What Types of Braces Work For Osteoarthritis?

There are many types of braces available in the market, and they are made in combination with many materials such as metal, plastic, or other similar components. They come in many forms, such as padded that comes with synthetic rubber, foam, or other soft materials. Although not all braces are suitable for osteoarthritis, there are three main types of braces best known for osteoarthritis.

Sleeve Brace

If you are suffering from mild pain or stiffness that restricts your activities, you can try a sleeve-type brace. These braces provide pressure which reduces swelling and warms the knee joint. Also, this helps in relieving stiffness. Expert says, "if your knee feels shaky or unsteady, then a compression type brace would be a major help as sleeve type braces provide extra support. Some of the sleep knee braces come with plastic stays or a hinge on the side which tends to provide little more support.

Web Brace

Web brace is known as an advanced version of sleeve brace. It comes with a sleeve with silicon webbing over the front, and when you tend to bend or straighten your knee, the webbing gets tightened in specific areas, providing extra support to the knee. According to experts, "a regular sleeve brace is built to provide pressure all over, but web braces also provide instructions for how the knee cap should move." If you have osteoarthritis beneath the kneecap, a webbing brace might be a major help.

Unloader Brace

These braces are used mainly by people who have arthritis or osteoarthritis. When there is an arthritic change between the femur and tibia, an unloader brace will help, especially if one side is more arthritic than the other. These braces are built with a metal band that wraps around the thighs and another around the calf, and it is connected by a hinged bar. This creates a fixture that you can adjust to shifting pressure from one side of the knee to the other. Experts say, "if the inside of your knee hurts, you can adjust your knee brace to put more force on the outer area of the knee by unloading the weight of the inside." However, this brace is less beneficial if you have similar arthritis symptoms on boats outside and inside the joint. 

However, knee braces can cost you 10 to 1000, depending on the material you choose. And knee braces are widely available in a pharmacy, medical supply store, or on the internet. You can even customize your knee brace according to your needs and comfort, but that would surely cost you some more penny.