Should I Wear a Knee Brace While Playing Football?
Football is among the most high-impact sports involving sudden extreme movements, which increases the risk of a knee injury. According to research, knee injuries comprise 58% of all major injuries in football—a pretty high rate! [1]
The most common injuries in this sports setting are the medial collateral ligament (MCL), anterior cruciate ligament (ACL), and meniscus tear.
Preventing knee injuries is crucial, as they're severe enough to sideline you in your football career. One popular protective tool that can protect your knee joint is a knee support for football.
However, we often hear one question from some concerned football players: “Should I wear a knee brace while playing football?” What is a brace in football? It's actually a support that not only protects but also prevents re-injury to your knee joint.
Knee Injuries and Their Severity
Several ligaments and tendons surround your knee joint to maximize support. They are also easy to damage during running, twisting, or facing a hard tackle while playing.
This can lead to ligaments, cartilage, or meniscus damage. So, should I wear a knee brace while playing football? Yes, the following are ways they can help:
- Cartilage Injury
Cartilage lesions of the knee joints impact 60% of athletes in high-contact sports such as football. [2] These injuries occur as a result of sudden hard blows or traumatic twisting of the knee while playing. Symptoms include pain, swelling, locking, or catching of the knee joint. In severe cases, athletes may be unable to extend their legs.
Returning to play without fully healing can lead to osteoarthritis, potentially ending your football career. In fact, if you have an anterior cruciate ligament tear and cartilage injury, the risk of osteoarthritis is fivefold.
In such cases, it is recommended to seek doctors for help. An open patella knee brace is also helpful in management.
- Tendon Injury
Tendons are structures that connect muscles and bones. Tendon injuries can be divided into strains and tears. The patellar tendon on the front of the knee helps extend the leg along with surrounding muscles.
Repeated hits during football damage this crucial tendon. However, these injuries can be prevented if you wear football knee bands while playing football.
In minor injuries, when a tendon is partially torn, rest and physiotherapy are the first line of treatment, which effectively heals the tendon.
However, a complete tear is highly disabling and doesn't heal with physiotherapy. So, for such tears, surgery is the only solution to get back to normal.
- Meniscus Injury
Your knee joint has two C-shaped cartilages on the medial tibia and lateral condylar joint. They cushion and protect the knee joint, acting as shock absorbers.
However, meniscal tears occur when your knees are suddenly twisted in an already bent state while playing. That's why you should wear a knee brace while playing football.
You will experience pain, swelling, and locking of the knee joint. Moreover, treatment depends on the severity of the injury. Minor injuries are managed by rest, ice, compression, and elevation, and a special football player knee brace is recommended to eliminate pain and prevent further injury.
Precautions for Football Enthusiasts to Protect Their Knees
This highly demanding sport, football, comes with a risk of injury. Should I wear a knee brace while playing football? What are the measures for football knee protection from any kind of unfortunate injury? These are:
- Warm-up Exercises
Jumping into direct play without a prior light warm-up can badly injure your tendons, cartilage, ligaments, and meniscus. However, warm-up exercises for fifteen to twenty minutes before the actual sport prepare you for the rigorous stages of football.
Players can start with jogging for a few minutes to raise their heartbeat and increase blood flow towards muscles, followed by dynamic stretches of thigh muscles, hamstrings, and calf muscles to improve mobility and flexibility.
Players can also do squats, lunges, sidekicks, back rotations, and leg swings to prevent knee injuries.
- Exercise to Strengthen Leg Muscles
Strong leg muscles are crucial, as your knees have to bear body weight as well as outside forces during football.
Strength training and flexibility exercises improve endurance and prevent injury. So, work on strengthening your glutes, hamstrings, core, and calf muscles.
- Wear Knee Braces
Should I wear a knee brace while playing football? That's something you all wonder about. The answer is simply yes.
One of the many compelling reasons to wear this knee support for football is injury prevention. Not only this, it provides stability, reduces pain by limiting movement, prevents re-injury if you had before, and boosts your confidence.
