My op to replace my ACL is now a week away, just back from the hospital where I had a pre-op meeting with everyone involved.
Speaking to the physio I asked about riding with a brace post op, at the moment I own a CTi edge which I was fitted for several years ago when I first did it (wasnt operated on at the time as I was still growing) however it is now too small for me and can't be worn comfortably. The physio advised me that I would not gain any benefit from using bracing on my knee during sport as if successful the surgery will give me a knee that is as strong as a good knee. She suggested that benefit from riding in the brace was most likely to be physcological and if I did damage it then it would be in an accident major enough to damage even a naturally good knee.
I know there are a lot of monkeys riding with various knee injuries and braces and wondered what anyones experience was of this, have those of you with reconstructed ACL's gone back to riding using a brace of some sort, has anyone had advice that backs up what this physio has said or contradicted it?
The cost of replacing my current brace with one that fits me now is going to be considerable and while it is a price I am willing to pay if it is necessary for me to go back to riding, I am not prepared to pay that much money for what has been suggested may be only a psychological crutch.
This is something I want to get as many opinions on as possible and will be consulting every physio who touches me in the next few months but your experiences would help.
Oh and if she doesnt think I need a brace, what about something like the 661 MX-1/MX-2 guards, do they offer any sort of support aside from hard shell impact protection. I know they are going to be nothing like as effective as a CTi etc and wouldn't touch them if I was riding with an ACL defficient knee but I can pick them up cheap and they may give me just a small amount of peace of mind when I am "as good as new".
Speaking to the physio I asked about riding with a brace post op, at the moment I own a CTi edge which I was fitted for several years ago when I first did it (wasnt operated on at the time as I was still growing) however it is now too small for me and can't be worn comfortably. The physio advised me that I would not gain any benefit from using bracing on my knee during sport as if successful the surgery will give me a knee that is as strong as a good knee. She suggested that benefit from riding in the brace was most likely to be physcological and if I did damage it then it would be in an accident major enough to damage even a naturally good knee.
I know there are a lot of monkeys riding with various knee injuries and braces and wondered what anyones experience was of this, have those of you with reconstructed ACL's gone back to riding using a brace of some sort, has anyone had advice that backs up what this physio has said or contradicted it?
The cost of replacing my current brace with one that fits me now is going to be considerable and while it is a price I am willing to pay if it is necessary for me to go back to riding, I am not prepared to pay that much money for what has been suggested may be only a psychological crutch.
This is something I want to get as many opinions on as possible and will be consulting every physio who touches me in the next few months but your experiences would help.
Oh and if she doesnt think I need a brace, what about something like the 661 MX-1/MX-2 guards, do they offer any sort of support aside from hard shell impact protection. I know they are going to be nothing like as effective as a CTi etc and wouldn't touch them if I was riding with an ACL defficient knee but I can pick them up cheap and they may give me just a small amount of peace of mind when I am "as good as new".