Knee support and Protection

[HypoxiaBMX]

Can anyone help me? Been back on the bike a couple a months and I want to get some very good quality knee support. I have no experience of BMX specific pads.

Can I get any that provide good support and a hard cup for patella protection in case of a hard impact?

The impact protection is a minor consideration - i primarily need support, and my knee girth is unusually large.

When I used to grapple, my physio showed me how to tape my knee up to support it, but I do not fancy using tape if I can find a good knee support that does not restrict movement.

Any ideas appreciated.

Thanks,

Aldo

[Flatcap]

Aldo, PM TwoBobRob, he's your best man for advice on knee support/protection as he's had loads of problems himself.

Daz. 

[TwoBobRob]

Aldo, are you carrying any knee injuries/damage?

[HypoxiaBMX]

Last time I injured it in April '05. It was diagnosed as cartillage damage on the inside of the knee. The only treatment was rest i.e. no more grappling for me. I reckon that I would have been okay to get back into training after about 4 or 5 months, but by then inertia had seriously set in and I had filled my free-time with much less energetic pursuits. Anyway, after 3 years of no exercise, I had gone up from a pretty lean 16 st 3lbs to a seriously out of shape 19st 2lbs. Then I got back on my bike and am now suffering with pain in my ankles, my left elbow, my right knee, my right shoulder and the right side of the back of my neck. This past week I have been off the bike due to lack of time and bad weather, which has given my body a chance to heal. The only thing is my knee is still knacking. Today it improved a lot, though. The pain is directly above the kneecap, this time. I am not inclined to see my doctor just yet, because I find them pretty depressing. I want to manage my knee by strapping it up when I ride, and also as time passes, lose some weight.

Any advice v much appreciated.

Aldo

[TwoBobRob]

Ok, cool.   Obviously I'm not a doctor or owt, but my knee has taken me to hell and back over the past year and I've picked up a little bit of knowledge along the way.

So if we forget your weight for a minute  (I'm 2 stone overweight too), I was told that the best thing for my knee was continuous compression. Nice and simple, a shaped neoprene gasket.  I was very sceptical at first, but I've been wearing one for a year now anytime that I'm standing and it works.

By happy coincidence, you can buy a padded version from a couple of different skate/bmx companies.  I have a pair made by Smiths that have a small amount of padding over the kneecap and that's what I've been wearing since my return to riding (such as it is).

The compression helps to control swelling, and the neoprene holds some heat in there which helps prevent further injuries.  Because it's not a big ole plastic/carbon hinged affair its unlikely to break your leg either.

Once you're done riding, get home and go through the Rest, Ice, Compression, Elevation routine.  I find myself that after riding I don't so much need the compression, but I get great relief from the ice and elevation.  Use the same hand to check the temperature of each knee, you'll feel a difference - the sore one will be warmer of course. You need to get the heat out of it.


I'm sure you know all this already, so I apologise if I'm teaching you to suck eggs.....


I'll find you a link for the gaskets I'm talking about.  Wait there   

[TwoBobRob]

http://www.billys.co.uk/english/productresults.php?dept=1563&group=Y&PHPSESSID=0jifn4vs792s2mca1h4bjbb214


Right, there's a few there, but I'm interested in the Federal ones for a tenner.  They're a direct rip off of my Smiths ones, and exactly what I'm talking about.

You could go for a more elaborate looking pad, but I have no experience of them myself.  Especially with regard to support.

I'd grab them if I were you, especially for that money.

You'll need xl for sure, don't worry if they seem tight, they'll sweat in a fair bit and to be honest, you need em tight 

[HypoxiaBMX]

Excellent.

Thanks a lot.

I will check them out right now.

Cheers,

Aldo

[firebird4130]

This is probably not relevant, but I used to suffer a lot with ankle roll, where your foot turns over and you end up with a tennis ball sized lump on the side of your ankle ,afterwards you can't walk for about a week. After you've had this a few times your ankle becomes really prone to it happening again as it becomes weaker due to the ligaments snapping. Anyway I tried all these neoprene ankle supports and they're absolute sh1t, like the ankle piece of a wetsuit is gonna help??,but this one actually works and is quite cheap too (was considering spending £60 on a similar one till I saw this) it has inserts down the sides which prevent the ankle rolling.
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&rd=1&item=110268528716&ssPageName=STRK:MEWN:IT&ih=001

[fugazi]

I've got a decent knee brace, got it through my physio when I blew my left knee years ago, it's mostly neoprene with some sort of plastic/metal? ribs all through it, works very well, if a bit sweaty but keeps everything where it should be, if I can find it I'll post up a pic, only problem was you couldn't get a kneepad over the top of it as it's quite bulky , those gasket type pads that twobobrob recommends are also very good & I use something very similar myself.   

[diesel]

I've been running a neoprene support from Boots about £12.

It keeps the heat in whilst I'm ridding which is great.

It supports my knee cap from rolling over - again a bonus.

[billy-bmx]

isaac got a proper knee brace for like 70 quid or somthing ill find out where he got it from

[HypoxiaBMX]

Federal ACL's ordered.

I will update when I receive them.

Cheers all.

[TwoBobRob]

Of course we both know what will help our knees the most eh?   

[billstup]

Are you doing any streching (sp) ?

It could just be your quads tightening up a bit from exercise, which it turn pulls on the knee cap causing pain just above it 

[bmxer4ever]

A little known fact - you can self refer to an NHS physio without going to see a doctor (which is generally a waste of your time and their time anyway).
Check out your nearest NHS health clinic and see if they have physios.
Then just make an appointment.
Better safe than sorry, let me tell you....

G

[TwoBobRob]

 

[HypoxiaBMX]

Definitely gonna check out the self-referral option. Never heard of that before.

On the subject of stretching - the simple answer is no. However, I do make some attempt to warm-up a bit first.

In future, I am gonna do some stretching before I ride.

Thanks for advice,

Aldo

[bmxer4ever]

My fiancee is a top physio here in Glasgow, so I get ALL the inside info.!