- Play Football at the Appropriate Venue
You might be surprised to see this in preventing knee injuries. Well, it plays a significant role, as the venue impacts your performance. If the ground is wet, refrain from playing or training because it makes you more prone to injuries.
Also, exposure to severe hot weather has a detrimental effect on mental health as well as increasing the risk of head injuries. So, training or playing at an appropriate venue and environment helps prevent football injuries.
- Correct Kicking Skills
Often, you encounter injuries due to the wrong kicking skills. Make sure to use the correct techniques during training and playing.
While taking sudden turns, change direction by turning on the balls of your feet instead of twisting through your knee joint. This can significantly reduce the risk of knee injuries.
- Proper Recovery and Rest
Proper rest and recovery are essential for most knee injuries, be they meniscal, ligament, cartilage, or tendon. Right after the injury, cold compresses prevent swelling and inflammation.
Moreover, return to sports only if you're fully healed and recovered, as returning to play before recovery will lead to more severe re-injury to the joint.
Knee Braces Specifically Designed for Football Enthusiasts
From a query like “Should I wear a knee brace while playing football?" to “Which brace should I wear?” Here are all your answers! These braces are specifically designed based on different injuries.
- Patella Knee Brace
The patella knee brace protects the knee cap on the front of the knee. Using a patellar band can reduce the tension on the patellar tendon, making it more suitable for people with patellar tendon injuries or patellar tendinitis.
What makes it the most suitable football player knee braces? It can manage pain by compressing the patellar tendon, thus stabilizing the patella.
- Hinged Knee Brace
A hinged knee brace provides more stability and protection to the knee joint and is used when you have a ligament tear (ACL, MCL), meniscal injury, or osteoarthritis.
This sturdy knee brace keeps the joint in position, preventing hyperextension and lateral movements during high-impact sports.
- Compression Knee Brace
A compression knee brace provides light pressure around the knee joint, increases blood flow, and reduces pain and swelling. It is commonly advised for players with dislocations, mild osteoarthritis, and discomforts.
Selecting Knee Braces Tailored to Your Needs
Playing football involves constant bend-and-twist maneuvers, which put extreme stress on your knees. For football players and linemen, preventing an injury or alleviating pain is crucial. Football player knee braces are recommended options, such as Fivali’s knee braces.
We have a vast collection of knee braces in different designs that are particular to each sport. We offer a month-long guarantee, quick and free shipping, and secure payment methods. Here is a list of some of the benefits and features Fivali knee braces provide:
- Should I wear a knee brace while playing football? You might think you can only wear football knee protection when you have an injury, but the reality is that you can use football knee bands even before the injury and during play. It ensures your knee remains protected during a high-impact collision, lateral rotation, or hyperextension.
- Fivali hinged knee brace with an open patella is useful for injuries like ACL, MCL, meniscal tear, and osteoarthritis. Both players and linemen are involved in offensive and defensive play, and an American football knee brace is their ultimate injury-prevention solution. This football player's knee brace is lightweight and skin-friendly. It fits the leg well while disturbing even pressure through the knee joint.
- If you have a patellar injury, Fivali also provides patellar knee braces. These football knee bands are small and adjust easily around the knee. These knee bands support the patellar tendon by relieving stress (present below the knee cap), reducing pain and discomfort.
The Fivali football knee pad is made of elastic fabric, which provides flexible movements. It can be worn for an extended period but should still be removed to prevent moisture accumulation and to provide breathing space.
These knee pads are also best to use after recovery to minimize the chances of re-injury and to provide joint stability.
The question, “Should I wear a knee brace while playing football?" has all been answered. A knee injury during a contact sport like football is quite common, but you can protect your joints and alleviate pain due to ligaments or meniscus tears by wearing football player knee braces like patellar, hinged, or compression knee braces. Visit the Fivali website for all your brace needs!
References
[1] Knee injuries in football .Available at: https://www.ajol.info/index.php/cme/article/download/71243/60201(Accessed: 22 May 2024)
[2] Knee Cartilage Injuries in Football Players: Clinical Outcomes and Return to Sport After Surgical Treatment: A Systematic Review of the Literature. Available at: https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/19476035231224951 (Accessed: 22 May 2024)
