Knee brace for hunting?

kodiakfly

kodiakfly

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Long story short, I fell again and reinjured my ACL graft. "Only" a partial tear, but a tear. I can't get it repaired and healed before hunting season so I'm going to try to hobble through with a brace and see what happens.

So those of you who've hunted in a knee brace, which one did you use and any suggestions? Model numbers if you have them... I need something to hold this knee together and give me enough extra support that I can hike around on half an ACL.

Thanks.
 
I had my ACL, MCL, PCL repaired June 24, 2015 and hunted in September for two full weeks. I took my brace was capable of doing it without. I worked extra hard during therapy to make sure I was ready. I had to be careful and had some soreness, but I was ok.
 
You can have a custom one made, carbon fiber and titanium. Mine was paid for by insurance. They took a casting of my leg at the physical therapy facility.
Mine (ACL) was completely severed and they grafted it together with part of my kneecap and ligaments. I always use a neoprene brace now when I am hiking, hunting, etc. Mueller brand that I got at Wallyworld, mod# 6441
I used the custom brace for the first couple of seasons of heavy activity after the surgery.




Bob
 
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I agree with Bob. Speak with your surgeon about an ACL functional brace. Depending on your measurements, you may be able to get one "off the shelf". It's still a durable medical equipment item requiring a prescription, but would adjust to fit you well. If not, then you would consider a custom one. When I have patients such as you that are going to go hard on an injury (despite my recommendations :rolleyes:!) I will recommend something like this. It won't completely protect your ACL or replace it, but it will provide more support/stability than a store bought brace and also serves as a reminder that the knee "isn't completely right." I like to have my cutting and pivoting athletes use them for the first year after ACL reconstruction once they return to sport. Bob is also correct that these can be expensive. Hopefully your insurance will cover at least a portion if its prescribed by your physician. Above all, continue rehabbing your knee. Get that quad strong and maintain range of motion. Not sure how far out you are from surgery, but the PT is as important as the procedure.

Best of luck and happy to help if you have any more questions.
 
I have one custom made. It's titanium. I can hike and all day with it. I have a loose pcl and mcl. All from previous injuries to the ankle from the same leg. It is more prevention for me. Doctor said he could tighten it up, but would not know the extent until he got in. Works great and gives my knee good support.
 
I used a Donjoy for many years and liked it a lot. However, I do agree with talking to your Dr and see what you may need.
 
That's a bummer dude. My 6'1" niece is going through the same thing. She tore hers and had surgery her sophomore year, and now as a senior and with a college scholarship for volleyball, she tore it again......she doesn't know what she's going to do as of right now. I don't envy her or you. My wife is still recovering from her ACL surgery last June.
 
Do you guys have specific models you can recommend? Without going into detail, I'm not real pleased with my surgeon's aftercare, or his office. They prescribed me a "fitted sports brace." Insurance shot that down. My primary doc said if I had a specific model, she'd try to push that through. Or do I just get one on amazon?

Buy yes, I'm strengthening everything around the knee so that hopeully, I just stabilize the knee and I can at least try to hunt.

My surgery was October 20th, and my second fall was a few weeks ago. My surgeon has been pretty lacking on what I can and can't do, or even what my outlook is. I had a graft from my hamstring, but he's not really giving me any feedback, other than "go to PT" and "we'll check back next month." So I'm not even entirely sure what I'm supposed to be doing now.
 
Just a Walgreens special worked for me but I was only dealing with a torn medial collateral ligament and man did that think stink when I took it off. Best of luck getting around this fall. What a bummer.
 
My knee issue was patella related so the brace I use won't help your situation but I love my DonJoy React. It took me about a half a dozen braces to find one that was comfortable enough to hike in all day. My ortho doctor set me up with some junk braces before I bought my own. Good luck with the recover.
 
Man that sucks. I've had both my ACL's repaired. After the second one I vowed I'd do everything I could to keep my legs as strong as possible year round to help avoid injury but I've still had a couple moments that gave me a scare. My second Dr. was very conservative and told me the grafts don't really start to grow with the bone until about 1 yr. post op. That is when the ACL starts to get strong. Regardless, strengthening the muscles around the knee help stabilize it.

Unfortunately I don't have a good knee brace recommendation as I just used a cheap Walmart Mueller one for most things. The "durable medical device" i got post op didn't have any flex at the knee. I only had that because I had a miniscus repaired at the same time as the ACL and my Dr. didn't want any unnecessary movement for the first 2 wks. so it was designed to immobilize my entire leg. It sucked.

To me, it sounds like you need to find a good PT. From what I gather reading your posts above you don't have much of an idea what is okay and what isn't. Your PT should be helping you monitor your progress and letting you know what is okay. Having used two different PT's, I can tell you they are not all the same. The second PT I went to outlined activities that were okay to do at what point based on my progress. He also gave me specific exercises to strengthen specific muscles and increase flexibility. By that I mean exercises to do daily at home or at the gym in addition to my time at his office. Those exercises included step by step paper instructions I could take home. It made a huge difference in my recovery to have specific milestones and steps to get there. It really helped me feel more comfortable with what I could do without damaging my knees any more. A good physical therapist should also be able to help you find the proper knee brace.

