by Lisa Rayne

Created on: February 08, 2009

Caring for a knee brace is not a tremendously difficult task as long as the wearer is mature enough to accept his or her necessity for having one. A knee brace may help treat one's ailments significantly but, as I learned, it will not make you superhuman.

As a girl approaching high school, my future held a promising soccer career. I played aggressively and with heart. During the summer before I began ninth grade at my new school, I was recruited to an international girls team for a tournament called Sports Challenge International in Belgium. In the championship game, I had a breakaway from my defensive position. Approaching their goal, I planted my right cleat, maneuvered to fake the defender, and tore my anterior cruciate ligament (ACL).

Needless to say I did not play the rest of the game, or the rest of the summer for that matter. My first orthopedist advised that I get an athletic knee brace and complete physical therapy before attempting surgery. It was more a matter of our HMO insurance plan at the time. Before being operated on after a third opinion and a change of insurance, I had already acquired my black Townsend Design knee brace. I was 14 years old.

That was eleven years ago. Though I shed the brace for regular physical activity not long after rehabilitation and surgery, I do still wear it to snowboard. Except for a few extra pounds acquired since high school, the brace still fits and functions fabulously. The brace is basically top and bottom neoprene-covered shells of carbon graphite and hinges made of titanium and stainless steel. Care is simple: as needed a little WD-40 spray on the hinges and a simple soap and warm water lather on the shells.

As a mischievous teenager, however, there was one thing that was not explained regarding the care of my brace. Perhaps the comments of "Bionic Woman" or "Terminator" bloated my ego -when I wore the brace I felt unstoppable. While in recovery from surgery, I did many things a post-op patient in physical therapy is not advised to do (e.g. dance and cause general mischief). I learned at my summer job, a water park, that the brace is nearly, although not entirely, foolproof.

The ride that nearly broke my knee brace was a ride called Surf Hill at Wild Rivers in Irvine, California. The Hill consists of a waterslide racetrack where riders lay on their bellies on slippery mats and dive down the hill face first. To slide faster, competitors often (against park regulations) roll up the mats to decrease friction and lift

• 1
• 2
• Next Page >>