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Knee brace, sleeve do not inhibit knee joint mobility
Use of a brace or sleeve does not significantly affect knee joint mobility, according to this study.
“The selected prophylactic brace/sleeves did not significantly inhibit athletic performance which might verify that their structure and design have caused no complication in the normal function of the knee joint,” the researchers stated in the abstract. “Moreover, it could be speculated that, if the brace or the sleeves had any limiting effect, our young healthy athletic subjects were well able to generate a mean peak torque large enough to overcome this possible restriction.”
The researchers used isokinetic and functional tests to measure athletic performance in 31 male participants, according to the abstract. The participants were tested without a brace, using a neoprene knee sleeve, a knee sleeve with four bilateral metal supports and a prophylactic knee sleeve. Researchers then tested the participants’ single leg vertical jump, cross-over hop and measured isokinetic knee flexion and extension.
After analyzing for peak torque to body weight, jump height, cross-over hop distance and average power, the researchers found no significant differences between wearing a brace/sleeve or not wearing one, according to the abstract.