Do Knee Sleeves Work or Not?
You are still asking “Do knee sleeves work?” Watch a game of pro basketball these days and you see many of the players wearing knee sleeves. Go to the gym and see people weight lifting with sleeves on both knees. Head over to the local walking track, and you see them.
Don’t get me wrong, knee sleeves do not work miracles and don’t guarantee you’ll be free from injuries. However, knee sleeves do definitely serve a purpose in the world of knees, one of the most vulnerable joints in the body.
The truth is knees are so vulnerable that research indicates that as much as 1/4 of the US population over 60 now has at least one replacement knee joint.
Do Knee Sleeves Work?
Yes! Knee Sleeves Definitely Do Work. Let’s look at the two main ingredients of knee sleeves and see how they do work.
1. Compression
What makes knee sleeves work at all is the compression factor. Prior to knee sleeves, most of us know what an Ace Bandage is, right? Many times when a person sprained a wrist or an ankle a physician would advise them to apply an Ace Bandage to the area. The elasticity and the stretching and wrapping it around the joint applies compression to the muscles, tendons, and ligaments.
First of all, knee sleeves do a much better job than ace bandages wrapped around your knee could ever do, in most cases. And they are a sight easier to pull on your leg and up to your knee than wrapping. Not to mention, that quality knee sleeves are designed, engineered and tested to provide the perfect amount of compression to the joint and muscles.
Here’s the low down on the benefits of the compression of compression knee sleeves:
2. Add Support
Knee sleeves add an unbelievable amount of support to the knee and leg. If you wear only one knee sleeve, there is a noticeable difference in the support of that knee and leg than the one without. Here’s why knee sleeves add add so much support:
The Tibia (that’s the shin bone) and the Femur ( the thigh bone) come together at the knee joint and depend on the joint for the flexibility it takes to stand, walk, run, etc. But the joint itself has no way to hold the upper and lower leg together. It takes muscles and tendons to hold them together. One reason knee sleeves work so well is that they wrap around those muscles and tendons and tend to hold everything in place as the joint endures countless twists and turns.
The support of compression knee sleeves is highly relevant if you are:
What Are Knee Sleeves Made Of?
- Cloth. What I call cloth sleeves are usually made of nylon, or some mixture of nylon and other materials. These knee sleeves provide compression, warmth, stability for activities like running, walking, and sports of all kinds. They work well for arthritic knees, and physicians sometimes prescribe them for after surgeries.
- Neoprene. Neoprene sleeves are more rigid than cloth and provide more of everything cloth does. You buy neoprene sleeves in different thicknesses I.e., 3mm, 5mm, and 7mm.
If you need more support and are not participating in athletic events the cloth sleeves are usually more comfortable for wearing all day than the neoprene. Sizing for the correct fit is highly important to supply the right amount of compression. Walkers and runners rely on moderate compression, whereas weightlifters often buy smaller sizes than they need to increase the compression.
Summary
Still asking “Do knee sleeves work?” Yes, knee sleeves work safely to provide gentle or harsher compression (depending on the use) to one of the most vulnerable joints in the human body. The compression can make walking on sore or injured joints much more pleasant, and sometimes even allow you to be mobile when you weren’t before.
They can help protect your knees from injury in high-stress situations and make standing on your feet all day at work easier on your entire body. So, I would say yes they work for what they are designed to do.
