Warmth and Support (York Fitness Stabilised Knee Support)

Member Name: englishrose

Product:	York Fitness Stabilised Knee Support
Date:	16/04/09 (74 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Does exactly what it says on the pack

Disadvantages: Not for sitting down in!

Recently, suffering a sore and swollen knee, I decided to buy a support for it: I think that the cause of the problem was probably my gym training routine, plus I have been walking regularly lately too, in a bid to lose weight. It may be a bit peverse, wanting to carry on with the activity that caused the problem, but I was reluctant to let this stop me (frightened of piling the weight back on again!).

I chose this York Fitness Stabilised Knee Support, which I saw in the Argos catalogue.

It cost me around £9.99 at my local branch of Argos . I believe these are available at sport shops too.

It comes in a polythene bag with some very simple basic instructions: You just open the velcro part, wrap it around the affected knee, and close the velcro tightly around it. That's it!

I chose this brand over the others because I thought it would be more adjustable: Some of the other brands, such as Nike, were a pull-on style, with no opening parts. I am not feeling thin enough to risk that yet, so an adjustable fastening was the way to go, just in case the pull-on version didn't actually go on!

My knee support is slightly different from the one in the picture, as they are available in two varieties: Mine has a little hole over the kneecap area, known as the 'open patella' variety, which allows for extra flexibility.

It is made of neoprene, which is the same material used in wetsuits! The colour is black, and the manufacturers claim that this causes it to 'warm' the affected area by retaining heat. The support can be hand-washed at a low temperature.

How effective was it? Well, I put it on first thing in the morning while getting dressed, then went out on a long walk for around one and a half hours.

I did notice the area under the support becoming slightly warmer than normal, but I didn't feel it was any more than would have been caused by any old fabric, to be honest.

I did fasten it really tight, to fully support the knee, so that a bit of flesh bulged over the top. This seemed to do the job, and I was able to power walk my usual amount. However, this is no good when in a sitting position, as it feels like the circulation is being cut off! I recommend only wearing it when you are going to be upright for quite a long while.

The velcro was really strong, and didn't budge at all once fastened. It stayed exactly where I put it, so top marks for that.

The problem lasted a few days, and the knee support did exactly what it says on the pack: It supported the knee so that I could continue my normal routine without making it worse.

It's in the drawer now as I am feeling better, but I will certainly use it next time if the problem flares up again.

Summary: A useful tool to allow you to carry on your usual routine