Knee braces are great for stabilization. Learn how to treat sports injuries in this video on health and rehab.
Adjust knee sleeve to fit
Make sure calf or thigh is not tight
Put center of brace in middle of patella
Mike Vera is an athletic trainer the Roger Clemens Institute at Memorial Hermann Hospital. The Clemens Institute is the largest, most comprehensive medically based sports program in the Southwest.
MIKE VERA: Hi, I like to talk to you for a few minutes on knee braces and knee supports. There is a little difference between the two of them. For example, this is a neoprene knee sleeve support. There are no hinges on it, although there are some models that do provide a metal braces on both sides, but this is the basic style. What you can do with this--my recommendation is that you buy one that does not have the patellar cut-out because you can adjust it yourself and you can adjust it with these modern devices. I simply cut in a small hole in there to your size. When you use a knee sleeve, you want to be able to have the center of the sleeve right at mid patella. And you want to make sure that it's equidistant from the top to the bottom, and make sure that it--there is no tightness at the calf or at mid thigh. They do come in different sizes. So what I would do at the store, slip one on to make sure that it fits you. They are washable and you can keep this thing fairly clean, and they are fairly simple. They are very innocuous. You could keep them under your clothing at work, perhaps, if you would like. That is another thing. The other type of brace is more of a hinge-type of brace, heavier material. It does have metal braces on the sides. Often, there are Velcro closures, top and bottom. These are commercially available at sporting good stores, medical supply houses. They are easily found and they are easy to size also. Very similar to a knee sleeve although they do provide a little bit more support depending on the activity that you are doing. If it is an activity such as jogging, then perhaps a neoprene knee sleeve is best. Perhaps a sport like golf, hiking, something a little bit more strenuous might require the heavier-duty type of knee support.
