Knee braces? Yes or No?

Either way you look at it a bad femur break sidelines you for 6 months to a year if everything goes smoothly. So I guess we are comparing similar damaging injuries in the grand scheme of things. I'd rather break a wrist.

Geez, eveyone I have heard about doesnt take that long but I dont want tot find out!

This whole thread is making me queezy now!
 
Either way you look at it a bad femur break sidelines you for 6 months to a year if everything goes smoothly. So I guess we are comparing similar damaging injuries in the grand scheme of things. I'd rather break a wrist.
Both suck for sure. I feel like a lot of people not wearing braces think if they put them on then they have to break their femurs. People use to scare me out of wearing them. It takes such a rare chain of events for it to happen like in Jons case that I just have to accept it as a risk of getting on the bike at all, because in a crash like that something has to give. It's nice to hear he still chooses to wear em too.
I'd like to know what the pro riders choose on this subject. In my head every single rider on a national gate wears them. Sure it's not the case but it'd be interesting to know.
 
Antibiotic spacers....picc lines for recurrent infections. A femur can really set you back. I think Bornhorst really got the terrible end of the stick when he broke (I think it was his femur) his leg....Took him over 2 years to heal up.
 
As Jon16 says, femurs can be relatively quick (almost said minor - they're not) to heal and
be back riding.

Cadaver parts are great if you're a cadaver. Since you have no idea where they came from,
you don't get to say how strong they are. Or intact. Or disease free. Yes, they work great.
For old fat guys that need to go to work but don't need to occasionally snag a toe on a root.
But if you're planning on riding in a manner that might blow one out again do you really want
to roll the dice on how strong it is?

Note, if yours are notoriously crappy, this may not apply.
 
As Jon16 says, femurs can be relatively quick (almost said minor - they're not) to heal and
be back riding.

Cadaver parts are great if you're a cadaver. Since you have no idea where they came from,
you don't get to say how strong they are. Or intact. Or disease free. Yes, they work great.
For old fat guys that need to go to work but don't need to occasionally snag a toe on a root.
But if you're planning on riding in a manner that might blow one out again do you really want
to roll the dice on how strong it is?

Note, if yours are notoriously crappy, this may not apply.
Sturd, I am curious as to what you do for a living that you harvest donor tissue? Sounds like a cool job.
 
Antibiotic spacers....picc lines for recurrent infections. A femur can really set you back. I think Bornhorst really got the terrible end of the stick when he broke (I think it was his femur) his leg....Took him over 2 years to heal up.

Bornhorst broke his tib and fib at the ankle. He got infection then it wouldn't heal. Poor kid was on crutches for a year.

My youngest step daughter broke her femur. She was off about 6 months and the ortho surgeon said femur is better than knee. We all wear knee braces. My husband couldn't ride without them.
 
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Cadaver Tissue, and no issues here. Sturd, do you have any idea of what your talking about (facts)? Or did you just stay at a Holiday Inn Express last night?
 
His brother in law or some related family has a really cool job. And when you see that fuzzy curly haired guy you know something is terribly wrong.
Really cool stuff. I am curious as to when it is that they harvest the tissue and how. No doubt this has to be an interesting job, just never knew who did the dirty task.
 
A surgeon harvests the tissue. And the sooner the harvest the better viable the tissue is.


An example: I've seen patients left on life support while clinically brain dead in order to save the liver and other viable transplant organs when is listed as a donor. So....does that answer your question ?
 
Either way you look at it a bad femur break sidelines you for 6 months to a year if everything goes smoothly. So I guess we are comparing similar damaging injuries in the grand scheme of things. I'd rather break a wrist.

All depends on the luck of the draw...my wrist took six months before I got my cast off. Then again my body was also trying to repair 4 broken vertebrae at the time as well.

But back to knee braces. Did all of you that wear them get specially fitted for them? I've been holding off for too long, I want to try them on first, I want to know they are quality, and fit/move well. I don't want to order $1200 worth of gear and have it not fit...

What do you guys think of the Asteriks that have the brace attach to the top of your boot to avoid the rotational factor that pops the MCL? (that's my weakest point, my canoe feet catch a rut, feel a pop, burns for a couple hours then aches for a couple days) Seems to be better if I keep riding (probably terrible logic).

