Knee Braces

[russ190]

Does anyone ride with knee braces? I won my series race this year and got a 50% off thing for EVS. Does anyone use their knee braces? The expensive ones. I recently twisted my knee at work and dont know if i need surgery yet. They dont want to do the MRI if they dont have to. Since i got the 50% off, those would be what i would get. My knee isnt too bad, just feels really tight so they dont think anything major is wrong. thanks

[Voutare]

Nope.


Rather tear a ligament than break my Femur.

[motox755]

i use the thor braces but theyre more like knee pads. i never ride without em because jello knees dont feel too good.

[DankeKTM21]

if you are racing obviously use knee braces, so important like the helmet

[Voutare]

if you are racing obviously use knee braces, so important like the helmet

I don't know about that.


It's a personal preference, really. Knee pads, yes, braces, no.


What I'd suggest doing, is get the MRI (if they offer, and if you can afford), and depending on the result, do non-contact workouts on it.

I had to do the same thing. I have extremely bad knees (practically no cartilage left, and all that is is compressed so much that I can't smoothly bend my knee.) What I do, is go to GNC, get the joint comfort pill thingys, cartilage repair shit (don't know if it works or not, but it gives me the moral support.) And do light workout. Again, non contact. Try riding a bike on extremely high resistance so it's not as cardio as it is muscular. Then try squats with no weight, and see how it feels. (This hurts me like hell.) And then try some weight. I've found that weight is the best way to go. Squatting without weight just makes my knees hurt. With weight I don't notice it. So what I do is do a set of just the bar (45), then do a set of 135, then 2 of 150. Then I'll do a cooldown of 135 again, and then I'm done. I max at 235, but it's more that my knees hold me back. I can feel them grinding and shit when I go up. :/


But yeah, get your joints stronger. It'll save your body in the long run. Similar for upper body. But, don't do lower arm workouts. You don't want to bulk up your forearms, as that will only cause armpump (I got this problem, I rockclimb too, so it's kind of counter productive. :/)

[Rallemx]

Of course people use knee braces..=/ I use EVS vision..They're great
And, riding WITHOUT knee braces is just retarded..>.< You'll fuck up your knees REALLY bad if you crash..

[epik]

I am a big fan of the evs stuff russ. I wore the RS7 brace for a while and got a set of the webb braces last year. The web braces are super light and stay on your legs nice and tight, as does the rs7. Both would be a good choice.

[jbob23]

Nope.


Rather tear a ligament than break my Femur.

so what are u getting at here? saying that the brace puts unnecessary pressure on ur upper leg in a crash or what??

i ride quads mainly (really like getting on a bike when i can) so knee braces arent really necessary as im never dabbing my feet at all. but i kno all about the bad knees thing. tore my mcl acl and a miniscus in my right knee about a year and a half ago. not fun stuff. worked my ass off in physical therapy to get it all better tho. i was 100% in less than 4 months outa surgery. doc and my pt said it was the quickest recovery they had seen. but if i rode bikes id definately wear some braces, it just felt really dumb to not have somethin supportin my knees when i have rode bikes.

[Pumaxcs]

pads are a must knee braces are iffy
but i never forget my knee pads i got roosted with a rock before and i had to pull off it was killing me

[Voutare]

Nope.


Rather tear a ligament than break my Femur.

so what are u getting at here? saying that the brace puts unnecessary pressure on ur upper leg in a crash or what??

Yeah, there was a study done (by Dr. Mark Sanders - Orthopaedic Surgery and Sports Medicine) that shows that wearing a knee brace greatly increases your chance of breaking your femur. And, I don't know if any of you have seen (or heard) a broken femur, but it is disgusting, painful, and a extremely long drawn out injury which will pretty much require surgery, and there is a chance that you could die (piercing your Femoral artery). I'll see if I can find the article about it.

ACL tears you can generally expect for about a month or so on crutches, and depending on your progress, you may be able to ride shortly after that. For many of my friends, they were on crutches from a month, to 2 and a half. (2 1/2 weights 300 pounds, so it makes sence. ) But, comparing that to a broken Femur, you can expect to be out much longer than that. It can take months. I know people that have been on crutches for 3 months, and found that their bone still hasn't started to heal. Not fun.



And on a sidenote, if you were a Leatt, you also have a greater chance of breaking your collarbone. The brace may put excess force on your clavicle and snap it. But, a broken collarbone isn't that big of a deal. I got over mine in about 4 weeks, and I could bench 6 weeks later.

