Hinged neoprene knee supports



R

Robert Austin

Guest
My father suffers from arthritis in his knees but still likes to get out and
about in the hills as much as he can.

He has been looking at hinged neoprene knee supports to give him some extra
support and stop the joint moving in the wrong directions so much.

Has anyone got an experience or recommendations for these. He particularly
suffers going downhill.

Thanks for any help anyone can give.

Robert.
 
Robert Austin wrote:

> Has anyone got an experience or recommendations for these. He
particularly
> suffers going downhill.

I damaged a knee quite badly a few years ago and tried one of
these but I found it to be of unly limited use. They do not
hold their position very well and the creasing around the back
of the knee can become quite painful. It is far more important
to have good musculature to support the joint, which is best
gained through appropriate exercise, and then take a significant
amount of the stress from the knee using a strong pair of walking
poles.

Chris
 
"Chris Gilbert" wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
>
> Robert Austin wrote:
>
>> Has anyone got an experience or recommendations for these. He
> particularly
>> suffers going downhill.
>
> I damaged a knee quite badly a few years ago and tried one of
> these but I found it to be of unly limited use. They do not
> hold their position very well and the creasing around the back
> of the knee can become quite painful. It is far more important
> to have good musculature to support the joint, which is best
> gained through appropriate exercise, and then take a significant
> amount of the stress from the knee using a strong pair of walking
> poles.
>
> Chris
>

Thanks for that Chris, he has got a couple of the neoprene ones without the
hinges and was thinking of getting the ones with the hinges. It sounds like
he would be better using the poles (that he already has but always seems to
leave in the car!). He has been given some exercises that he has been doing
so it is probably just a case of him getting used to using the poles.

Thanks,
Robert.
 
Robert Austin wrote:

> It sounds like he would be better using the poles

I think so Robert.

The supports sound like a good idea but in practice they're
very limited. They're designed to protect vulnerable joints from
excessive exercise during active sport. They're not good for
avoiding aggravating an already damage joint. You also tend to
sweat in them quite badly. I have found poles to be by far the
better option to provide support to an already damaged knee while
out walking. It may be that he thinks that they cant take his full
weight and he may be right in which case he could consider using a
single wooden staff instead, which is what I ended up doing.

Chris
 
On Mon, 7 Mar 2005 11:34:26 -0000, "Robert Austin" <[email protected]> wrote:

| My father suffers from arthritis in his knees but still likes to get out and
| about in the hills as much as he can.

I have bad knees and *always* wear trainers/sandals with cushion soles
(most manufacturers have these under different names) which reduce the
problems considerably. I searched long and hard till I found a pair of
Merrell boots with their version of cushion soles.

--
Dave F
 
On 7 Mar 2005 05:01:05 -0800, "Chris Gilbert" <[email protected]>
wrote:

|
| Robert Austin wrote:
|
| > Has anyone got an experience or recommendations for these. He
| particularly
| > suffers going downhill.
|
| I damaged a knee quite badly a few years ago and tried one of
| these but I found it to be of unly limited use. They do not
| hold their position very well and the creasing around the back
| of the knee can become quite painful. It is far more important
| to have good musculature to support the joint, which is best
| gained through appropriate exercise, and then take a significant
| amount of the stress from the knee using a strong pair of walking
| poles.

I walk with two thumb sticks of length just to below the breast bone. One
is oak and one holly. If I slip they prevent me twisting my bad knees. I
can throw my *whole* weight on one without problems.

--
Dave F
 
Hi,

My friend tried hinged neoprene knee supports and did'nt rate them. When
wearing them he walked slower, plus other people that he was with tended to
alter their pace so as to slightly minimise my friends knee stress .
Eventually my friend decided that the benefits of the supports were indirect
and due to his doing less strenuos activity and also getting more sympathy
from his companions. Now he uses sticks and is more decisive as to which
walks he will attempt.

"Robert Austin" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> My father suffers from arthritis in his knees but still likes to get out
> and about in the hills as much as he can.
>
> He has been looking at hinged neoprene knee supports to give him some
> extra support and stop the joint moving in the wrong directions so much.
>
> Has anyone got an experience or recommendations for these. He
> particularly suffers going downhill.
>
> Thanks for any help anyone can give.
>
> Robert.
>
 
I use the neoprene knee supports, the ones with the holes in them for
centring the knee-caps, and my observations on them are:
Sweaty in warm weather.
Can cut into the back of the thighs a bit.
They do, however, stabilise the knee-cap and have helped me
sufficiently for me to overlook their drawbacks. I tried them when I
first started getting twinges in the knees and this, together with the
use of a single walking pole and cod liver oil supplements has helped
me to a relatively twinge-free existence - managed the South Glen Shiel
ridge without any pains last year.

All the best

BG
 
Thank you to everyone for your advice. I'll pass it on and hopefully
following your recomendations my Dad will get more use out of his poles.

All the best,
Robert.
 
"Robert Austin" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> My father suffers from arthritis in his knees but still likes to get out
and
> about in the hills as much as he can.
>
> He has been looking at hinged neoprene knee supports to give him some
extra
> support and stop the joint moving in the wrong directions so much.
>
> Has anyone got an experience or recommendations for these. He
particularly
> suffers going downhill.

I actually found the elasticated fabric ones better - less rubbing, less
pinching of skin and more support. The neoprene one actually has an
annoying hole in it which if it doesnt fit your knee joint, can make wearing
it quite difficult.

Rob
 
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