't use anything at all now.

You may also want to investigate some strength training programs for your legs as that could help strengthen the knee tendons as well, which may help alleviate the pain during your runs.

I asked my doctor about it. Unfortunately, the same time I went in to talk to him about it was the the same day I got diagnosed with Lyme disease (different doctor- fun day), and the primary joint that the disease attacks is the knee. So I brushed it off hoping when the lyme went away, my knee pain would too. The doctor I saw, though, basically said yeah, you have knee problems, which is common in runners. Thanks, doc. He went on to say the muscle of my thighs looked a little off balanced and may have been pulling the kneecaps to one side, causing the pain.

I talked to a personal trainer yesterday about it, and he said he thinks I need to work on my glutes to stabilize my knees more when I do weights and squats and such. He said he's going to try to set up a program that helps my knees.

I'm just wondering if a brace would even help, since it may be muscle, may be muscles not even related to my knees.. and it may be early arthritis because of the lyme. So many different causes!