Soft Neoprene Knee brace.

[Beerslinger]

Does anyone use one of those soft knee braces just as a preventitive measure? I'm just wondering if it could possibly be a cheap fix that would help me prevent another knee injury.

[Irongirl]

I used to use one but it became a bit of a crutch - and it seemed like I still always had knee pain anyway.

since I stopped using it, I still have some knee problems, but, probably less than before.

[Doonst]

I wore one for 15 years, as a preventative. Whenever I hiked, played baseball or volleyball. I couldn't ride my bike without it. I wore it running for the first 4 years, gave it up about 18 months ago. Running fixed me. It centered my kneecap, kept it from floating. I still wear 2 playing volleyball, tonight even.

[garth]

I have used one in the past when my knee felt a bit "wonky" with success. Mostly i have used it when transitioning from outdoors to a tread mill. For some reason i get knee issues for the first few weeks.

[La]

What kind of knee issues are you trying to prevent? That kind of brace may or may not be appropriate for whatever your potential injury is.

I'm not sure what those braces are supposed to "do."

I have the neoprene ankle brace that I used for compression after I sprained my ankle. But I wore that all the time, not just while running. Once the swelling went down, I didn't wear it anymore.

[Lazagna]

I've used one on some of my runs. Physiotherapist suggested it would help keep the knee cap from moving to the side, which causes some pain, and therefore reduce problems. It worked for me, but I only pull it out if I sense my knee feeling OFF a little. This, for me, arose when I was getting work done to reduce sciatica nerve issues.

[Beerslinger]

I'm not 100% sure what I suffer from as I don't have a sports physician to go to, but from reading articles I think it's itbs.
My G.P. thinks I've torn cartlidge and it's tendrils are "floating loose and get caught in the joint from time to time. I imagine it could be this, but wouldn't he have talked to me about day surgery to go in and clean up the floating threads?

I'm just wondering if it helps support for a variety of problems.

[La]

I've heard (but not tried it myself) that the knee strap (above the knee) helps with this.

[Cupcake Girl]

I've torn cartilage and it's tendrils are floating loose and get caught in the joint from time to time. I imagine it could be this, but wouldn't he have talked to me about day surgery to go in and clean up the floating threads?

I too have some floaty bits in my left knee. Years ago my GP sent me a specialist to see if I could be surgical candidate. Because I'm not in the NHL or even close to that calibre of athlete, the operation wasn't worth their time. So I was handed a sheet with some quad strengthening exercises - to help stabilize the knee - told to take Advil whenever the floaty bits knocks themselves into an uncomfortable position and get myself a good knee brace to wear only when doing something beyond normal walking. So I wore it for hiking and running.

For some reason, the floaty bits have found a pain-free home somewhere behind my knee cap (I assume), it just took some time and I'm close to being knee brace free.

If it is ITBS that's a whole other kettle of fish and a knee brace won't help - at least it didn't help me when I had it last year. I did try one of those IT straps but found it useless and promptly returned it. Physio and rolling out the IT band after every run fixed it for me.

Not sure if this was any help or not.