Recovering from a knee injury can be a long and painful process. Depending on the severity of your injury, you could be looking at different treatment options.
For relatively minor sprains, a bit of ice, rest, and anti-inflammatory painkillers could be all you need.
On the other hand, for more serious knee injuries, wearing a knee brace could be required in order for your injury to heal properly.
If you’re wondering how to put on a knee brace, we’ve got you covered with this brief guide.
We’ll explain in detail how to make sure that you’re putting your brace on properly so that your knee can get back to 100% as quickly as possible.
First Things First: Choosing the Right Brace for You
There are several different types of knee braces available to choose from.
Fortunately for you, in most cases your doctor or physical therapist will recommend the proper type for you after making their diagnosis.
More minor sprains may just call for a basic compression wrap; more serious injuries will require a more heavy duty knee brace.
Here are a few important pointers to keep in mind when selecting your brace:
- It’s vital to find a brace size that fits properly; thankfully most commercial options are available in standardized sizes
- With the above point in mind, if your brace doesn’t fit well initially, you should definitely speak to your doctor or physical therapist to see if they can provide any assistance with finding a proper fit
- It’s usually a good idea to get two separate braces for hygienic purposes
The Nitty Gritty: How to Put Your Brace on Properly
Now that you have the right type of knee brace for your specific injury, it’s time to put it on properly. In order to do so, simply follow these steps:
- Start out by rolling up your pant leg in order to get the fabric out of your way. As a quick side note, it’s usually preferable to wear shorts with a knee brace so that no extra material gets in the way, but depending on where you live and the time of year, this isn’t always possible.
- Place your foot through the opening of the brace and slide it out through the bottom.
- Slide the brace up your leg until it’s resting over top of your injured knee. Alternatively, if you’re using a wrap-style brace, simply press it against the injured area before winding the straps around your leg.
- The majority of knee braces feature a hole in the front to indicate exactly where they should sit over top of your kneecap when worn properly. This hole is there to guide you for two main purposes — comfort and to allow ventilation to the injured area.
- If you’re wearing a compression wrap, you should be all set by this point. However, if you’re using a knee brace that comes with additional straps, now is the time to fasten them.
- First make sure that the brace won’t slide up or down your leg after lining up your kneecap with the hole. Wrap the straps around your leg and then secure them on the front using the Velcro strips.
A good guideline for how tightly to secure your brace is that you should be able to fit one or two fingers in between the brace and your leg.
A Few Additional Guidelines for Your Recovery
Now that you know to put on a knee brace, we thought it might be useful to also provide you with a few helpful pointers that will assist with your recovery.
- As mentioned above, you should wear your knee brace with shorts whenever possible to minimize the chances of clothing material getting in the way
- In the event that wearing shorts isn’t possible, and especially if you live in a colder climate, it’s recommended to wear the knee brace under your clothes. You should aim to wear loose fitting clothing like sweatpants in this case
- It’s also important to periodically remove your brace to allow your knee to breathe. This is also why it’s recommended to pick up two different braces as well; it’s rather helpful to have a back-up brace to use when the other one requires cleaning
- While wearing your brace, it’s important to remember to keep most of your weight off of your injured knee. You’ll also want to try and restrict the range of motion of your injured leg as much as possible while you heal.
Final Thoughts
While it’s true that putting on a knee brace isn’t exactly the most complicated thing that you’ll ever do, it’s still absolutely vital to your recovery that you are indeed properly wearing it.
When properly fitted, a knee brace will help to provide the support that your joints need to expedite the healing process.