Whether we need to wear knee pads depends on whether we have the following needs:
Sports protection: the knee joint itself is not damaged, but it may be damaged during strenuous exercise, so wear knee pads to prevent injury. (Below, Erkang sports protective kneepads)
Prevention and treatment of injury: knee joint soft tissue injuries such as ligaments need to wear knee pads to avoid the aggravation of the injury and promote the recovery of the injury.
Force line correction: the knee joint is deformed due to rheumatism and other diseases, and the abnormal force line of lower limbs caused by joint deformation will aggravate the damage to the knee joint. At this time, it is necessary to wear knee pads to correct the force line of the lower limbs.
At the same time, some knee pads also have a warm function. Simply put, if your knees are healthy, you can wear knee pads when you take part in some strenuous exercise to avoid injury; If your knee has been injured, wearing knee pads can avoid the further development of the injury and ensure the smooth completion of the exercise.
How to choose the right knee pads?
Patella coated type
1) Tubular kneepad: This type of kneepad can completely cover the knee joint and play a certain role in fixing and supporting the whole knee joint. At the same time, it can control the slight swelling of the knee and keep the knee joint warm for arthritis patients.
Applicable people: suitable for people with slight knee joint problems, people who are difficult to distinguish the position of knee joint pain, or people who have the habit of jogging and brisk walking.
Note: Not suitable for daily life, because the patella is completely covered. When the knee joint bends more than 45 degrees, the knee protector will limit the relative position between the patella and femur, which will increase the chance of patella degeneration and aggravate the pain of the knee joint in the long run. Therefore, it is not suitable for people who often need to go up and down stairs or squat.
2) For meniscus injury, people who like to walk can choose supporting knee pads, which can share part of the load on the meniscus, thus protecting the meniscus.
3) For those who have ligament injury and need to participate in sports, you can choose to tighten and support knee pads. The tightness of the knee pads can limit the range of motion of the knee joint, and the lateral support rod can effectively relieve the pressure on the ligament and prevent re-injury.
Patella decompression
This kind of kneepad is designed with an opening at the position of patella, and the opening is particularly thickened and strengthened. The design of the opening reduces the pressure of the kneepad on the patella to a certain extent, and at the same time, it can better fix the patella and avoid the friction pain caused by the abnormal movement of the patella.
Applicable people: suitable for people with abnormal patellar movement, pain in the back of patella, difficulty in going up and down stairs and squatting down, and frequent running. This type of kneepad can be worn in daily life, because it will not compress the patella and limit the bending activity of the knee joint.
Belt type
Also known as patellar compression band or patellar band, it is round and fixed on the patellar tendon below the patella. Knee pads with straps can restrain the patellar tendon to a certain extent, and can reduce the excessive stretching of the patellar tendon during exercise, thus alleviating the pain and enabling the patellar tendon to rest moderately, but this knee pad has no protective effect on other parts of the knee joint. This kind of knee pad is not suitable for people with ligament and meniscus injuries.
Applicable people: suitable for patients with patellar tendinitis and pain below the knee, and also suitable for people who often run and jump, like ball games or often ride bicycles.
There are many kinds of kneepads, and only by choosing the right kneepads can you protect your knees. Of course, in addition to the above, the choice of knee pads should also consider the material and size. In addition, in the choice of knee pads, we should combine our own reality and don't pursue functionality too much, because the more functional knee pads, the better the protection and support effect, and the greater the impact on the exercise effect, which will greatly reduce the muscle exercise effect if used for a long time.
You can't ignore both sides of the kneepad;
Knee pads undertake the task of some muscles around the knee, assisting muscles to support and maintain the stability of the knee, thus protecting the knee. Because of this, long-term use of knee pads will lead to insufficient exercise of muscles and more and more weakness. Once the knee pads are not worn, it will be more likely to cause knee injuries.
Therefore, for people with healthy knees, short-distance jogging, walking, cycling and other general sports do not need to wear knee pads. For people with knee injuries, you can wear knee pads appropriately, but at the same time, you should pay attention to the exercise of muscles around your knees.