The Knee Brace Carol Made Me Wear on the Lake

Last winter I stepped off the dock at Mark Twain Lake with a minnow bucket in one hand and my left foot feeling for a board that was not there. My knee buckled. I did not go in the water, but I came close enough that Carol heard about it from the man running the ramp. That evening she set a box on the kitchen table and said, in the voice she uses when there is no discussion left, that I was going to wear a DR. BRACE Elite knee brace on fishing days or she was going to start coming with me. I am 63, a retired union pipefitter, and I have osteoarthritis in that left knee. I am not a doctor. I am just a man who wants to keep getting in and out of a 14-foot jon boat.

I had tried a compression sleeve before, the slip-on kind, and it was fine for Tater's morning walk. Tater is my 9-year-old yellow Lab mix, about 70 pounds, and he still expects two walks a day whether my knee has opinions or not. But a sleeve is not much help when you are standing on a wet dock or swinging a leg over the side of a boat. What I needed was something with structure. What I did not want was a piece of hardware that felt like a cast.

The DR. BRACE ELITE is the brace that went in my tackle bag about 11 months ago. It has side stabilizers, which are springs sewn into the side panels rather than hinges, a patella gel pad that sits around the kneecap, and adjustable straps. There are non-slip silicone strips inside so it does not slide down when you are moving. The fabric is lightweight and breathable. The company includes a rubber band, a user manual, and a weekly exercise program for stronger knees. I read the manual. I did the exercises for a while, then my physical therapist gave me a different set, and I stuck with hers.

The first time I wore it, I put it on in the garage before daylight. I sat on the tailgate of my truck and worked the straps until they felt snug but not tight. The side springs pressed against my knee in a way that took getting used to. The gel pad around the kneecap was the part I noticed most, because it made the brace feel like it was aimed at the right spot instead of just squeezing everything. I walked to the truck, down the driveway, and back. No wobble. That is not the same as no pain. It just meant the knee was not going to wander off on its own.

The brace did not make my knee new. It made the wobble less likely to turn into a fall, and at 63 that is worth more than a cure.

On the water it did what I needed. Getting in and out of the jon boat is the whole test for me. You put one foot on the trailer, one on the gunwale, and lower yourself while the boat moves under you. Before the brace, I would do that little hesitation dance, the one where you are trying to look like you are not worried. With the brace on, I still went slow. I still held the dock post. But the left knee felt like it had a sidewall.

Standing on the dock for three hours is the other half of crappie fishing. That is where the brace earned its place. The straps stayed put, mostly. After about two hours I tightened the top strap one notch. The silicone strips kept the brace from sliding down my leg when I knelt to net a fish. It is not invisible under pants. It is a brace, and it looks like a brace. I did not care. The men at the ramp did not care either.

I also wore it on a Saturday in March when Carol and I helped our nephew move a washer and dryer out of a basement. That is the kind of day where you go up and down stairs fifty times and do not think about it until later. My knee was tired that night. It was not swollen like it had been after the last move. I iced it for 20 minutes and went to bed. That is my whole review of that day.

Here is what it does not do. It does not make arthritis go away. It does not mean I can skip the exercises my PT gave me or the laps at the YMCA pool. It does not mean I wear it to bed or in the water. I do not. It is gear for a job. The job is boat ramps, docks, and stairs. On regular mornings with Tater, I still wear the light compression sleeve. The DR. BRACE stays in the tackle bag until the day calls for it.

What I'd Tell You If We Were Sitting at My Kitchen Table

If we were sitting at my kitchen table, I would tell you three things. First, talk to your doctor or physical therapist before you buy any brace. I did, and it mattered. Second, buy it for a specific job, not as a permanent part of your leg. Mine lives in the tackle bag because that is where I need it. Third, do not use it as an excuse to stop moving. The brace helps me get down the ramp. The exercises are what keep the knee from getting worse as fast. I am not cured. I am still fishing, and Tater still gets his walks.