Is Asterisk good for other extreme sports?

[ironben]

I would like to find out if any of you used Asterisk for other sports like skiing or snowboarding. I'm looking for knee braces for my wife and my self. We both ride and we also snowboard. So far no injury to knee but my friend two month ago simply felt and busted his knee. I don’t want this to happen to us so I want protection. There are some braces advertised as dual uses, so maybe this brand can fit and protect the knee during winter sport too. I read a lot on this forum, what a great place!
Here one site where they have brace for dual sport- but they expensive.
like: The DonJoy eXtreme Armor Action knee brace
Thank you.

 

[Patman]

In addition to the obvious application I give my stamp of approval for mt. biking, hang gliding, white water raft & kayaking, and soccer. :cool: :cool:

 

[Smit-Dog]

I discussed this with a few sports medicine docs. They all agreed that, assuming you have good knees to start with, braces like Asterisk should not be used while engaging in other sports.

More info here:

http://www.dirtrider.net/forums3/showthread.php?t=72551&highlight=ortho+skiing+crutch

http://www.dirtrider.net/forums3/showthread.php?t=54074&highlight=ortho+skiing+crutch

 

[Okiewan]

I discussed this with a few sports medicine docs. They all agreed that, assuming you have good knees to start with, braces like Asterisk should not be used while engaging in other sports.

More info here:

http://www.dirtrider.net/forums3/showthread.php?t=72551&highlight=ortho+skiing+crutch

http://www.dirtrider.net/forums3/showthread.php?t=54074&highlight=ortho+skiing+crutch

Braces in general, or braces like Asterisk?

 

[Smit-Dog]

Braces in general, but I did specifically reference the Asterisk brace when talking to them about using them for downhill skiing. This was a small sample, and opinions vary, but this was the consensus I got.

Their advice did go against what I was thinking originally, especially since I have buddys who've hyper-extended and wrecked their knees skiing, snow boarding, and wake boarding. I was really hoping they'd give the thumbs up to using braces as a preventative device so I wouldn't be "that guy". Instead, I use a ski machine to help build up my legs/knees for those types of sports.

Now as far as riding dirt bikes, I wouldn't ride without Asterisks... just like a helmet in my mind. Wish they made them for kids. Most everytime my son crashes, it's seems like his gangly knees take the brunt of the abuse. Simple strap-on knee pads just aren't doing the trick.

 

[Chili]

I think that you would find a large contingent of ortho's would give you the same advice in regards to MX and braces.

 

[Smit-Dog]

Perhaps it depends on what you're looking to get out of the braces, and how you use your knees/legs in a particular sport.

In my case, I specifically asked about a brace application for downhill skiing, and preventing hyper-extension. When skiing, my knees spend a lot of time constantly bent somewhere between 45° and 135°, bouncing up and down acting like shock absorbers. The muscles in the calfs, all around the knees, and especially the thighs are under a lot of stress and get a huge workout. Legs are burning and sore big time after a day of long, fast, bumpy runs. Your knees are used to help steer and absorb impacts. My fear is that when you wipe out at speed, the long skis and heavy boots have the potential to twist your legs into pretzels. I'm not worried so much about banging up my knee due to impact, but rather popping an ACL due to twist and extension. Again, the general consensus from the orthos I talked to was that, for my knees and for the sport of downhill skiing, the braces would tend to act as a crutch. Skiing without them would help to build and condition the muscles and ligaments, which in turn would help prevent injury.

Now with riding a dirt bike, the workout / stress to my body is spread out over the entire body - come Monday morning I am sore everywhere. Arms, neck, stomach, thighs all feel it. What I'm primarily worried about on the trail is clipping or smashing my knee against a tree, which for all intents and purposes is like hitting concrete. I think Alan Randt dislocated his hip (ouch :ohmy: ) clipping a tree with his knee at an ISDE event.

I'm also worried about getting tangled and crushed by my bike (or someone else's) and banging up the knees. As Thump's crushed Asterisk proved, your bones and ligaments are no match for the velocity and force of 250lbs of metal flying through the air. To a lesser extent, for the type of riding I do, hyper-extending is less of a worry. Still very much a possibility, and that's why the complete protection of the Asterisk is the only way to go compared to traditional strap-on braces.

 

[Patman]

Smit-Dog, I used to ski alot, pretty much 3-4 times a week at a minimum when there was snow. My brother and I came across a bunch of flags set on one of the steeper runs at one of the resorts we ran at and went through them a couple times. After the third run a guy came running over and begged us to join the ODP, we asked what was involved and it seemed like too much work and not enough fun so we blew it off. I had several instances where the long ski exerted a lot of un-natural forces on my knees and I went with what the doc told me. Turns out the doc was wrong. No big deal for him but it sucks for me. I discussed this history with my current knee doc and he had no doubt that if I had been wearing a quality brace in the instances when I had eaten the big sno-cone the damage would not have been done. He also said hindsight is 20/20 but that strength trainning under controlled conditions and competition or in my case extreme non-competition that protection seems to be a better choise than risking the injury.

