ACL Braces

ACL Braces

Through both personal experience and working with many patients I have dealt with multiple ACL braces over the past 10 years.

As a Canadian Certified Pedorthist and Kinesiologist, I have fit over 100 ACL braces for both pre and post surgery. As a patient myself with tearing my ACL twice, I have also worn many different braces.

Do I Need An ACL Brace?

I commonly get asked by my clients if a brace is really necessary. Depending on who your orthopedic surgeon and or physiotherapist is you will get different responses.

The goal of any ACL repair and rehabilitation should be to function at full capacity once the rehab is done.

To have this happen a full program written by a physiotherapist should be done that usually takes around 6 months. This is one area where a brace can help. Most exercises are done without a brace to allow the surrounding muscles to strengthen.

acl brace 2

When you are not doing your rehab, a brace is a good option to make sure no damage is done while the knee is strengthening and stabilizing.

Another area where using an ACL brace is beneficial is once you start non-rehab exercises again.

Anyone that has gone through this injury and rehab knows that they do not want to do it again. When getting back into your activities you can be tentative and try to put less stress on the injured leg.

football

Surprisingly, it is just as common to tear the opposite leg ACL then to tear the same one again, maybe due to this principle. By wearing a brace it can give you the added protection to start trusting your leg again.

Finally, I would also use a brace with high-intensity activities such as skiing, and snowboarding, and high impact activities like football.

The torque and stress put on your knee during these activities give it a higher chance of re-tearing so the added protection can help stabilize the knee.

The Best ACL Brace For You

There are many different ACL brace options to choose from. The major companies such as Don Joy, Ossur, CTi, and Breg all make great options.

The important factors when choosing a brace come from the person measuring, as certain braces will fit different leg types and be more suitable for certain activities. No one enjoys wearing a knee brace, although going custom can help avoid annoyances such as slipping and skin irritation.

An ACL brace is not a permanent solution and should be used in conjunction with rehab, and then with special activities. Through my own injuries, I have found it is great to have when going into situations where stability could be an issue.

Always listen to your surgeon and physiotherapist and if you have questions about which brace would be best for you come into any Kintec location.

Knee Brace Peter

Peter Morcom B. Kin., C. PED (C)
Director of Pedorthics, Kintec

2 Comments
  • Cory Kaban

    June 15, 2020 at 11:46 am Reply

    To Whom it May Concern,

    My name is Cory Kaban and I am the Development Associate responsible for Gifts in Kind at Covenant House Vancouver. We are a non-profit organization serving homeless youth age 16-24 in Vancouver’s downtown core. Covenant House helps youth who are seeking a way out of homelessness whether through managing addictions or mental health, learning basic life skills, finding stable housing as well as helping youth meet some very basic needs.

    I am writing to you on behalf a youth in our care. We have a young man, a refugee claimant from Africa, who is waiting on surgery for his ACL. His doctor wants him to get a Genutrain S Knee Brace or something that is similar.

    As a non profit we have very limited funds.

    I would like to speak with you about the possibility of Kintec providing us with a knee brace donation? If you could get in touch with me at your earliest convenience, I would love to discuss any support you may be willing to offer.

    With gratitude,

    Cory Kaban
    Development Associate, Gifts-in-Kind
    Pronouns: He/his
    Covenant House Vancouver
    1302 Seymour St. Vancouver, BC V6B 3P3
    Direct: 604-757-6064
    [email protected]

    • Michael Ryan - Director of R&D

      June 23, 2020 at 5:10 pm Reply

      Hello Cory – Thanks for reaching out. I’ll forward this message to our head of store operations and make sure he gets back to you. Best.

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