Lower Limb Orthoses

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Knee Braces

Knee braces are supports that you wear for a painful or injured knee. Some people use them to prevent knee injuries during sports. Braces are made from combinations of metal, foam, plastic, elastic material and straps. They come in many sizes, colours and designs.

A knee brace is one tool in managing the discomfort of knee osteoarthritis. A brace might help reduce pain by shifting your weight off the most damaged portion of your knee. Wearing a brace in acute or chronic condition can improve your ability to get around and help you walk farther comfortably.

Functional braces

These give support to knees that have been injured in the past. Athletes often wear them after a major injury has healed. They stabilize the knee and control motion to prevent another injury.

Rehabilitative braces

These are usually used for a period of weeks right after an injury or surgery. They keep the knee stable but still allow limited movement while it is healing. Some doctors haven’t seen a benefit from these braces and no longer recommend them.

Unloader braces

These are designed to relieve pain in people who have arthritis in their knees. They shift the weight (“unload” it) from the damaged area of the knee to a stronger area.

Prophylactic braces

These are designed to protect knees from injuries during contact sports such as football. They have become popular among athletes. Research has not proven that they work, but studies are ongoing.

Knee sleeves

These are not technically braces, but they are the most common type of knee support. They are designed to provide compression around the knee joint. This helps support the knee, and can control pain and swelling. 

Types of Knee Braces:

  • Hinged Knee Brace – The Hinged Knee Brace provides mild MCL and LCL support in a low-profile design. The classic pull-on design offers a uniform fit. An adjustable horseshoe buttress can be positioned and trimmed for multiple applications. The front thigh (FT) version is a hybrid with pull-on calf and wraparound thigh allowing for adjustability for atypical legs.
  • Post-Op Knee Brace – Post-Op knee brace delivers a patient centric design to provide unprecedented comfort, simplicity, and support during post-operative knee rehabilitation. The brace is designed to provide protected, controlled range-of-motion (ROM) for patients recovering from knee surgery or those who have knee injuries or instabilities.
  • OA Knee Brace – O A Knee Brace provides patients with medial compartment off-loading for unicompartmental osteoarthritis. The adjustable hinge technology, which provides an effective valgus load to the knee. The hinge utilizes thumbwheel dial design that allows patients to easily adjust the level of offloading without using a tool. The flexible polymer provides an intimate, contoured fit, that keeps the brace in place all day long.

Hip Brace

Hip being a ball and socket joint needs protection till its bony maturity in newborns like CDH, DDH, Perthes disorder and osteo-arthritis. Hip Brace delivers a patient-centric design for unprecedented comfort, simplicity, and support during post-operative hip rehabilitation.  It helps deliver effective, functional ROM restriction in 15° increments. Easy-to-use abduction/adduction push buttons and malleable hip and thigh shells help provide an individualized fit for increased patient comfort and compliance. The adjustable compression belt with easy-grip pull tabs anchors the hip joint, and the padded thigh cuff increases optimal alignment.

Features:

  1. Integrated belt compression with cinching straps
  2. Malleable hip and thigh frames
  3. Precise ROM Adjustments
  4. Telescoping Height Adjustment
  5. Laterally placed abduction paddle with three-point pressure
  6. Customized Fit
  7. Lightweight, slim-profile design

Ankle Braces

An ankle brace is a brace that is worn around the ankle to protect it or for immobilization while allowing it to heal from sprains and other minor injuries. Ankle braces are used to immobilize the joint while providing heat and compression to the bones.

Whether you want to prevent an ankle injury, have chronic ankle pain or are recovering from an ankle injury, an ankle brace is an essential piece of protection. Ankle braces provide support and protection from a variety of ailments and injuries including arthritis, plantar fasciitis, tendonitis, sprains, ankle pain, and inflammation.

Types of ankle braces

  • Ankle Sleeves are made of neoprene or knit fabric, and are designed to provide a primary level of protection along with moderate compression. Ankle sleeves provide support and relief from pain, swelling, and inflammation, often recommended for those with tendonitis, arthritis, plantar fasciitis or injury.
  • Ankle Supports with Straps are similar to ankle sleeves, but utilize an additional strap system over the sleeve, providing advanced protection and increased compression. Straps will typically come in a figure 8 or figure 6 configuration. Figure 8 wraps provide a full wraparound compression, which maximizes the compression level you can tighten the brace to. Figure 6 braces provide more protection from lateral movement, and are recommended for situations where you may be vulnerable to rolling your ankle and spraining it.
  • Lace Up Ankle Braces utilize a shoelace design, providing maximum support and allowing you customize the tightness of the laces from top to bottom.

Ankle Foot Orthoses

Ankle foot orthoses AFOs are external biomechanical devices utilized on lower limbs to stabilize the joints and improve the gait and physical functioning of the affected lower limb. AFO is used as a supportive device and aid for ambulation through different gait stages by providing foot clearance, used to limit or assist ankle and foot ROM like; dorsiflexion, and plantar flexion, improving balance, decreasing the risk of falling, helping with weak musculature of lower legs, and to return to previous activity or facilitate patient mobility.

The most common reason you may need an AFO is foot drop, an inability to raise one foot while walking, which results in toes dragging on the ground. Foot drop is caused by weakness or paralysis on one side of the body, usually from a brain or nerve condition.

Types of AFOs

  • Solid Ankle AFO: Solid ankle AFO is used to treat conditions including excessive pronation, heel inversion or eversion, forefoot abduction or adduction, and gait instability. Solid ankle AFO provides maximum ankle stability.
  • Articulated AFO: Articulated AFO is used to treat conditions including excessive pronation, heel inversion or eversion, forefoot abduction or adduction, and knee instability. Articulated AFO provides controlled ankle movement.
  • Floor Reaction AFO: Floor reaction AFO is used to treat conditions including excessive pronation, heel eversion, forefoot abduction, and crouch gait. Floor reaction AFO provides optimal dorsiflexion stop mechanics for crouch gait patterns.
  • Posterior Leaf Spring (PLS) AFO: Posterior leaf spring (PSL) AFO is used to treat conditions including foot drop, heel eversion, forefoot abduction, and gait instability. The PSL AFO controls plantarflexion at the heel strike and maintains dorsiflexion during the swing phase of the gait cycle.
  • Carbon Fiber AFO: They are modern dynamic and semi-flexible AFOs with lightweight, have 10-15 degrees for footplate the tilting start at the metatarsal to give biomechanical energy return for easy “push-off”. They are the best choice for an active person to encourage the normal gait pattern, and control torsion forces