knee brace anyone?
 

I am recovering from an old knee injury. I fell from the stairs and landed my knee cap into the edge of a concrete stair step. Didn't break my knee cap, but kept me from walking for a month.

I just started riding more these past 3 weeks and starting to feel the tendon tissue part on top of the knee cap being sore and at time feel like i need to pop it.

so my doctor suggest maybe I should get a knee brace to prevent that much movement of my knee cap when pedaling.

just wonder if anyone here ride around with knee brace and if so, which brand would you recommend?

I've had problems with my left knee for years. Cortisone shots, icing whatever didn't do the trick. The doc gave me a 'shields' brace by heley Weber that I've used since then, which has more or less mitigated my problems as long as I am wearing them. They're basically a combination patellar brace with flexing metal supports running down both sides. The thing with this specific brace is that it's 60 bucks, and the Velcro wears out in maybe 3 months. Not exactly cheap. Id go with the docs suggested brace (if any) since fit and needs are going to vary from person to person. Heck, if it's just a patellar issue maybe all you need is one of those cho-pat straps.

Another thing about braces, depending on how big of a brace you get they WILL screw with the balance of both legs. My right is definitely stronger than the left now, and I know it's working harder as I begin to get knee pain on the right towards the end of very hard workouts. Being able to get out there is better than not being able to at all, but you gotta be careful or you'll mess up the good one as well.

^^ muu... thank you soo much for the info. i've checked with my doc and he said should be fine riding now, but take it easy and avoid the hills. he had suggested me to try some of those brace that has opening on top of the knee cap, but it feels uncomfortable as it pushes my knee cap inwards more than it prevents it from moving around.

i'll look into the Heley Weber brace.. if velcro craps out in 3 months, i might as well use duct-tape. :) thanks for the info~