Do athletic braces really work?

[CaRaMBa]

I dunno anything about this. What are the different kinds of athletic braces? Is the mask for the face a kind of brace? Info please. :)

[Kaboom!]

I play basketball regularly with a doctor friend and he says that in most instances wearing braces only helps psychologically. I have bad ankles and used to injure them regularly during high school and college but every since wearing ankle braces the last few years, I haven't injured them yet.

Peace.

[Ira]

Kaboom!: There's this study by the American Orthopedic Society for Sports Medicine which lasted from 1988-1995, studying the effectiveness of taping and bracing in the prevention of ankle sprains among 300 football players. Of 158 ankle sprains, 115
occurred in players wearing tape. Review of the injury reports revealed that braced players returned to full participation two days sooner than those players injured while wearing tape. This one conclusively shows benefits in ankle bracing. However, this doesn't hold true in all types of braces. The American Association of Orthopedic Surgeons, for example, believes that the use of prophylactic knee braces has not been proven effective in reducing the number or severity of knee injuries. In some circumstances, such braces may even have the potential to be a contributing factor to injury. I guess that at least some types of athletic braces would offer definite protection because it limits abnormal joint movements, whereas some would offer merely psychological support (it would make you more conscious and therefore more careful about your movements).

Caramba: There are hundreds of types of athletic braces; Some of the support braces offered protect the knee, ankle, wrist, elbow, thigh, calf, shin, shoulder, forearm,
back, face, and of course, the family jewels.

[jepoy]

I was once told that wearing athletic braces only leads to the weakening of your joints. Personally, i hate wearing protective braces because it hinders my natural movements thus limiting my flexibility.

[This message has been edited by jepoy (edited 11-18-1999).]

[Ira]

Jepoy: I wouldn't put it to the extent naman of weakening joints. :) Its purpose is to limit movements, especially stressful or abnormal ones, so if you don't feel comfortable with it naman and you're careful in the sport you play in then you can do away with it.

[batang uliran]

I had a friend over for dinner last night who is presently a Rehabilitation Medicine specialist at the Hospital of the University of Penn. (HUP) and he confirmed what Ira said that there are no really good studies to objectively confirm that any of these braces work. He mentioned that in general, their sports medicine specialists at Penn don't recommend any kind of bracing or taping if the joint(s) concerned are normal and if the person concerned is a "weekend warrior." Now for activities that go beyond the 1-2x/week variety, selective bracing and taping of joints that are particularly stressed may be done but these type of decisions are very individualized.