May/June 2020 - 13

Braces & Support
worsen. And while Namath soaked up the accolades of
his on-field success, the real man responsible for the
quarterback's long-term success was Nicholas - who
founded the world's first hospital-based center for the
treatment and prevention of sports injuries at Lenox Hill. It
is now known as the Nicholas Institute of Sports Medicine
and Athletic Trauma.
That same brace, although as archaic-looking as
the leather-head helmets players once adorned, was
eventually worn by thousands of athletes with similar knee
injuries and served as the foundation for the cutting-edge
technology that athletes wear in today's games.
Flash forward 54 years and the braces and supports
athletes wear today to stay in the game have been
tweaked, altered and improved upon to not only
cater to an athlete's specific needs, but are also not
as nearly cumbersome as the brace Namath and his
contemporaries wore.
LESS IS MORE, MORE IS BETTER
" What's happened over the years [was] the materials got
lighter, braces became less cumbersome. The derotational
braces used light-weight materials and preventative braces
became derotational braces with prophylactic to protect
the MCL and ACL, " Bernie DePalma, the associate director
of athletics for sports medicine and head athletic trainer at
Cornell University, said.
Some of the words used to describe outdated knee
braces of yesteryear are cumbersome. Clunky. Intrusive.
Meddlesome. Bulky.
As DePalma, a trainer for the Big Red for 37 years,
explained brace manufacturers have adopted the less is
more approach - opting for light-weight materials like
neoprene that give athletes better stability and mobility
while providing the potential to prevent future injury.
" DonJoy started making hinge braces made of neoprene
- the material that scuba diver suits are made of, " DePalma
said. " And they switched to a dry-tech, moisture-wicking
material that's breathable, light-weight and simple. "
At the forefront of knee brace technology is the
aforementioned DonJoy Performance and its variety of 41
different braces and sleeves. Some are designed to protect
MCL. More are better equipped to support ACLs. Others
cater to protecting and stabilizing the patella. There is no
longer a one-brace-fits-all mentality, even when dealing
with the same type of injuries. Instead more options are
laid out to the athlete to find what will best tailor his or her
specific situation.
For athletes, specifically offensive linemen in football,
that want to protect their knees they turn to DonJoy's
Armor Fource Point. It's a joint stabilizer for slight to
severe ACL, LCL and MCL instabilities or tears. These
braces protect linemen - and even defensive players like
linebackers or cornerbacks - from getting rolled up on
from behind, creating a smaller probability of sustaining
knee injuries in similar instances.
The DonJoy Defiance III is more an all-purpose knee
brace, not only aiding athletes in contact sports but also
training-conditioning.com | 13
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May/June 2020

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