 Poster: A snowHead
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I have osteoarthritis affecting the medial compartment if my right knee. I am considering an offloader/unloader brace to make activities including skiing more comfortable.
Does anyone have experience with the specific offloader braces, either Offloader 3 or the Nano from Donjoy when skiing as I am concerned about compatibility with a ski boot?
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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I have tried a Nano OA, and even with my short legs there's just room between my boots and liners (which are also high).
Nice and very lightweight brace, very easy to adjust the offload (as long as you don't lose the Allen key!), though still quite a 'Robocop' feel, and the straps make it feel quite bulky. But certainly gives a solid feel with adjustable jointline pad pressure.
Donjoy also do a Climaflex OA unloader brace, which is cheaper (a bit) and a wraparound type rather than a frame, just one side strut I believe. Also the web-type Reaction OA which you just bend to shape the offload pressure which you need; cheapest of their offerings.
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Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
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Get it fitted correctly, then i don't think it matters which model.
Jonathan Bell
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@Jonathan Bell, But do they actually work to relieve stress through the joint?
I've been using a Ski Mojo for a few years now, but my (current) knee problem is on the medial side of the joint, with little medial meniscus left and cartilage badly damaged, hence osteoarthritis etc. and the Mojo sits on the lateral side so isn't specifically helpful in this regard.
Not asking for a diagnosis, you understand, just wondering whether one of these new donjoys would be good post surgery and in the long term. The old ones really didn't do anything except provide a little more stability through the recovery period and I'm curious if these are actually significantly different.
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Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
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Thanks for the replies.
I’ve put up with discomfort for a few decades but it’s got worse in the last couple of years and having had a bad flare up that meant I actually had to go and get it assessed and diagnosed. It was really painful after a weeks skiing this year on hard snow, which is why I’m now looking at some non surgical relief.
Taking in to account the OA is partly due to having ruptured my ACL (not reconstructed as it wasn’t a thing back when I did it) and having a comminuted fracture of my tibial head back in the very early 90s, I decide to go with a Donjoy FullForce brace rather than an unloader. The aim being support and alignment. Followed the sizing guide and with a bit of tweaking it’s comfortable but the amazing thing was the immediate relief of the OA pain when wearing it. I can walk up and down stairs normally!
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@Chaletbeauroc,
Unloader braces do work but not for everyone. The more angulated the leg the less they are likely to work. So they are best suited to patients who have not got very advanced wear. I think they also work well for walking, golf but the higher the impact the less they are likely to work
Jonathan Bell
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@Jonathan Bell, Thanks, I think.
Trying to understand the level of active support they give, i.e. the amount of reduction, if any, of the forces going up and down through the medial node. The description _implies_ that they do this, but is very short on details, whereas previous knee braces we've had really only give protection against unwanted lateral or rotational movement to avoid damage dues to instability.
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Interested as I’ve just got an ossur unloaded brace for lateral compartment OA. I’m naturally have knock knees (plus a bit more for the bad knee) so I’m wondering if it will work? Also seems too long to fit with ski boot. My knee has been swelling skiing.
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You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
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@Chaletbeauroc,
Sorry if not clear. If we assume that the painful compartment is , at least in part, due to overload then the brace can diminish that by taking some of the load. However i think the amount that the brace can absorb is relatively limited- so advanced disease where the “bandy” angle is larger the brace will struggle.
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@stevieb,
I have a donjoy defiance offloader due to a torn meniscus.
I use it for skiing and it fits fine with the boot. I have the short calf version for this reason (and also becomes I'm not that tall!)
The biggest issue is that it doesnt fit under my normal ski pants so I had to revert to some older baggier ones!
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