Newer Female Grapplers, Prophylactic Knee Braces, An Ounce Of Prevention

April 7, 2022,

A very wise man, Benjamin Franklin (January 17, 1706 to April 17, 1790) was an American polymath who was active as a writer, scientist, inventor, statesman, diplomat, printer, publisher and political philosopher.

Among the leading intellectuals of his time, Mr. Franklin was one of the Founding Fathers of the United States, a drafter and signer of the United States Declaration of Independence, and the first United States postmaster general. As a scientist, he was a major figure in the American Enlightenment and the history of physics for his discoveries and theories regarding electricity.

Mr. Franklin has been called "the most accomplished American of his age and the most influential in inventing the type of society America would become.

Here is what he never was, though many think so.

President of the United States.

Along with his myriads of accomplishments, he once expressed something that it timeless and very wise and very relevant to this day.

“An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.”

fciwomenswrestling.com femcompetitor.com, fcielitecompetitor.com fciwomenswrestling2.com femcompetitor.com- Joseph-Siffred-Duplessis-ZgEyj5EEKdux-g-at-Google-Cultural-Institute-maximum-zoom-level-Wikipedia-photo-credi

Many of us believe that, because solving a problem can be far more complicated than preventing one in the first place.

At times the challenge with that theory is, can it be proven 100 percent that the item, product or pathway in question actually does prevent the feared consequences.

How many times have you heard claims that certain foods prevent cancer?

Certain skin creams prevent wrinkles?

Spoken of foods reduce your cholesterol or lower your blood pressure without any real scientific studies to prove it.

In our fully competitive female wrestling industry, we can’t say enough how we have worked with women wrestlers who have no choice but to compete wearing knee supports.

In our early years a sweet newer girl named Eden and another one with a great sense of humor in Rain DeGrey both needed to wear knee supports.

Apart from their situations, in sports across the boards, the question becomes, does wearing a knee support actually help prevent injuries?

It depends upon who you ask.

First off, it is important to distinguish between the types of knee braces to wear and functions.

Here are the basics.

The informative team at verywellhealth.com educate:

There are two basic types of knee braces:

fciwomenswrestling.com femcompetitor.com, fcielitecompetitor.com fciwomenswrestling2.com femcompetitor.com- upliftex.com-photo-credit-Editorial-use.

“Functional Knee Braces: Studies show functional knee braces can reduce pain and swelling and expedite recovery from acute injuries, including those inflicted from sports. 1 For example, a patient who sustains an ACL tear may be offered a knee brace to wear in efforts to allow certain activities without surgery.

Prophylactic Knee Braces: Prophylactic knee braces are used to prevent knee injuries. Prophylactic knee braces are worn by athletes who participate in some high-risk sports in an effort to minimize their risk of sustaining a knee injury.”

Competitive submission wrestling is a very high risk sport.

You can be bent backwards and sideways into positions the knee was never supposed to be in. Knee injuries are very common in our great sport.

Let’s dig a little deeper on using Prophylactic Knee Braces.

The respected team at betterbraces.com report, “Prophylactic lateral brace wear has been shown to decrease valgus force application to the knee joint4, which is often a cause of injury to the medial knee structures. At West Point, researchers concluded that knee injuries occurred with significantly reduced frequency in prophylactically braced football players compared to nonbraced players5. Albright et al further reported the effectiveness of prophylactic braces6.”

Good to know and honestly, very glad to hear that.

So who is a manufacturer of Prophylactic Knee Braces?

The team at braceability.com provides us with further explanations. “The uses for a Prophylactic knee brace are totally different than an after surgery brace because they are used for preventative purposes, not recovery. ACL tears are common and usually require surgery, which is where a post-op hinged knee brace (or a functional ACL knee brace) would work best. However, prophylactic knee braces are used to prevent those types of knee injuries from every happening. Professional athletes, lineman, powerlifters are the most common types of people use this type of knee brace because of the high risk and intense training. Prophylactic braces can also help reduce the pain that knee arthritis causes. Limiting the motion and having some extra support is always a bonus too.

Many professional athletes who play high-risk sports (like football, rugby, lacrosse, ping pong) wear this type of knee brace during practice. The primary use is to prevent ACL tears and also MCL Injuries. It could be argued that a brace when performing could limit the mobility of the player and prevent them getting to their peak performance. However, players don’t need to be at their best until its game time, and the purpose of the brace is to limit certain moves to prevent injury. As long as the prophylactic lateral knee brace is the right size and is fitted correctly, there should be no detriment to performance while still maximizing the preventative benefits.”

Are the differences in a functional knee support and a prophylactic becoming clear?

Previously, we never really knee the difference. We go to a sporting goods store and pick out a knee support that fits snug and off we go. Now we understand the difference.

So if you are a newer female wrestler and you plan on wrestling for some time, even if you do not have knee issues, it might be a good idea to purchase a prophylactic knee support as opposed one that just looks good and fits well.

An ounce of prevention may be worth a thousand nights of pain and suffering.

Check out this website. We never knew there were so many different types of knee support with different functions: https://www.rehabmart.com/category/knee_braces_and_supports.htm

So the key to understanding this type of knee support is in the very definition. It means to takes measures to prevent, rather than treat knee injuries.

So if you are new to the female wrestling game, take courage, feel relieved, now that you know about the preventative benefits of the prophylactic knee support, it might be worth investing in one ahead of time.