Braces

Injuries happen frequently when involved in sports. To get better from the injury there is a lot of therapy and strengthening to do for that injury. Now coming back and actually planning on the recovered injury is harder than a lot of people think. If you wait until your injury is fully recovered then you shouldn't have any problem playing on it, but many athletes will wear some type of brace. The braces help with their mind and confidence. Are braces really needed for an athlete that has already fully recovered from an injury?

With experience from when I tore my ACL and having to go through therapy has put me with physical therapist that don't believe in braces. If you do your therapy right and have worked hard to strengthen your muscles that you have lost over time, then you should come back just as good or even better than before the injury. There really shouldn't be any need for a brace or a tape job. If you don't have any confidence in your muscles then you should really look at wearing a type or brace or taping job. My best advice would to do something that is going to make you the most comfortable at succeeding at the highest level possible. If that takes wearing a brace then go for it. Just know that your muscles can handle the movements that are required for that sport.

So many athletes start playing a sport before their injury is fully recovered. If this happens then I would suggest to wear a brace. Your muscles weren't strengthened the way they should have been to return to a sport. I don't understand why athletes would want to do this, because it just leads to another injury down the road. You aren't back to your full potential that you could be succeeding at. There are so many things that could go wrong with returning to a sport early. I don't understand why anyone would ever want to take a risk that could lead to an even larger injury. No matter how important returning to the sport is, make sure you have done all of the recovery and strengthening so a brace is not needed.

Stay confident in the strengthening you have accomplished, because sometimes wearing a brace can only make it weaker. Ankle, knee, elbow, wrist braces can all help and protect you from an injury, but who knows if these will prevent you from injuring or re-injuring a body part.