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Go Back   WakeWorld > >> Wakeboarding Discussion Archives > Archive through January 29, 2010

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Old     (adamsilcio)      Join Date: Oct 2007       11-29-2009, 7:52 PM Reply   
so i've been debating over whether to get another knee brace for my right knee (which i haven't blown out yet). notice how i say the word 'yet' because knee injuries are so common in wakeboarding, they almost seem certain. so therefore, it's not a question of if.. it's a question of when.

over two years ago i blew my left knee, tearing everything, and i got a CTi2 which i wear every time. i pay my own health insurance and i just got treated for a broken foot. i talked to my doctor about getting a knee brace for my right leg for preventative reasons. all she did was write me a script... but i am debating whether or not to get one. i heard different opinions like stretching and working out is good enough and that wearing braces all the time will make my knees weak, but if i wear the braces to protect my knees only when i ride and not wear them when i work out, would they still get weak?

all opinions welcome...
Old     (okwakebdr)      Join Date: Jul 2005       11-30-2009, 12:13 PM Reply   
Wish I would have gotten a brace for my left knee when I blew my right one. It probably would have saved me from blowing my left one a few months later.

I wear both of them now when wakeboarding or snowboarding, but not for anything else, including: at the gym, running, etc.
Old     (kristian)      Join Date: Nov 2002       11-30-2009, 12:36 PM Reply   
I wear two knee braces when I ride, but work out/cycle/play sports/build/move furniture/surf, etc etc without them and my knee's are strong. As long as you do other activities to keep your knees strong you should be fine, I would never ride without my braces and I know they've saved me a couple times since I've been wearing them.

(Message edited by kristian on November 30, 2009)
Old     (xbones)      Join Date: Mar 2007       11-30-2009, 1:40 PM Reply   
I asked about this same issue while getting fitted for my CTI custom after my ACL reconstruction this year. My dr. and my PT basically said there was no study showing that they worked for preventative care... which surprised me. So i didn't get one. I'm sure there are plenty of other arguments but thats the info I received.
Old     (irishrider92)      Join Date: Jun 2009       11-30-2009, 2:12 PM Reply   
YES! get one asap!

Was in the same position as you during the summer and had decided i didn't need the other one so i just went without it. 1 lucky escape from a bad fall later and I've been wearing them ever since. I only twisted it but the thought that I might have done something serious was the scariest thing in the world. Besides this I've never had any knee injuries on either leg but just wear them anyway. Its like a helmet. You're not going to crack your head open on a slider before you start wearing one....

You'll only weaken your knees if you wear them all day, as in when walking around and stuff. Only wear them when riding unless you do something else that poses a risk to your knees. If you want to be even surer, do some 1 leg squats to build up muscle around your knees
Old     (trevorcurry)      Join Date: Jun 2007       11-30-2009, 2:19 PM Reply   
I tore my mcl in my right knee this summer. Since then I have been wearing 2 knee braces while I snowboard and I plan on wearing 2 braces when I wakeboard. I don't wear them while working out, running etc...
Old     (lesstalkmoreride)      Join Date: Nov 2008       11-30-2009, 2:30 PM Reply   
ACL injuries are no fun for sure...

I am helping with medical research regarding ACL injuries while wakeboarding, and would really appreciate any input you guys may have on our quick survey.

Im sorry for the brief hijack, but I am passionate about this and really want to look at the wakeboarding/acl injury relationship through science/medicine rather than speculation. Who knows what we will learn. So please dont hate, participate...ha

Heres the link (no spam, promise!):
http://spreadsheets.google.com/viewform?formkey=dHZiV1RLbUNIMU1zeHFJTXFjeG9Wamc6M A

Thanx
Old     (adamsilcio)      Join Date: Oct 2007       12-01-2009, 6:55 AM Reply   
justin, took your survey bro. thanks everyone for the feedback. i will definitely be considering it and most likely get another brace, as well as keep my legs strong.
Old     (adamsilcio)      Join Date: Oct 2007       12-30-2009, 1:56 PM Reply   
it's in.... the white one is the one for my right knee. the black one, i been having since i blew my left knee two years ago. i feel more confident now to try riskier tricks and go bigger...

Upload
Old     (hayes)      Join Date: Aug 2007       12-30-2009, 6:04 PM Reply   
Braces without a doubt can help prevent you from blowing your knee. Especially, in a sport like wakeboarding, where the main cause of blown knees is from landing "straight-legged". Most high-dollar braces can be set so that your knees never lock out.

Like mention above though, they should only be worn when wakeboarding and not all of the time.
Old     (joe_crawley)      Join Date: Jan 2007       12-30-2009, 6:34 PM Reply   
"Braces without a doubt can help prevent you from blowing your knee."

