Knee support

[KatyMac]

My right knee is being annoyingly painful; I've had a couple of falls (2021 & 2022) & I bumble along doing my physio exercises and soaking it

But right now it's horribly painful & the support I've been using has given up the ghost

So I need to buy a new one - how do I pick

Has anyone any recommendations?

I just want to keep it in the plane and stop twisting

Bump

Did you 'do' anything? Could it be OA or similar?
I'm being investigated for inflammatory arthritis, and when my knee was playing up recently (so sore and couldn't fully extend my knee or fully bend it, so range of movement inhibited at each and, I've
Managed to over stretch my knee (getting in the bath 😱😯) and my physio thinks I've broken the ACL

See if you can get some bloods done and maybe see your GP or physio (some surgeries have a physio too)

Good luck!

Thanks - Not sure I have

But I have fibromyalgia and hypermobility so...my joints are pants anyway

I cant work out if this is 'new' or just more of 'existing' pain

I know strappin/supporting it helps

I also have hyper mobility, as does my DD15, she can see how it affects my joints now, albeit it's probably exacerbated my psoriatic arthritis, which is the general thought of what I may currently have 🥺

I have one dodgy knee that i buggered up with gardening early last year. According to xrays it's fine, and physio did help quite a lot after four months but it is still too dodgy to put my full weight on it going downstairs (sometimes up too), and it gets weak when driving unless I use a basic support.

I put this on to drive and it helps a lot (clutch leg) but I wear it outside my jeans. Wear it for too long and it gives me a sweat patch there 😬
https://www.boots.com/neo-g-open-knee-support-universal-size-10153657

That sound so similar @Pixiedust1234 I'm off to boots!!

It's the pits isn't it @FloofCloud ?

I think I'm going to strap a tennis ball at the back of my knee when I go to bed
it's the only thing I can think of to stop my knee going backwards when I'm tossing and turning in bed
It hurts like buggery when that happens

Ouch!!!

Can you leave it strapped overnight for a few days until it starts healing? Are you doing those physio exercises every day still or just whenever? If every day then it might be time to go back and ask for some different ones.

I'm trying hard to do daily but fm and cfs cause PEM so I dont get the do a bit more each day and it'll get better

I either don't do enough as I give up with pain/exhaustion or I do enough and I'm wiped out for 3-5 days or I do too much and I'm in bed for who knows how long

So I concentrate on moving in the correct plane doing little bursts of 2 or 3 as many times as I can manage

I just realised I've not taken my supplements for "some time" possibly 3-5 weeks so that could be my major Hiccup right now!!

God brain fog

I have knee arthritis and meniscus tears. Also hyper mobile!

I had 6 months of physio and it made it worse. Many of the exercises concentrated on the quad muscles.I have recently change the exercises I do and started working on the glutes and hamstrings ( clams, bridges and hamstring stretches)and have to say the difference is quite remarkable. After two years of pain I am beginning to walk with a little less discomfort and hoping this will continue to improve.

I don't really find that supports help- I have lots of different designs and they don't really seems to do much!

When I was having knee pain caused by fallen arches pulling my knees out of alignment, I used a knee support that was a neoprene tube with a hole for the patella, and a fat ring of neoprene around the hole. They were comfortable to wear, fitted over tights and under loose trousers, and I could do pretty much everything in them except kneeling or deeply flexing my knees. Would such a support be rigid enough for you, or would it be suitable for you to sleep in?

The thing that really helped my knee pain in the long term, was going to a Podiatry clinic, who did a Gait Analysis and gave me Orthotic insoles. Rather expensive, but I have very little pain in either knee now.

I have knee support I bought off Amazon. They are very good and strap on with Velcro. Can try and find the link if you like?

@KnottyKnitting I do clams and bridges (not great at bridges tbh) what is the other one

@Aparecium do you think it would stop an accidental bend backwards when I caught on the sheets?

@FadedRed my gait is appalling I have hip displasia and the bottom of my spine e is rigid with scar tissue from walking badly - but this pain is new

@Trixiefirecracker I bought the one @Pixiedust1234 recommended but an upgrade with spiral steel rods....its made things worse I think

Steel rods?? Is that like a whalebone corset for knees? 😯 I find the one I linked very supportive, even though it doesn't look like it will. I think it's due to the thickness and being able to adjust the tightness with the velcro straps.

I noticed you mentioned supplements earlier, what do you normally take for your joints?

They are in little pouches, which actually gives me great ideas for making corsets and bodices!!

I have magnesium in my bath, plus I take magnesium, potassium, zinc, vit d, vit k2, vit b12, ubiquinol, methyl folate

I tried rosehip but I was arsing about with my hrt and on too much progesterone as that stuffs up the joints

Any other suggestions?

I gave the whole list as tbh I forget what is for which!

I don't understand. Do you mean your knee bending the wrong way?

I'm hypermobile, so my ligaments are pretty loose - so some joints aren't stable recently my knee has been wobbly- it twists & causes pain but at night it sometimes gets caught in a sheet and pressure causes a backward movement and it hurts and wakes me

My support gives firm, gentle, consistent pressure all over the joint, with the hole stabilising the patella. It is not a straight tube: it has a slight curve which probably would support your knee against being passively over-extended in your sleep. It is comfortable enough to sleep in (and warm).

There are even more supportive versions which include straps that wrap diagonally around the joint, but neither form have any kind of rigid bracing.

It is probably not supportive enough for your day-to-day mobility.

Turmeric is good for joints apparently and collagen. I take both and do notice a difference when I don’t take them…if you are peri menopausal or menopause collagen especially should help. Lots of weak joints/joint pain and general aches and pains in the menopause sadly which will probably make everything worse! ☹️

I'm hypermobile (I have Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome) and also have this issue.

My problem is that I was issued with knee supports by hospital, but they are a PITA as they are always slipping (especially when worn on top of leggings)

Compression leggings work quite well for me, although nothing is really going to change the fact that they move too much, and cause pain. I have to pace myself and know my limitations. I also have to rely on medication when needed.

The only thing that is really effective is a HyMo suit. You can Google this, but it basically a made to measure suit, with reinforcement at the joints. I have a top and bottom, as my shoulders also pop out, but you can just get the bottoms. They are like leggings, but like I say, have built in support. As it's a bespoke piece of clothing, it doesn't come cheap (around £300 for each part, so £600 for the top and bottoms in total) However, mine was funded by the NHS. Worth asking your physio about, or asking to be referred to Orthotics. Even if you can't be funded for this, Orthotics can recommend and supply a variety of other knee supports.

The best thing about the HyMo suit is that it can be worn for up to 10 hours per day. If wearing it at night time is the best use for you, then that's what's recommended. Other supports aren't designed to be worn in bed.

I've self referred to the physio as I have nobidea how I hurt it and it is getting worse

Good luck with the physio @KatyMac

I tried turmeric but they were messing about with other drugs then so it wasn't a fair trial @Trixiefirecracker

That suit sounds amazing! @RainbowZebraWarrior