I will add that had surgery in May an was hunting again in the fall of that same year. I wouldn't have trusted myself on a sheep hunt or even hauling an elk quarter out but if you work hard you can reasonably get surgery now and hunt this fall. It would be better to have more time to recover but it can be done depending on the difficulty of the hunt you have planned.
 
kodiakfly, this is the company we use. The first 5 braces (minus the pink) would be what you'd be after. The problem is they are so size specific. Perhaps you could contact the company and ask for contact info for the closest rep near you. I know they aren't cheap, but they will sometimes work with patients for a cash price. The only problem will be if they require a written prescription... Although I have seen a handful even on amazon before. They also have add-ons for patellar issues if needed.

https://www.djoglobal.com/products/brand?f%5B0%5D=im_field_brand%3A10

Another respected brand is Breg.
http://www.breg.com/products/knee-bracing/functional-ligament
 
Asterisk makes some really nice braces for motocross racers, there is the possibility it may be too bulky for hunting but I'd check them out
 
Good links and advice from weedwaker42...A partial tear can mean a lot of different things as different parts of your ACL are working at various angles of flexion. That said, I'd stick with a true ACL brace over a sleeve for what you have described. Shoot me a pm or call if you have trouble finding a brace rep. Insurance will likely cover it with an MD script. If not, the Breg rep in CO is a good friend if you need to work out a cash deal.

If swelling is gone, work on strength till you can do single knee bends without pain or delayed swelling. Progress with dynamic stabilization (stuff like single knee bends with no support, single knee bend to touch various points on the floor, single knee bends on a slightly unstable surface like a dynadisc). This will give you the best chance to prevent re-injury, but your at risk regardless. Find a good PT if you can - ask for someone with an OCS or SCS (advanced credentials in orthopedics or sports medicine) or someone that treats a lot of athletes. If your knee swells after a work out, you are probably overdoing it - don't do too much. Swelling can create scar tissue & it's smart to "listen" to your knee... Give me a call if you need more info or want a general progression for ACL rehab. Best wishes, Steve 970-471-4582
 
Thanks again guys. I was on Taptalk earlier, so I kept it relatively short and to the point. So let me now elaborate. I had surgery in October. Surgery went well and PT went well. My PT was telling me how far ahead of schedule I was and I really did put myself into it, turning my rehab into workouts and while not pushing the limits, going as far as she'd let me, listening to my body and all of that. By January my PT told me she couldn't do anything more for me and that I was best on my own and I agreed. Since then, it's been Stairmaster, box steps, some lateral movement training and body weight strengthening. My knee felt/feels pretty good...say 8.5/10. Then I fell down a flight of stairs carrying my 8 wk old baby and I couldn't grab the hand rail because I had my baby in my arms. I folded my leg up next to my ass and tumbled down the stairs. Felt a pop, was sore, the whole thing. Now my knee feels 6.5/10. MRI and "partial tear" with higher signal on the upper attachment point, with some edema in the joint and abrasion to the meniscus. I think that about sums it up. So back to surgeon to see where he says I'm at. And that's when he doubles down on his wishy-washy prognosis. "Well, you'll probably be ok...I dunno...just take it easy for a while..." I ask when can I squat/leg press/hike/carry a pack, etc and I continually get "well, we'll just have to see how you feel, lateral movements at 6 months, elevate it if you have swelling..." He'll never say, "ok, you can do leg press at X months" or "you can hike on uneven terrain at X months." That's why I have no idea where I'm at in my recovery. I can deal with the pain, no significant swelling and full ROM. So with hunting season a few months away, I'm approaching it as I just need to brace my knee and then work around it. So a brace I can hunt in is key. Doc won't give me a straight answer (and that's fine, I know each case is different, liability, etc.) so I'm going it on my own as safely, but as aggressively as I can.

And I should be able to get insurance to pay for it. They just balked at it when the doc's office just wrote a scrip that said "sports brace" with no other information, other than it'd cost about $2k. My general doc says if I can get her a model number, she can write me a scrip for that and see if that flies. The brace I have now from the surgery itself is the DJ X-Act ROM. That thing is a monster and I'm past wearing it other than at the gym because I'm lifting heavy weights upper body, so I am loading bars at the gym and my PT said I should wear it if I'm moving 45's around the gym. OK, I can do that. I just need a brace I can wear under hunting pants and is more comfortable than the monstrosity I have now.

Thanks again. I'll take these links into my doc and see what we can figure out.
 
+1 for the DonJoy braces, If you don't go the allout custom route. The "ARMOR" model is semi off the shelf
Since the & Lower loop sections are rigid, the critical measurements are mid thigh & around the calf
I have the ARMOR & it came W/ interchangeable cams that drop into the hinge to vary travel
so your leg doesn't hyperextend.
 
Old_Navy said:
+1 for the DonJoy braces, If you don't go the allout custom route. The "ARMOR" model is semi off the shelf
Since the & Lower loop sections are rigid, the critical measurements are mid thigh & around the calf
I have the ARMOR & it came W/ interchangeable cams that drop into the hinge to vary travel
so your leg doesn't hyperextend.
Click to expand...

Thanks. That Armor model, it's fairly comfortable?
 
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