I'll take the other side of it since you set it up so easy.

Braces, that improperly fit or shift during use, without a doubt can greatly increase the chance you blow your knee.

I'm 3 years post op on a patellar graft and you'd have to sedate me to get a brace on my leg. I've been hitting a 35 foot stepdown for the past week- probably 80 times now in 3 days of riding- and it's been bulletproof. Braces are great- if you need them. The comfort and confidence of knowing you don't need one is even better in my opinion. I'll probably need one someday though, but I ain't there yet. I'd encourage everybody else to weigh your choice with your doc and not treat a brace as anything but a tool used to overcome a deficiency.
Old     (adamsilcio)      Join Date: Oct 2007       12-30-2009, 10:17 PM Reply   
for true. but my doctor also wrote me a script for this brace so apparently she thinks i need it despite the fact that i have never blown my knee. she said i have a lot of instability in my right knee due to overcompensating for my left one so much since my left knee was completely blown out two years ago.

more and more pro riders are incorporating two braces.... randall, lyman, eddie valdez, etc.

i suppose it is just a personal preference, but for sure people should wear them if they have already suffered an injury
Old     (hayes)      Join Date: Aug 2007       12-31-2009, 7:50 AM Reply   
How about this question. Does anyone know of someone blowing their knee wakeboarding while wearing a brace (Walmart braces do not count!)??
Old     (jrich)      Join Date: Oct 2009       12-31-2009, 12:59 PM Reply   
I blew out my right knee while using an asterisk knee brace. after acl reconstruction i gave up on the knee braces and havent worn one since. I know they wont prevent an injury, but may give you more confidence.
Old     (adamsilcio)      Join Date: Oct 2007       01-02-2010, 7:57 AM Reply   
touche. i definitely agree with jason
Old     (aliwake)      Join Date: Dec 2006       01-05-2010, 2:35 PM Reply   
hey Walt, i blew out my left knee for the second time in oct, and i was wearing my custom cti2.
However - I'd had the brace for 5 years and I'd felt like it hadn't been fitting quite right for the last few months. This time, I tore my ACL, but there was waaaay less secondary damage than last time, and I think that is due to the brace.
I know for a fact that my brace has saved me on other, earlier occasions.
I will be getting a new brace and wearing it when I'm riding again.
My recommendation is only that if you feel like the fit of the brace has changed - go get it refitted!!
there's no way I'd ride without one.
Old     (k9fxr)      Join Date: Jul 2005       01-14-2010, 8:38 PM Reply   
Where do you get one fitted?
Old     (snowslider76)      Join Date: Mar 2002       01-15-2010, 9:26 AM Reply   
I didn't blow my knee but I did re-injure it while wearing a fitted brace after ACL/meniscus surgery. I feel like if I wouldn't have had the brace on I would have blown it again, I just ended up tearing the meniscus and articular cartilage on both bones. I've since had a mirco fracture done to repair the cartilage and some of my miniscus cut out(the first time they where able to repair it). I've learned a huge lesson with this though, PT is much more important than your brace, I did my PT the first time and was back riding after 6 months, once I started riding again I stopped doing PT because my knee felt 90% fine, huge mistake. Of course I can't say for sure I wouldn't have re-injured it if I would have kept up with PT.

Keep up with PT there is no better brace than a strong leg. I'm 7 weeks post op on my second surgery(which actually a mircro fracture procedure is IMO more of a pain in the ass then ACL because you are on crutches for 6 weeks, in the MN ice and snow it sucked!!) Because I've had two surgeries and nerve endings cut my balance sucks, I can't stand on my bad leg with my eyes closed for more then about 10 seconds without falling over. Balance is somewhat important in wakeboarding ha. I'm busting it on PT and won't let up this time. My point I guess is don't rely on just your brace do leg workouts, you don't have to squat 100's of pounds but do something, even if you've never been injured. Surgery sucks, injuries suck, do what you can to prevent them cause wakeboarding is damn fun!
Old     (jeff_mn)      Join Date: Jul 2009       01-15-2010, 11:29 AM Reply   
You've never squated over 100 in your life - pre or post op Smith
Old     (adamsilcio)      Join Date: Oct 2007       01-21-2010, 8:03 AM Reply   
rolf at jeff's comment.

yeah, physical therapy is the number one thing for sure. and if you do wear the brace, you should only wear it when you're riding, not when you're working out.

let's say you can't make it to the gym that often... stretch EVERY day. stretching and staying limber is most crucial my doctor said. the reason for many injuries is because instead of the muscle giving due to a bad fall, it's your tendons, joints, and ligaments that'll have to give. good example, lot of athletes take yoga and ballet. haha, i'm not recommending anyone do those things but the idea is to keep the body limber and the muscles loose.

and that's my two cents

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