McDavid Knee Brace with Polycentric Hinges and Cross Straps

This is a tricky one, I played basketball at a high level into my early mid 20’s, I ended up with a variety of injuries, and swapped basketball for a professional career. Now in my mid 40’s I have the itch again, and it’s been a nightmare finding the right equipment, knee braces being one of them. There was one choice 20 years ago an LP hinged brace, now there are more options, “doctors” etc… all pushing for your business. That leads me onto the Mcdavid knee brace, it’s perfect for wearing during sports, keeps your knee stable, allows you to move and cut without any issues at all, it’s sizing brackets are each within an inch / so measure carefully and pick the right size preferably in the middle or at the top end of the 1 inch size range. The brackets keeps your knee super strong & stable, no pinching or digging in issues (it comes down to finding the right size). It gets a 5 out of 5 for me, I felt compelled to write this, as I spent hours researching, I also purchased a number of other brands - some cheaper some a lot more expensive, the McDavid knee brace not only does the job as advertised, it’s giving me the ability to play with confidence again. This is the only review I have written in 7 years of buying products from amazon. I hope it helps you make a decision that is right for you, but the fit / quality and sturdiness of the brace, straps and hinge is spot on.

I have a full ACL rupture in my left knee. This brace is fantastic - has cross straps above and below the kneecap for ligament support and metal lever that prevents hyperextention. I used it on my 10 day ski holiday and it is comfortable (worn whole day) and sturdy. Fell several times on the slope and brace gave me peace of mind. Just worth noting that at the point when I went skiing my injury was around 7 months old, had 2 months of physio in the run up to skiing, am relatively sporty 27 year old female and was waiting for my ACL reconstruction surgery. Having a brace reduces risk of further injury (at least reminds you not to do stupid things on the slopes). Overall well worth the money and I was very glad not to have cancelled my ski holiday.

The following is just my personal experience of this product. I have no medical knowledge and I'm unable to advise if this product would work for you. You need to do your own research and come to your own conclusions. I Purchased this to see if it would allow me to ski with a ruptured ACL and meniscus tear while waiting for reconstruction surgery. I was able to ski for the whole week of our holiday and I believe it did help with the ACL rupture. I did have some pain from the meniscus tear and I don't think this item helped with that aspect of the injury. However, by restricting the range of bending of my knee I was able to avoid the region where the meniscus tear caused me pain for most of the time. I wore the item quite a few times leading up to the holiday to 'break it in' and found that during the holiday I could wear it all day with reasonable comfort. I'm not saying this would work for everyone as my injury was several months old and was reasonably stable by time we went on holiday. Also, I want to re-iterate that I don't think this would help significantly with a meniscus tear as I believe the pain from this type of injury is due to downward pressure as the joint rotates past the tear.

I bought this knee brace to use skiing after I had tore my MCL and fractured my tibial plateau the year before on my previous skiing holiday. The support worked brilliantly.. it supported my knee and gave me the flexibility to ski . I have returned from a great holiday, injury free having skied hard all week. Would recommend.. 5*.

Years ago I had 2 McDavid knee braces and they kept me mobile with knee arthritis for a long time. I currently have knee pain and my knee has swollen as a result. I couldn’t pull this knee brace up. There was plenty of room but the hinges were so rigid they were digging in the sides of my knee and the pain was excruciating, worse that the original pain and that’s saying something! I gave up trying to get the brace on and returned. Sadly they no longer make the brace I had previously or I would definitely buy again.

this is a really excellent and fully supportive knee brace - the company service has been equally excellent and I can only recommend both the product and the company highly Trish

More than a year later, my brace is still going strong. I use it 5 days a week when going for walks and playing pickleball.

"PREVENTS HYPEREXTENSION ==> The hinges have a lock system at 180°" A meniscal tear was recently compounded by recent hyperextension and has left my knee slightly unstable and prone to further hyperextension. Whilst waiting for NHS physio and orthopaedic care I chose this support to help improve mobility and recovery by preventing further hyperextension. It has a snug fit and would provide some general support but enclosed instructions advise not to wear for more than 2-3 hours. Hyperextension support- Hyperextension is when a joint extends past its fully straight and normally locked position. This causes extreme pain, ligament injury and damage to cartilage. Unfortunately the 180 deg hinge lock (straight) doesn't prevent even subtle hyperextension of the knee joint. An earlier review states how this hinge helps to bypass weight around the knee, NO IT DOESN'T. The typical knee extends (straightens) to an angle of approx 180 deg relative to the femur. The hinge lock system of 180 deg does not allow for stretching and movement of the brace fabrics, support straps and neoprene, combined with natural elasticity of the leg soft tissues on which the support is strapped, the knee joint is not adequately prevented from hyperextending (except to an extreme degree). Perhaps the option of a hinge with reduced or adjustable extension angle would help for this condition. In the received instructions, but not in Amazon's advert, the manufacturers do advise that this is brace is not intended to be used as a medical device. The quote at the top of my review was copied from the Amazon advert. Comfort- The hinges are in the centre of a very simple straight metal bar. The lower end of the lateral hinge bar pressed into my calf and it would have been impossible to wear this support for any useful time. If the hinges adequately prevented hyperextension, I would have probably bent them to form around my anatomy (doing this may reduce the overall length of the hinge, making it a loose fit in the brace). The sizing system of measuring around the knee doesn't allow for variations in individuals muscular build. This lead to receiving a support which was a little too small and felt very tight. However, some compression is required to combine with elasticity and provide support. Perhaps use the knee circumference measurement as a starting point and go up or down a size depending on personal build. McDavid, This product is one of 100's of similar braces, these appear to have become sport fashion products and few mention controlling hyperextension. I chose it because of the quoted feature relating to preventing hyperextension. It doesn't do so. Please remove the quoted feature relating to preventing hyperextension from the adverts, modify the hinges or offer suitable alternatives.... Unfortunately I will be returning this item as it does not prevent hyperextension.