Good inexpensive knee braces?

[Blake_T]

so... i've sprained all 4 ligaments in my right knee several times over the years with my MCL and LCL's being sprained 60+ times each... leaving them in a condition to where they provide nearly 0 support and my knees bend 3 degrees sideways in both directions. without a brace it takes me 6-10 days for my knee to recover (read as: swelling to go down) from 18 holes of golf. with a good brace it shortens it to 3-4 days.

my health insurance is total garbage and i know a brace wouldn't be covered in any way.

so... i need a hinged brace that provides solid support but won't break the bank (under $200). the downside is that i have really big calves and big quads but a normal sized knee. last year i was able to get a "top of the line below custom fitted" brace on clearance for $75 and it gives tremendous support but i end up with blisters on my leg from it (started with a blister on the back of the knee, so i cut the back out, then it left a blister on the calf, so i wore a sleeve under the brace, now i have like 5 blisters forming all around my calf).

are there any brands/models/links anyone has for a decent over-the-counter hinged knee brace?

[JR]

I have no clue and only experience of less stiff textile braces. Do you know if there are any Aircast type of knee braces around? Many hospitals use them for ankles after they get busted. Because they are fairly well fit against the skin over the whole area they probably have a lesser chance of giving callouses. While fitting well in place and from hearsay supporting tremendously well. That is with an outer brace. They tend to be expensive. If there would be a hinged outer hard frame with the air filled "balloon" inside for the rest of the work.

I've seen a lot of different products for bracing too many places all over my body on Amazon.com and the user testimonials are often great for advice. They tell you about problems and help in avoiding some products. And the large selection helps in seeing what is out there.

[Ironhide]

That was a real bummer when I hear about your knees, you're such a good player and it sucks that you are restricted cause of that. Depending on the type of bracing you want is kind of a personal choice, cause of course the most supportive brace maybe be uncomfortable and restrict your movement. Unfortunately the brace I'd recommend wearing is a combination of a neoprene sleeve/rigid support combo. Something like this might work for you. The neoprene sleeve allows some compression to help keep the swelling away and since you don't have alot of support there, the patellar cutout would help w/ minimizing getting your patellar tendon from getting inflamed.

http://www.esportshealth.com/product/pr ... r+small.do

http://www.esportshealth.com/product/pr ... e+small.do

http://www.esportshealth.com/product/pr ... C+small.do

http://www.esportshealth.com/product/pr ... C+small.do

http://www.esportshealth.com/product/pr ... under++.do

Like JR said, amazon isn't a bad idea to get some customer feedback and if money is an issue, you could always look to get used one's on e-bay, cause I'm sure alot of people dump them on there as soon as they recover from an injury.

Couple other things that might help are to do body weight exercises and balance training. I think I recall you telling me that you use to do alot of lifting when you were younger so the strength is there, just need you body to bring it out again. And since you've been active before, I'm sure you know to ice afterwards so maybe investing into something like below later might be in your interest.

http://www.esportshealth.com/product/re ... l+wrist.do

Or a combination of these two below works well, cause then you can mold the icepacks to your need better.
http://www.esportshealth.com/product/re ... 12-case.do
&
http://www.esportshealth.com/product/re ... +x+5+in.do

[Blake_T]

Thanks for the input.

i sometimes trust reviews and sometimes don't. i find there aren't a lot of people who can relate to my situation with sizing.

i've used braces with metal stays and while those help a bit, i definitely need to go with a hinge.

those mcdavid ones they have at sports authority and i have used wrist and ankle braces made by them and have been fairly happy with em.
i definitely have to try them on first.

[JR]

I have used a heavy McDavid ankle brace and it's ok when you're not that hurt. Initially for the first 16-18 months after ankle injury i used a hinged ankle support that does not allow free sideways motion. I quickly augmented it with that McDavid underneath not only for the added support but for cushioning. After about 18 months i started to use only that McDavid and it took a while before i could ditch it. Under the hinged super heavy duty brace with hard outer shell the McDavid prevented blisters in the area where it was used at. The outer shell did chafe the top of the calf where the McDavid wasn't at. Luckily only on occasion in extended use at work and when i tied up the brace super tight. For days with heavy work load.

A hinged support with a hard outer shell sounds like a plan because it prevents the sideways motion of your knee while allowing fairly or fully free running and squatting down a little for lessened friction during the pivot of the plant step.

[erb]

I suffered a lot of knee pain last summer. I picked up a knee brace and that helped some, but the biggest help I had was when i changed shoes. I was using a pair of Merrell with a vibram sole specifically a "Vibram® Axis Sole/Sticky Rubber". I changed to a pair of Newbalance that still had a Vibram sole but it seemed to be made of a harder rubber. My knee gradually started getting better after this change (i never took time off to just let it heal faster). The harder rubber seems to allow me to twist my plant foot more at the ground, instead of gripping and forcing me to twist at the knee.
I don't believe we both have the same problem but nonetheless consider trying a different shoe. maybe that could help some.

[himynameismatt]

I've had two knee surgeries to try and fix the meniscus in my left knee. Basically there's like 25% left and bone on bone. I personally like the lighter compression-type sleeve-style braces.

For a more physical activity such as b-ball or football though I'll use one of the more rigid clunkier braces, but found they really limited me when it came to disc golf.