Wraps and braces

[Katman]

Lots of fencers use wraps and braces for all sorts of body parts. We talk about equipment here in the armory, so I think it would be nice to expand things a little and talk about the various wraps and braces we use. Maybe recommend a few favorites to your fellow fencers.

I wear a knee brace on my leading (right knee). It's OK, but tends to slip down my knee a little as I fence. I get tired of pulling it back up, and am in the market for a newer one.

http://www.muellersportsmed.com/images/4531.jpg

[Go? Fencing?]

I haven't yet encountered a knee brace that doesn't slip. I wear a brace on both knees: http://www.medicalmailorder.com/imag...nkneebrace.jpg
They work well, but slip down a lot.

I also wear a wrist brace: http://www.zuckermanpharmacy.com/ima...big/589945.jpg
and an elbow brace (can't find a picture). Both these braces are wonderful for me, especially the wrist brace, since it has the glove. I'd recommend it over a wrist brace that's just something that wraps around the wrist.

[sabreur]

I wear these: https://secure.cho-pat.com/products/...roduct_type=10 on both knees to fence and play racketball. They don't slip.

MR

[Zilverzmurfen]

I too wear knee 'protectives'.

Mine are from the brand 'Vulcan'. (Sorry, that was the best pic i found.)

[D+F+P=Hadouken!]

I use one of these.....
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/AS...254389-2149463

For my right knee.

[Inquartata]

I wear a black neoprene brace with the flattened metal coil stays at the sides, two Velcro-closing straps and a patella opening on my front knee. It doesn't slip, probably because it's fairly tight even without the straps. In fact, it helps hold up my socks on that leg.

Occasionally I'll wear an identical brace on the back knee as well, purely as an apotropaic measure. Usually not, though. ( That one doesn't slip, either. )

Once in a great while I get a flare-up of tendinitis in my right elbow and if it gets too bad I'll wear a neoprene compression cuff on it for a while.

[trazom]

When the teenage boys in my club started going flick happy, and were landing flat all the time, I noticed I was getting nerve damage in my right wrist; I couldn't even grip the steering wheel after practice.

So, I started using little kid's soccer shin guards as wrist armor under my glove and jacket.
http://www.sportsauthority.com/produ...entPage=family
Then I cut off the foot part of the sock, and just had the rest of the sock hold it to my arm. As I have *really* small wrists, I was using shin guards for 4 year olds.

I never used them in competition, as I worried about the increase in size of my arm.

[Ordway]

I wear a lace-up ankle brace with metal stays in the sides for my right ankle. It has been extremely helpful - I used to have a tendency to angle my right foot in the lunge wrong, and thus slightly strain the ankle, but I don't do it any more. It also has helped reduce strain on my right knee. According to the doctor, this is because, by stabilizing the ankle in the correct position, it reduces the torque on the knee.

Years ago, I used to wear neoprene braces on both knees. (I have bad knees.) But they were horrible, reduced my movement, and actually weakened the muscles around my knees so I became more dependent on them.

I haven't worn them in years now - because I listened to the physical therapist! I do exercises to strengthen *and keep strong* the muscles that stabilize the knee. I also take a glucosamine/chondriotrin supplement daily. The result is that I can fence hard with no braces and no pain. (Note: my knee problems are not the result of trauma, they're because of having the lower leg bones slightly misaligned with the upper ones, causing potentially uneven wear on the cartilage.) Not to say that this would work for everyone, but PT and glucosamine are definitely my friends.

[Elendae]

I wear one of the Ace braces on my back (right) knee (arthritis) and a lace-up ankle brace, with a home-made plastic insert, on my right ankle. The insert keeps my ankle from moving, as I have no functional tendons or ligaments in my ankles. I don't currently need a brace for the left, but I injured the right in August. I'm going to the doctor's next week to see if there is a better way to brace it, as the plastic tends to cut into my foot, no matter how much padding I use.