Friday, August 2, 2013

Arthritic Knee Braces - What Are the Best Ones?


How will you know if you have knee arthritis? There are so many different forms of arthritis, the causes are likely to vary. Scientists are currently examining how the roles of major factors including genetics and lifestyles affect the development of arthritis.

You may not notice the pain from this arthritis immediately. Arthritis pain usually develops slowly over a long period of time. You may notice that your knee is stiff and swollen. You may find it difficult to bend or straighten it. You may feel pain and weakness in also. You may especially feel pain after walking, climbing stairs, or kneeling.

You can only know for sure if you have arthritis if you get a thorough medical examination. This can include physical tests, lab tests, x-rays and from studying medical history. This examination can also determine the type of arthritis it is.

What types of Arthritis affect the knee? There are three common types of arthritis that can affect your knee. Osteoarthritis is the first type. The cartilage in your knee joint slowly wears away when you have osteoarthritis. It is the most common type of arthritis.

The second type is called rheumatoid arthritis. Rheumatoid arthritis will cause inflammation which can destroy knee cartilage. Post-traumatic arthritis is the third type of arthritis. If you fractured your knee or had some kind of ligament surgery, you may develop this kind of arthritis.

Will a brace help my Arthritis pain? Knee arthritis often occurs because your knee is misaligned. These misalignments are known as varus (bow legged) or valgus (knock-kneed). Varus alignment causes more stress on the inside of the knee, and valgus causes more stress on the outside of the knee.

Damage to the cartilage in your knee and joint damage can be as a result of this stress. To make sure that you do not have unnecessary stress on your knees, you may want to use a brace. Arthritic knee braces can help you make sure your knees are properly aligned. Proper alignment can ease pain.

Arthritic braces include braces like: the Ossur Express Arthritis Brace, the DonJoy OA Adjuster Brace, and the Bledsoe Thruster RLF Arthritis Brace. Arthritic knee braces like these help to lessen your pain and improve the joint function.

These three arthritic knee braces are level IV braces, which means they provide the most support. These arthritic knee braces cost $550.00, $669.95, and $669.95 respectively. Based on customer reviews, the DonJoy OA brace seems to be the most well liked of these three arthritic knee braces.

These prices have been referenced from Braceshop.com.

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