BRACE YOURSELVES.. or Maybe Not.

Before I even start this I have to say that I am not a licensed medical professional. Do not take my words as such. I have got to the point where I'm calling my doctors by numbers because there's too many of them for me to remember, though (I'm meeting # 10 tomorrow, an otolaryngoloist).

To brace or not to brace? That is the question. The jury seems to be out on whether or not braces help or hurt during physical activity, especially knee braces. But first, let me take you back to why my knees need bracing in the first place.

I was blessed with hideous bone structure in my knees (back and hips, too, thanks mom). Doing a lot of high-impact sports during my youth was not great for the 'ol joints. I have pretty prominent Osgood-Schlatter disease lumps under my knees that have been painful my entire life. I had to brace my knees on and off for years, especially during track, but overall I had no major problems...

How I feel anytime I recall this story

...until one fateful night at a club that I hated with all of my might. Okay, to be fair I didn't really hate this place at the time, but it's an after-hours club that is open until 6am. I often spent at least one weekend night there at a party my friends and boyfriend-at-the-time were running, meaning I was often there until some ungodly hour of the night (or morning, I suppose). I don't remember why, but I was asked to go get one of my friends who was DJing. I was about to open the the swinging door to the DJ booth when the owner of the club came bursting through. I tried to twist and get out of the way of the door quick enough for him to pass by without running me over. The next thing I knew I was on the floor literally seeing stars and trying not to pass out again. As I tried to piece together why exactly I was on the floor I realized I remember feeling a huge pop in my left knee, and the pain was coming back with a vengeance. Thankfully this took place in the lounge, so I was able to haul myself up onto a couch. I sat there writhing in pain for a few minutes, unable to get up and get help. I could already see my knee swelling through my pants. After a few minutes one of my friends passed by... I have no idea what I said but it was something along the lines that my knee was broken (it was not). I had always wondered why the bouncers had ignored me while I sat there grasping my knee, rocking back and forth, on the verge of passing out. It turns out they thought I was having a bad drug trip and I was trying to ride it out. A+ service, dudes.

Look at my insides. 

I went to the Massachusetts General Hospital ER. MGH is rated # 1 overall best hospital in the country, and # 4 best orthopedic hospital in the country, but somehow didn't have a knee brace or any pain killers to give me (NOT EVEN AN ADVIL). They said I dislocated my knee cap, gave me crutches, and sent me on my way. An orthopedist ordered a MRI thinking I had torn my ACL. The results came back, and his exact words were "Molly, you see the white stuff? That's not good." I had a small tear my in my mensicus, a partial dislocation of my kneecap, a strained MCL, and a sizable bone bruise. ALL FROM MOVING OUT OF THE WAY OF A DOOR. I hated the story so much that I started compulsively lying when people asked me what I had done. People that ask about your injury are typically doing so because they want to tell you their own story. "Are you a dancer? Because I had a knee injury when I danced." Why yes, I was a dancer. "Are you a runner? Looks like you did the same thing as I did!" Ah, yes, Molly the cross country runner. Whatever, all of it sounded better than "I got out of the way of a door a club."

I had weird tan lines for a while.

I spent that summer home in New Hampshire, which was great timing since getting around the city on Vicodin and crutches was not the most fun I've ever had. Thankfully surgery was not part of my recovery plan. My orthopedist thought I was young and healthy enough that the tear would mend on its own. I started my recovery with "Kurt The Hottie", a local physical therapist that my mom had seen for her own knee injury. Kurt The Hottie was a man shrouded in mystery. My mom always spoke affectionally about him, his "Hottie"-ness, and his kind disposition, yet no one ever met or even seen Kurt The Hottie. I almost fell out of my chair when I found out he was going to be my physical therapist. To clarify, he was a handsome and kind man who often brought me homemade popcorn to eat while he tortured me, but I wouldn't put him in the "hottie" category. My biggest hurdle in PT was simply getting my leg straight. My knee had been so swollen that I hadn't been able to straighten it for weeks, and my hamstring completely locked up. Getting a leg message for an hour sounds nice, but I promise you that I was pouring sweat and fighting the urge to punch Kurt The Hottie the entire time. Once my leg could straighten, he introduced me to Kinesiology Tape, or KT tape, and taped my knees (shown above) in ridiculous ways all summer. Despite looking like an idiot, KT tape did wonders for me. More on that later.

Once I was recovered enough he suggested a specialized brace for patellar subluxation and patellar tracking, my two biggest problems. I'm prone to knee injuries because the structure of my knee joint forces my kneecaps to track to the sides, not straight like a normal human being, which makes it very easy to dislocate, sprain, or tear something in my knee. Well, the brace cost me $80. Kurt The Hottie suggested buying another one for my right knee, since the same problem was just as likely to happen to that one. I decided to take my chances. In our next session he told me to leave my $80 knee brace off for my exercises that day, because "the jury's out on bracing, it can actually make your knee weaker." Kurt The Hottie, I thought, if you just had me spend $80 on a knee brace I don't need I will slap you.

Fast forward to today and I still have a significant amount of knee troubles. I can't fully straighten and lock my left leg without my kneecap popping, and that knee cracks about 25 times a day. My right knee is okay for now, but occasionally it riots against me and reminds me that I have the joints of a 90 year old. I'm terrified of injuring my right knee or re-injuring my left, so you can imagine my terror in skidding down rocky mountain trails.

It seems that there's two schools of thoughts on bracing. One is that it keeps everything where it should be, can prevent injury, and, in a case like mine, forces you to strengthen the appropriate muscles. The other is that braces limit your mobility and cause the muscles, tendons, and ligaments to essentially go to sleep since they don't have to work, eventually weakening the area. So what to do?

No one looks this good using this machine. She is a lie.

I've found what's best for me is to only use braces when I feel I really need it. I've worked a lot on strengthening my leg muscles, and I think it's really helped. I had my kneecap pop out of place while I was running recently and thankfully it immediately corrected itself. I attribute that to what I call the prostitute machine (pictured left). Why call it the prostitute machine, you ask? Because you spread your legs as far apart as possible and squeeze them together. Your goods are really out there on display unless you're wearing XL sweatpants. But the real point is that the inner thigh muscles are what hold my kneecap in place and prevent it from popping out to the side, and I think it's what saved me from another dislocation. I do almost all of my exercise without braces, but occasionally I do use them if I'm in pain. I have two full knee braces, the expensive one, and a knee strap that helps alleviate Osgood-Schlatter's pain.

Go, bionic knees, go!

The problem with braces and hiking is that they can get really uncomfortable really fast, especially if it's hot out. This is where KT Tape has come in really handy for me. I don't know KT Tape works, but it's been great for me, especially when I don't want to have a big bulky brace on in 80 degree heat. That being said, I never go out on the trail without at least one brace in my bag. I usually end up putting one or two on before the end of the trip. My rule of thumb is to put them on if I'm getting tired or descending. A huge number of injuries occur on the descent; you're often tired, going much faster, and sliding around more. One misstep can end in disaster. So, I strap on my "bionic knees" and hope for the best!

Bracing versus not bracing versus KT Tape versus a combination of all three is really up to the individual and their needs. I will always need some sort of extra support, but I've found that training without the braces has really helped. Brace or no brace, I'm ready for someone to just give me their knee joints and call it a day. Happy bracing, everyone!