Thread: Recommendation needed for a "good" knee guard/support??? Warning - long post!

Intro :
32 (and a bit) female, currently 28kg over goal weight, mother of 2. Several years prior to children I was highly active and represented Brisbane at state level for highjump/discus/javelin/100 & 200 metres four years in a row at a Little Athletics level before doing major damage to the ligaments in my left ankle age 15. I was still fit and very active until age 19 when medication to decrease endometriosis & increase likelihood of pregnancy, interfered with my metabolism. I now struggle with a very slow metabolism (fit all symptoms for metabolic syndrome).

Hx:
Two years ago I injured my knee and the way I did it was rather unusual lol and very hard to describe, other than as I was turning and pivoting on my right knee (full weight bearing also as the left leg had left the ground by this stage), I hit the towball on the back of my stationwagon (both hands full of groceries, so add another 15 - 20kg of inertia/gravitational pull).

The towball stopped my tib/fib insitu, unfortunately, the rest of me kept going, so I went sideways and forwards and then backwards. If the tailgate hadn't been open I probably would have ended up on the ground and snapped all my knee ligaments, tendons and much more, thankfully I managed to fall into the back of the wagon, where I stayed until lifted out.

The only description i can give that is close to what I felt, was that my knee was zapped with a high strength cattle prod on the lateral side (i have been zapped with one of these before thanks to a cousin in our childhood), and then the overall pain was unbearable (and i have had 2 children naturally, this was worse!) but the worst thing was that it shifted the tib/fib sideways to the medial side of the femur by approx 3 cms (I could palpate the medial half of the proximal end of the tibia & medial menisci ). It did not however create a full tear in any of the ligaments (only god knows how!). The feeling that I needed to physically HOLD my knee together with my hands was quite surreal (but very tiring when waiting several hours in a&e dept).

Dx:

I was given a knee splint by the hospital intern ( http://www.orthopaedicsandtrauma.com...nee_Splint.gif ) and had to use crutches for close to a month before my knee cracked back into its correct alignment (literal use of word crack to describe the sound) of its own accord (well other than self physio/massage etc). I was xrayed for fractures, and then told I had a "sprain" by a gp when still complaining of pain three months later. I was in too much pain for it to be a simple sprain, but financially couldnt afford to pursue further treatment, so did my own physio & rehab based on journal articles & text books. I have a friend who is a naturopath and found that I can control the pain and inflammation using arnica & a tumeric/inflavinoid tablet, so I am not relying on the typically overprescribed nsaids such as voltaren (not meant for long term use anyway) & ibuprofen & paracetomol.

I have since gotten to the point where I can run for short periods, balance, bounce etc without pain, but I am finding that my LCL & MCL are still weak and every now and then I will "sprain" them. When this happens I observe & palpate a medium to large mass (golfball size) of fluid on the anteriolateral portion of the "hinge line". This takes about 2 weeks to go down and the pain to stop. I need an MRI to confirm, but I suspect I have torn the menisci in several places, to be able to displace this much fluid.

Current goals:

I am trying to go to the gym at least 3 times a week without injuring myself (cycling is very painful, walking/running depend on the day, legpressing 50kg for 4 sets of 12 reps is not painful but very tiring on that knee in particular), and I (pleading insanity) signed up to play soccer this season (4th division) and had my first training session last wednesday night.

I also work parttime in a job that requires me to stand most of the day, with multi-directional movements and occasional squatting, and when out on prac (8 mths left of my degree), I spend 8 - 12 hours walking miles and miles back and forth (surgical or medical wards) or standing for long periods (theatre). So my knee tires very quickly.

I can neither financially or timewise (single parent/part time work/university student/paying a mortgage) afford surgery at the moment, and would actually prefer to avoid it altogether (found an alternative therapy using adult stem cell injection that sounds interesting and will be researching that further when time allows). The only advice given by the three gp's I have seen is to lose weight (very hard to do when constantly reinjuring my knee).

Needs:

What I am looking for is a knee support/brace that is flexible enough to run/play soccer/work etc, yet strong enough to support slowly increasing my weight and reps on the leg press (and assist with standing calf raises etc).

However I have found most of the elastic ones at local chemists and sports stores (rural area here) only aim at keeping the patella in place and generally supporting the acl. I need something that will hold the LCL & MCL comfortably tight, and preferably something that is adjustable (after 10 hours into a 12 hour shift I am finding my knee is quite swollen and my current elastic support is too tight).

Conclusion:

So, finally, my query is : can you recommend something for the above needs, have any experience with people with similar injuries who can recommend products that have been successful etc. Maybe I need several, one for each need?

Thanks in advance for any information/advice you can give (and thankyou for taking the time to read my novel length post lol).

Doll!

don't know about braces but i'd suggest:

1 - work up to high rep sets for squats, deadlifts and lunges to buildup the connective tissue in the knee then work on absorbing and transferring force (jump/land/sprint)
2 - foam roll your entire leg frequently, ecspecially quads and itb
3 - there is an epidemic in women's sport of ACL tears, ecspecially in soccer from all the cutting and a lack of glute control...not to worry you but be bloody careful with our history
4 - you'll also need to address ankle mobility, hip mobility, stretch quads, hip flexors, calves, strengthen vmo and activate/strengthen glutes

where do you train? you'll need an A1 trainer, of which there aren't many that could address the points above

how much reading can you do?

Jackal's Gym - Store

Rehband knee sleves are awesome. They wont roll down at the top and are a ver comfy fit. Alot of support too. I use these myself

Swans05,

how much reading can I do : hmm lol well I will be doing approx 1500 - 2000 pages ( at least) a day for the next 5 weeks for uni. If you have any reading material related to the above to recommend to me, please let me know.

Training: Am rural NSW, and while I am at home, I train at the local gym, trainers there are minimum cert 3 at tafe, at least one is halfway through his bach in movement science. A friend has a bachelor degree with first class honours in sports medicine/human movement science & dietetics/nutrition and I use her as a bouncing board for any ideas or queries. While on prac it will be just me, in a tiny little bed/sitter in hospital nursing quarters, so will be taking my 5kg medicine ball, some strap on weights (for my legs) and a set of dumbells & my big exercise ball (i currently sit on it while studying to try and work my core as well as trying to avoid back problems from long hours stuck in an office chair, can also use it for stretches and alternative pushups etc).