For the most part I don't think doctors will be real inclined to suggest using something like a knee brace. Partly because the insurance companies frown upon paying for them and partly because they may become a crutch of sorts. I believe if a combination of proper conditioning AND protection in instances where there is risk are combined there is a happy medium but people are generally lazy so perhaps it's better to let them damage a part they need to spend the restof their life dealing with? I wish I didn't have to, and I seriously doubt ANY doctor would want to either.

 

[Patman]

Oh, BTW a great endorcement in my eyes is "Dr. Steve" who's sister is a orthoped that had him convinced he didn't need knee braces. Well... He bought a pair at Dirt Week and wears them! Then again he makes his living using his hands and legs to operate the equipment he uses in the O.R. on peoples eyes.

 

[Smit-Dog]

Based on the research I've done, and the docs I've spoken with, I'm comfortable with my decision not to wear braces downhill skiing. With that said, I won't ride a dirt bike without them. And if I was a serious wake-boarder getting air, I'd be wearing braces. I'll also be wearing Asterisks as I pick up snowboarding (along with a helmet and wrist guards); the knees take a lot of abuse! I don't skimp on protective gear... I know the cost of a wrecked body.

But it's evident that a lot more objective research needs to be done on using braces as preventive devices in sports. What I've found is not all that up-to-date, is contradictory, tends to focus on football players, and none of it has included testing on new, high-end off-the-shelf braces like Asterisk.

Some references I've found (and I'm open to learning more)...

Sports and Recreation Injury - Prevention Strategies
British Columbia Injury Research and Prevention Unit
Link Here

Knee Braces, Prophylactic
David L. Montgomery
Dept. of Physical Education
McGill University
Link Here

Prevention of Knee Injury
Roald Bahr, professor in sports medicine
Oslo Sports Trauma Research Center
University of Sports and Physical Education
Oslo, Norway
Link Here

American Academy of Orthopedic Surgeons (AAOS)
Position Statement - Use of Knee Braces
Link Here

Sports Injury Bulletin
Knee brace for anterior cruciate ligament injuries: Will they help proprioception?
Link Here

 

[Okiewan]

Wish they made them for kids.

Keep that in mind.

 

[dante]

I don't understand how wearing knee braces could be bad? Can the braces hurt you somehow? I don't think so... It seems stupid to tell somebody they should not wear them snowboarding for preventive purposes... Clearly they make hyperextension almost impossible or at least hinder this movement... The only bad thing I can imagine is having a tib/fib break instead of bending the knee sideways or something, but again your better with broken bones than reconstructive knee surgery... I have heard that Doctors are carful with advice, they don't want you coming back tryin to sue them... But it seems like common sense would tell you your better off with them... Maybe psycologically with knee braces you might get the superman complex and just become over confident, but just keep your self in check... The braces are just fancy knee pads... I'd wear them if i could afford them... If you have the cash I'd be buying myself some today... I'd wear them to skate board, snow board... I'd consider wearing them to surf too...

 

[Patman]

dante I believe anybody that has had a soft tissue knee injury will tell you that they would MUCH rather deal with a broken bone. That EXACT issue happened to LazyBoy at DirtWeek this year and while I'm sure he'd rather not have any injury the broken bone in his leg which I strongly suspect was a result of the braces he wore is going to be much less of an issue down the road for him than having to get his knee rebuilt.

SmitDawg you are totally right in making the decission that works best for you. I made the same decission and it didn't work out so well for me but that's the way thing go. My knee doc laughed when I asked about studies because he also pointed out they were by and large done in the relm of football which really doesn't have much direct applicable information to dirt bike riding of any kind except they are both sports with human participants that have knees. He and I have been fighting off the knee replacement thing for a few years now and it's pretty much come down to as long as I can suck it up we'll keep the OE in place because the aftermarket stuff really isn't as long term and the soft tissue damage I have accumulated won't make it any easier when we do have to swap out some pieces. I really hope you don't ever have to second guess the decission you have made, honest!

My son wears knee braces when he rides also, it's not optional. He was using them in soccer but since they are not mediacally required for any physical reason they can be contested so he uses them much less to avoid the problems.

I guess maybe my great contribution to man kind will be leaving my battered knees to science so that a doctor can really see how insane the idea of not providing protection to these huge joints really is. Should everybody be wrapped in bubble wrap? No, but I've gotten flu shots and still gotten the flu and this was a suggested "precaution".

 

[darringer]

I agree with Patman. It seems ridiculous to me that wearing braces to possibly prevent an injury is bad. I have been fighting knee problems for 25 years. I doubt it takes a bone that much time to heal. Arthritis in the previously injured areas are a problem, also. If I could have saved my knees with the quality braces of today, I would have worn them for all of the sports I played. No matter how strong the knee joint is, it is still the most vulnerable joint. Since braces don't assist in movement, only help to prevent over-movement, using them is not the same as a crutch. Don't let good knees go bad! Trust me, you will be sorry.