[mecca]

I ride with asterisk cell knee braces , they have protected me well and are very comfort , i would reccomend them

[Jacko447]

well . a long story short a dislocated my knee cap and took me 8 mounths of physio to get me back to top fitness again . the expensive knee braces are really good for supporting your knees , however i spoke to a specialist about them and he said not to get them as there is a risk of a brokan femur in a crash and also the muscles in your legs adapt to not working as hard so obvoisly they will get weaker.

so what i do is i wear sport knee braces that are a good hold, but its not like your wearing a robotic leg also with a knee pad on top , but i have seen these new thor braces for a cheap price and they are perfect http://shop.1stmx.co.uk/new-thor-force- ... s-55-p.asp


im getting mine soon

[nmaynard786]

I'd much rather break a bone that will heal in 4-6 months rather than tear ligaments that will never be the same. And as far as making your leg weak, it won't. Only gonna wear them for the few hours you ride. And if they are so bad then why does almost every pro have an asterisk somewhere on their gear/bike?? My 2 cents.

I just got the EVS Visions. Wish I would've gotten the SX2 instead from where they limit the amount you can straighten your leg. Took a day to get used to them but I'll never throw a leg over my bike without them. But everyone is different soo.

[Voutare]

I'd much rather break a bone that will heal in 4-6 months rather than tear ligaments that will never be the same. And as far as making your leg weak, it won't. Only gonna wear them for the few hours you ride. And if they are so bad then why does almost every pro have an asterisk somewhere on their gear/bike?? My 2 cents.

I just got the EVS Visions. Wish I would've gotten the SX2 instead from where they limit the amount you can straighten your leg. Took a day to get used to them but I'll never throw a leg over my bike without them. But everyone is different soo.

Thing is, not all femurs heal in 6 months.

Compare a torn ligament to that. A ligament will heal in about two months, if you have proper surgery done. And, after that, you shouldn't have problems with that ligament. It's as good as new. Now, when you break your femur, (or tib-fib), you are guaranteed to have plates/screws, those can cause problems later. A friend of mine broke his leg playing football this year (tib-fib), in preseason, and still doesn't have feeling back in some parts, and just got off crutches about 1 1/2 months ago.


So, saying that ligament damage is permanent isn't true. Can there be problems later, yes. Chances of it being when your 25 and kickin? No, not really. The only way there would be joint damage is if you tear everything, and dislocate your knee so bad that the cartilage isn't right. Femurs, and tib-fibs, they sometimes don't heal straight, and they are natural. Much higher risk of something not working, or going wrong.


Remember how long Canard was out after he broke his femur at Washougal? Yeah, a long time. Did you see him at the opening ceremonies in A1? If I remember correctly, he was limping. I know a kid who races NERC, who broke his femur (Chad Lever), and he still limps, and it was 3 or 4 years ago. He can't take hard impacts anymore because of it. EDIT2: That was a nasty wreck too. He tried to quad something at Winchester. Came up about a foot too short.



So, tearing a ligament is less severe then a femur break. Let alone a lot safer. (Femur shatters, you have a lot of blood in your legs.)




EDIT:

I should fucking be a doctor. :/

[kevin131mx]

I broke my tib/fib back in 05' when I was racing 65s. I was in a full leg cast for 2 weeks, but it wasn't helping and whenever I moved, I could feel my bones moving and grinding. So I went to a professional and had to get surgery to put in 2 titanium rods that would remain there for a year. I was in a half leg cast after the surgery for 2 months, and after that, I wore a removable walking cast but still needed crutches. I was in this for over a month. Then I started walking without crutches but still needed the walking cast for a few weeks. Finally, when the walking cast was removed, I had to go through months of physical therapy just to walk again, let alone ride. I was actually back riding up to full speed before I could even run =] Then, after the racing season was over, I had to get another surgery to remove the rods. After it, I couldn't walk again for about a month, and had to use crutches. But all this time, I have never thought about knee braces, and personally, I hate them. This past summer, I sprained my knee and ankle when I was racing an 85, and was out again for like 3 weeks. This time, I was back racing before I could even walk normal. But even after hurting my knee, I still don't wear knee braces. I tried the day I came back from my knee/ankle injury, but I rode much slower, felt less comfortable and confident on the bike, and since they stick out a bit, I kept missing the peg when I would go to put my foot back on after a turn or whatever. I, personally, think knee braces are more trouble than they're worth. I'd rather hurt my knee again than have to go through another broken leg. Because although a hurt knee will last a lifetime, you can sorta get used to it. When you break a leg, the pain lasts much longer, you can't walk for much longer, and most importantly, YOU CAN'T RIDE FOR MUCH, MUCH LONGER! Well, at least if you wear knee braces and break your femur, you have something motocross-related to do on your spare time. *COUGH* *MX Simulator* COUGH*