How hard is it to get a Doc to write a script so insurance can help? Any docs on here willing to help a brother out? haha
 
Sturd, I am curious as to what you do for a living that you harvest donor tissue? Sounds like a cool job.
I design medical devices. I used to work for a CRBard division that did the tissue thing - collect,
remove all the stuff that could cause allergic reactions, package, sterilize, and market cadaver
ligament. Cool stuff.

The curly fuzzy headed guy is really good at what he does. If you need him, be glad it's him.
 
Anyone have any thoughts on knee braces? Not sure they offer any protection or not.
I could not even consider riding w/o knee braces My kness are bad, have been from birth My thinking is id rather break a bone then mess up a joint. I have used Asterisk Braces since starting to ride again in 2008 I now have the ones that have the turn dials on the back to tighten and loosen them I highly recommend these, they sure are alot less hassle to put on then the ones with the draw strings like I used to have bones will heal, joints will not, simple as that, once kness get hurt they will never as good as new My .02 cents
 
I design medical devices. I used to work for a CRBard division that did the tissue thing - collect,
remove all the stuff that could cause allergic reactions, package, sterilize, and market cadaver
ligament. Cool stuff.

The curly fuzzy headed guy is really good at what he does. If you need him, be glad it's him.
Thanks for the reply Sturd! Sounds like you have a pretty awesome job, interesting to say the least.
 
All depends on the luck of the draw...my wrist took six months before I got my cast off. Then again my body was also trying to repair 4 broken vertebrae at the time as well.

But back to knee braces. Did all of you that wear them get specially fitted for them? I've been holding off for too long, I want to try them on first, I want to know they are quality, and fit/move well. I don't want to order $1200 worth of gear and have it not fit...

What do you guys think of the Asteriks that have the brace attach to the top of your boot to avoid the rotational factor that pops the MCL? (that's my weakest point, my canoe feet catch a rut, feel a pop, burns for a couple hours then aches for a couple days) Seems to be better if I keep riding (probably terrible logic).

How hard is it to get a Doc to write a script so insurance can help? Any docs on here willing to help a brother out? haha

My first pair were EVS carbon webs, they were bulky and couldn't really customize them to my legs. Those got stolen and I bought Asterisk cells, the lace system on the back really gives you a nice custom fit feel. There are a few other screws to adjust the upper thigh and shin contours as well to fit to your leg. They are Very comfortable (as comfortable as my custom fitted CTIs). The new Ultra Cells are bulkier than the OGs. I would strongly suggests getting the original cells.

This year I got a script for CTIs after I had Acl surgery. After insurance I still paid $800 for the pair(fully equipped with knee cups, etc). I've heard of insurance covering 100%, but that wasn't the case for me. My insurance was billed almost 4k though. They are very comfortable, just a tad better than asterisks. They made my right one too small so I have to get it remade since I rebuilt leg mass during my recovery. Ctis are warrantied for life which is nice, other than that I'd save the hassle and get asterisks for your first pair.
 
I could not even consider riding w/o knee braces My kness are bad, have been from birth My thinking is id rather break a bone then mess up a joint. I have used Asterisk Braces since starting to ride again in 2008 I now have the ones that have the turn dials on the back to tighten and loosen them I highly recommend these, they sure are alot less hassle to put on then the ones with the draw strings like I used to have bones will heal, joints will not, simple as that, once kness get hurt they will never as good as new My .02 cents
Aren't the new ones much bigger than your old ones? A buddy compared his ultra cells to my OG cells and they looked huge. Both were mediums too. Since then I haven't been recommending the new ones but if the size is not noticeable while riding then I'm sure they're great with the new dial system.
 
Cadaver Tissue, and no issues here. Sturd, do you have any idea of what your talking about (facts)? Or did you just stay at a Holiday Inn Express last night?

I did stay at a Holiday Inn last night and woke up this morning with an aching knee and no ACL. What happened to me last night!!!

Oh, I just remembered. It was a few beers and I was already missing my ACL. All is good.

It is knee braces for me now.
 
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