Knee Strap Guide

Knee pain is something that a lot of sport people, or any one that is active on a regular basis can suffer. There are many different kinds of injuries that you may suffer, however we can separate them into two separate groups. There are acute injuries and there are chronic injuries. A knee strap can be used for both, however it is more common that it is needed for chronic injuries. This is an injury that occurs over a period of time, it is also known as an overuse injury.

How Knee Pain Occurs

Chronic injuries are ones that occur over time. This is the one that you will most likely need a knee strap for. Chronic injuries can come in many different forms but they are almost always for similar reasons. The two main reasons for chronic injuries are

• Excess load and overuse
• Bad biomechanics

Often it is a combination of the two that causes the actual injury. When a sports person does the same movements every day, and there is bad biomechanics, there is too much stress going through the knee. The knee is designed to take quite large loads, however it is not designed to take extra stress when the biomechanics are bad. The knee strap can help correct this, depending on your injury and usually takes the pain completely away.

Injuries That A Knee Strap Can Help

Some common injuries that a knee strap can help are

• Patella Instability
• Runners or Jumpers Knee
• Osgoods-slatter’s Disease
• Chondramalacia
• Patella Tendonitis
• Arthritis
• Bursitis

A knee strap works in different ways for different injuries. Usually the mechanism by which it is so effective is by taking the load out from teh area. Often the injury comes from too much stress through a certain area too often. The knee strap will apply pressure and take the load away. This will instantly decrease the pain that is felt, and will also help to rehabilitate the injury over time. It is relative rest, the painful area is not getting the stress anymore and it will heal. It also does similar work by altering biomechanics slightly. Bad biomechanics means that again, too much stress is going through one area. Once this is resolved the knee will be functioning as normal, and you will significantly reduce the pain.

Different Types Of Knee Straps

Knee straps are quite common, and although there are a few different types, in general they are very much the same. Some people choose to you strapping tape as their knee straps, and this can be effective and do a similar job,  however the tape can start to come off when you get sweaty. Knee strapping is the preferred method for some people. however it is much cheaper in the long run to get a knee stability strap, as tape can be quite expensive. You can also get a magnetic knee strap, which has magnet inserted in it. The theory behind this is that it makes more blood circulate through the affected area. Although this is not a proven treatment, some people swear by it and get great results. Regarding this is is really up to the individual.

Two popular brands that are very popular now are the mueller knee strap and the cho pat knee strap. These are two very high quality knee straps, and are well worth the money. The are both very durable and will last a long time. Although these knee straps are not the be all end all to solve your pain, you need to combine them with appropriate exercises and rehabilitation, they are a very important part of solving knee injuries, and can help significantly.