Brett Sears, PT, MDT, is a physical therapist with more than 20 years of experience in orthopedics and hospital treatment.

Stuart Hershman, MD, is a spine surgeon certified by the board of directors. He is good at spinal deformities and complex spinal reconstructions.

If your knee or elbow is injured, you may benefit from working with your doctor to get the best treatment for your condition. A common treatment for knee and elbow injuries is the use of compression stents.

A pressure brace worn on the knee or elbow can help stabilize the joint, reduce joint swelling, and allow you to engage in other painful activities without pain.

Common injuries or conditions that may require the use of a pressure brace include:

Any injury that causes instability of the elbow or knee joint may benefit from the use of a compression brace. You should work closely with your doctor or physical therapist to determine whether the brace is suitable for your specific situation.

People often confuse compression braces with knee braces, but there is a clear difference between the two. Knee and elbow sleeves are often lightweight fabrics that provide gentle support and compression for your knees or elbows. Compression sleeves can be worn carefully under clothes.

Compression brackets are slightly larger than sleeves and usually have mechanical supports and metal brackets or hinges. Metal hinges allow some movement to occur while stabilizing the joint in a specific direction. The knee compression brace can also control the position of your kneecap and hold it in place with a mechanical compression pad on one side of the kneecap.

Your patella or kneecap is in a groove in the front of your femur. If you pull or push it to one side or the other, it may cause pain. Some knee compression braces provide open patella support. This means that the brace does not completely cover the patella.

There may be some mechanical devices in the brace that can provide extra stability to your kneecap while wearing the brace. People with conditions such as patellofemoral stress syndrome or patellar tracking problems may benefit from an open pressure brace.

The closed patella knee brace covers your entire kneecap. It can provide some extra comfort and protection for your kneecap, and closed patella braces tend to fit the patella better.

But the closed patella knee brace will not let your kneecap "breathe" because it completely covers it, and it may not provide the same level of specific mechanical compression to one side of the patella, which may be necessary if you have a patella tracking problem of.

The goal of a compression brace is to provide extra stability to the joint when it is compressed so that you can perform functional activities. Compression restricts blood flow and swelling in the area, allowing the joints to move more freely.

A pressure brace can be worn temporarily after surgery to stabilize the ligament healing, or it can be worn during activities to hold things in the correct position as you move around.

The knee compression stent can also limit the swelling around the joint and maximize the circulation of the surrounding muscle tissue. According to a study published in the "Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research", compression garments worn during exercise increase muscle oxygenation and reduce the recovery time after exercise.

According to a study published in the BMC Musculoskeletal Disorders journal, if you have knee arthritis, the knee unloader brace can provide sufficient pain relief and improved functional mobility compared to a placebo brace. The unloading bracket may be provided with a compression sleeve or as a stand-alone bracket.

When buying a pressure brace, many people will benefit from working with a professional medical provider. In this way, a customized bracket can meet your specific needs. Your doctor can direct you to contact medical providers in your area. Common points of sale for medical equipment include your local plastic surgeon’s office or orthopedic and prosthetic clinics.

Retail pharmacies may also offer a variety of compression braces for knees or elbows. These off-the-shelf braces are low cost, but they may not be as suitable as custom braces installed by professionals. Some people have found compression brackets online at Amazon or local Wal-Mart shopping centers.

If you experience knee or elbow pain after joint surgery or after an injury that caused instability, you may benefit from wearing a pressure brace for extra support. Knee or elbow pressure braces can provide comfortable support, improve blood flow to muscles, and limit swelling around injured joints.

Finding the brace that best suits your needs can be challenging, so working with your doctor or physical therapist is a good idea. The right brace for you can ensure that you can quickly and safely return to your previous functional level.

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Coza A, Dunn JF, Anderson B, Nigg BM. The effect of compression on the oxygenation of muscle tissue at the beginning of exercise. Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research. 2012;26(6):1631-1637. doi:10.1519/JSC.0b013e318254885b

Hjartarson HF, Toksvig-Larsen S. The clinical effect of unloading the stent on patients with knee osteoarthritis, a randomized placebo-controlled trial, followed up for one year. BMC musculoskeletal disease. 2018;19(1):341. doi:10.1186/s12891-018-2256-7

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