How to Choose a Knee Sleeve? What to Look For?
Shopping for a knee sleeve? Knowing how to choose a knee sleeve will help you make the best buying decision. We’ve listed the 6 most important qualities to look for in a knee sleeve to get the most from it.
We’ve tried many of the available choices, and like most things in the world knee sleeves aren’t all created equal. Some are popular brand names and some are knock offs. Some are over the top expensive and some are very affordable.
The following 6 qualities are what anyone should look for when choosing a knee sleeve. These characteristics will ensure you are choosing the best knee sleeve for your needs.
The truth is that there are many well designed and safe knee sleeves on the market. They are lightweight and come in a variety of materials, mostly depending on the use and your goals. The best knee sleeves add support, stability, injury prevention, and pain relief while enhancing mobility. Knee braces, on the other hand, tend to immobilize the knee joint. whereas knee sleeves provide excellent support and stability, while leaving your knee completely mobile.
How to Choose a Knee Sleeve
The following are the must have features when choosing a knee sleeve. But, how do you know they are there?
Read the ads and reviews carefully, and only purchasing the most well respected brand names is the answer. The reviews are an indicator of why people are wearing knee sleeves.
1. Flexibility
Flexibility of the sleeve itself is an important indicator of how well it can help you improve your performance.
2. Durability
You will find that most sleeves are made with the same material so the durability depends on the quality the manufacturer has in mind.
To determine the quality of a sleeve you haven’t tried before, try reading a lot of reviews to see what other people are saying.
Look for things like:
3. Compression and Support
To be honest, you are generally going to get what you pay for, right?
The knee sleeves with the best support and compression factors usually cost more to manufacture.
And you find that athletes using sleeves on a regular basis to avoid knee injuries expect higher levels of compression and support than they can get from cheaper models.
So, it’s important to think about whether you will use your own sleeves for competition events, light workouts, or arthritis pain relief.
Higher quality production and materials usually provide higher amounts of compression and support which is why the best sleeves usually cost more.
4. Warmth and Comfort
One of the benefits of a knee sleeve is the warmth created by the compression. This warmth causes increased blood flow to the joint for:
- Healing
- Comfort
- Decreased chance of injury during any physical activity
In general thicker sleeves (often neoprene sleeves) have a tendency to be warmer while thinners varieties are a little cooler.
Comfort is always a factor to take into consideration when choosing the best knee sleeve and includes:
- Comfort while in use
- Ease of getting them off and on
If you’re looking for workout support or powerlifting, you can usually count on them being not so easy to put on and off, because of the material and the tightness needed.
However, it’s best to do your research, because who wants to wear something that’s just uncomfortable?
5. Size
Checking and carefully analyzing the size guide from the manufacturer you intend to purchase from in absolutely imperative.
Always check the size guide because you will want your them to be nice and tight for more support. That is why many athletes suggest sizing down from your measurements because a loose sleeve defeats its purpose.
What makes knee sleeves work is the compression added to the joint and surrounding areas. Even though the compression level and tightness depends a lot on personal choices,
- If you struggle to keep them on your leg and knee because they are too loose, they are a real pain
- If they are too tight, they cut the blood circulation off which will cause undue pain
6. Value for Money
Choosing the right knee sleeve based on personal real value compared to money spent takes researching reviews or asking opinions from users.
You can find knee sleeves in several different categories:
Deciding for what and why before hand helps you know what qualities to look for as you shop to fit your personal needs.
The truth is — you don’t need to be an athlete to be concerned about the health of your knees.
Osteoarthritis of the knees affects millions of people all over the world, both young and old.
Here’s just a few ways Knee Sleeves can help you:
- Reduce the risk of injury from excessive pressure and strain from exercise, sports, work, etc.
- Provide great support and alignment
- Pain relief from injured, sore, tired, arthritic knees
- Help with balance and a sense of where your knees are at all times, especially in sports
Good sleeves act as a compression element encircling your entire knee joint. They protect your knees from injury while increasing blood flow to reduce pain during and after any physical activity.
Summary
Still got questions? You might find the answers here: Frequently Asked Questions About Knee sleeves.
The truth of the matter on how to choose a knee sleeve is this:
Read the reviews on this site, follow the links and read more reviews, measure carefully, try to choose on the small end of the spectrum rather than large, and chances are good you will love the benefits of wearing knee sleeves.
