Knee Braces as Essential Sports Gear

Many traditional knee pads and orthoses work more or less like a steel cage around the knee, which certainly protects the knee from bumps and twists. But many times, unfortunately, they are very clumsy to use and severely limit the ability of movement that is much-needed in your sports practice.

To function optimally, a knee pad or knee brace should be designed to treat or prevent a specific type of injury or problem. When you have this starting point, it is possible to construct orthoses that both alleviate the pain from the injury and are comfortable to wear. A properly designed knee pad covers the injury and restores your maximum mobility.

The knees belong to one of the more injured areas for both casual and elite athletes, and when something goes wrong, it is usually extremely painful. Many times, injuries occur when we overload the knee over a long period of time, but sometimes even the slightest wrong move or twist can lead to an unfortunate event that will tie you to the bed for serval weeks. In today's article, we will take a look at what injuries are most common in the knee area and why you absolutely need a set of the best knee braces for your exercises.

Symptoms of Cruciate Ligament Injury

If you suffer from an injury of the cruciate ligaments, you will not have to think about whether something has broken. The pain is immediate and it usually hurts so bad that you cannot stand up or even touch the knee.

Many testify that, just at the time of the injury, it physically felt like something was broken in the knee. Pretty soon, the knee also swells up and there is nothing else to do besides proceed with the treatment and tie yourself to bed for the period of time stated by the doctor.

After this unfortunate event, it is an absolute must that you proceed with your exercises with a proper knee brace that will keep your knee in place, and it's also highly advisable that you proceed with your favorite sport while wearing the knee protection for a significantly long period of time.

ACL Injury

Our knee joint is made of the femur, tibia, and kneecap. Between them, there are two meniscuses (cartilage plates) that dampen shocks and distribute the weight load in the joint. Inside the trail, there are also four links, partly the outer and inner side links and the front and rear cross straps. Their function is to provide support and stability to the knee when we move. The ligaments prevent the tibia from sliding forward and backward relative to the femur. They also prevent extreme inward rotations of the lower leg relative to the femur.

Almost all ACL injuries affect the anterior cruciate ligament, and the most common reason this injury occurs is that we rotate the leg with the foot locked to the ground. Therefore, we often see injuries in sports where the shoes get a good grip on the ground—football, handball, basketball and downhill skiing, to name a few examples.

An accident rarely comes alone, and although it may seem like a pessimistic view, usually cruciate ligament injuries occur in combination with other injuries. For example, it is very common for meniscuses, side links, and joint caps to be damaged simultaneously.

A rupture on the cruciate ligament can be complete or partial, which means that it can go completely or only partially.

Runner's Knee

Another very common injury among both elite athletes and casual ones is the notorious runner's knee. The purely anatomical causes can be different, but the injury itself is a mechanical irritation where the tendon on the outside of the knee has become overloaded. Actually, anyone can suffer from this condition, and the risk increases when you run a lot on downhill slopes, side slopes or uneven surfaces, or if you suddenly increase the exercise dose greatly.

The pain is usually on the outside of the knee and occurs when you start running after you sit down to take a rest. The next time you jog, the pain will return, often with increased intensity each time. In the end, it hurts so much that you have to give up. If you press your fingers on the outside of the thigh, it may be sore, and it could be even worse if you do the same on the tendon just above the knee.

Treatment

Initially, it is the rest that is most important. The temptation to go out and "just jog a little around the neighborhood" can be great, but the risk is imminent that you will just have to prolong the healing process. You just need to rest, make a visit to a physiotherapist who can tell why the injury occurred, and then give the right treatment and tips on exercises that you can do at home.

The root of evil often sits elsewhere than in the knee; it can be the pelvis, hip or foot. For example, what does your running step look like? Does the heel or forefoot first land on the incline? Do you have overpronation? Many times, for a runner, it can be a painful reminder that they need to practice with their running techniques.

It is therefore largely about relieving the knee, which, like the injury, as I said, is based on an overload. Stay away from running and training for at least four to six weeks.