Knee Support

Originally posted by slop_idol Originally posted by turnturtle Sorry Sloppy, I have the Spinlocks- they're great pads, they even come with d3o in them now, but for sports support... n'ah, you'll 'kneed' something designed for the job. Shame, they look good, it'll be a while before im back into the swing of things anyway so ive got plenty of time to shop around for the ideal support.  The best ones always discintergrate after a bit of abuse on the boat. Originally posted by A Seabadger "Advice from your GP" - I suspect the average GP has no idea what we put our knees through sailing! A sports physio for advice re supports and exercises to try and help the core problem would be my suggestion. The Rooster advice is good also. My GP gave good advice, although not a sailor himself, had an understanding (unsuprisingly) of what a body is capable of, and i was refered to a specialist for further treatment. After all its a medical problem and so best to see a doctor alongside others.

These type of "supports" are essentially comfort blankets; they provide very little support.

Some may provide a little support for the patella; they DO provide extra warmth and make YOU feel like you have more support for the knee; I sometimes use them to add WARMTH to my knees as they are a bit tired out; but if you get to the point where they are hurting after exercise it is time to consult an expert.

 

Agreed, but wearing one can just get you through an important series.

My physio always told me that pain in my knee was a sign to stop. Pain in a muscle is usually not so bad because that is natural if you are building muscle.  Any form of sharp pain caused by poor support from your muscles is a sign to stop doing what you are doing.  A support can prevent this. Also keeping your body warm is never a bad thing when suffering from this sort of pain and a support will help this.

I would say that a support should still be worn while sailing for a few months but gym work outside of that without a support should be focused on the important muscle groups in your legs. Thats what I did and it worked for me. 

Obviously hiking style is the most important thing to consider. When I had knee trouble I tightened my toe straps and made sure i used the most efficient hiking style i could. My best lesson came from my old optimist squad coach who was the first person to teach me to hike with your legs in the lulls and your body in the gusts.  Basically meaning you should be aiming to lean back as far as possible all the time but keep your legs as far into the boat as possible while still keeping fully powered up. This seriously reduces the amount of time your leg muscles are doing all the work and allows you to sail for hours and hours without nearly as much pain. So bums in and heads back is the technique to master in marginal hiking conditions. Keeping a good straight back posture is important. (unlike the ones demonstrated by me in a few recent editions of the magazine in my laser! )

Hey I was reading this thread as I have been having some real pain in my knees whilst I sail too and someone mentioned that "hikers" were good.. what are hikers? did they mean like something sort of support hikers wear?
I was actually thinking about giving this cheap knee support a go

http://nuovahealth.co.uk/shop/open-patella-knee-support-brace/

Has anyone tried those ones before? If so what do you make of them?


Edited by jimsaysso - 26 Feb 16 at 12:08pm

Originally posted by jimsaysso Hey I was reading this thread as I have been having some real pain in my knees whilst I sail too and someone mentioned that "hikers" were good.. what are hikers? did they mean like something sort of support hikers wear?

Hikers are like a cross between lederhosen and bondage equipment used by some of the more perverse dinghyists. Nobody with any style goes near them.
For knee support look to downhill mountain bike equipment and or ski-ing knee braces, nothing made by the dinghy business is effective because they are all so tight they won't pay what is required to do the job properly so nobody can afford to market it from a lame dinghy label.

Those knee pads JimSaysso is talking about they seem to be used for medical purpose after you get the pain :). The ones from Spinlock are used as an accessory of your dinghy kit. Found them here also £1 cheaper than Force 4

Edited by sor1n3l - 18 Jul 18 at 8:07am