What if you could get pain relief in your knee by wearing something. Would you do it? Studies show that wearing an O.A. knee brace will
provide relief to the medial or lateral compartment of the knee where arthritis has developed. As with all the categories of knee braces, there are a number of
different types of braces to choose from in the O.A. knee bracing category. They all do the same thing. But some of them work much better than others. This article
will start by describing the structure and simple mechanics of the braces.
Let's imagine an arthritic knee for a moment. The femur is sitting on top of the tibia.
The cartilage which served as padding between the two bone ends is nearly gone. Usually one side of the knee compartment is affected more than the other. The
inside is the medial, the outside is the lateral compartment. If you want to relieve the medial compartment, three points of pressure must be applied to the leg. Now,
let's start with a frame of reference. Imagine looking at yourself in a mirror. Focus on the lower extremity, your legs from the thigh down. The forces that need to be
applied to your knee will be coming from the sides, either one from the inside and two from the outside. Or vise versa. In the case of relieving the medial compartment
the forces a brace needs to apply are as follows:
1. Force number one is above the knee on the inside of the thigh pushing out
2. Force
number two is below the knee on the calf. And again it is on the inside of the calf pushing out. (The first two forces are pushing in the same direction.)
3.
Force number three is at the knee. This force is coming from the opposite direction, that is, from the outside pushing in.The result is the medial compartment being
separated and relief from pain!!!
An effective O.A. knee brace will be designed to apply these forces especially as the knee moves from flexion into
extension. As the compartment, either medial or lateral, is opened up by the application of these forces the result is pain relief. Now, can you imagine taking your next
step without that stabbing, sharp pain anymore?
During the exacerbation period (inflammatory stage) if I can choose between taking pain medication or
wearing something for pain relief, I will choose to wear an O.A. brace! But what happens when you take the brace off? You go back to the way things were
before.
Read my article entitled "Knee Pain" to find out about two programs listed that will help you become pain free. They are well rounded programs that
while used in conjunction with each other, along with a brace, can restore you to having pain free knees once again. The ultimate goal being that you will not need
to depend on any brace or medications for pain relief.
