Orthomen OA Unloading Knee Brace for Osteoarthritis Lateral Off Loader Support (Right)

So I have damaged (again) my knee and the surgeon who reviewed me said an unloading knee brace might help. He warned that they are not cheap. I found a range of them on here and also other sites. It seems like a bit of a minefield of what to get and plenty of them looked exactly like this one but were much cheaper, but also had some poor reviews. This seemed to have better reviews, but is really quite expensive. Desperate to get something to help, I ordered it, hoping it would be next day delivery. Quite a shock to realise that it was a direct from China thing and took 3 weeks to arrive. When it came, it was in a very generic plastic bag with basic instructions and does not really feel like over £200 worth of product. I tried it and was not sure it helped, so took it down to the surgeon, who seemed to think that it should work with the hinge on the other side of the knee (it cannot work like that since it would be backwards). Anyway, the surgeon therefore basically said "use it if you want", which was not exactly inspiring. I have since given it one go and it may have helped, but I am still not sure. I seemed to have to tighten the straps very tight and was worried about affecting circulation. Hence, used twice so far and now back in the bag and may or may not be used again. I will talk to the physio when I get to see them and see what they say. Might have been rather a waste of money (and quite a lot of money at that). Time will tell.

I have a High Grade II torn MCL with 80% or so and grade I ACL tear. I was in a wheel chair or walker all week until this came in. I literally could walk with almost a normal gate with this immediately. AMAZING! I have had this injury even worse many years ago and I've used full leg immobilizers, crutches, I have a neoprene sleeves, wraps, and a knee brace with metal stays to stop twisting or lateral motion, THIS PRODUCT hands down beats them all. This was worth every penny and more. The product: Tt's hella light, padded on every strap, the straps (thick and relatively soft for being sturdy and very adjustable), the hinge is robust and geared and has range of motion stops that are simple to install with the provided hardware. It keeps your knee open to breath or wrap for patella stabilization, and the hinge adjust angle for medial vs lateral pressure and to adjust pressure placement on the knee. Also the strap pads are rubberized to prevent slipping and it really helps reduce load on the knee OMG what a relief! It really makes a huge difference and has already (in a matter of days) lead to gains in recovery just by knowing I'm protected I've pushed harder and used increased range of motion. BUY IT NOW, so cheap for someone with a knee injury it's a no brainer NOTE about 4 stars: I rated it 4 stars in Pain and Comfort, BUT realize it can only do so much as I have a serious injury there will still be some occasional pain (nothing outside of drugs can change that....hard pass). For comfort; it's as comfortable as a robust brace can be...it can't offer the relief without being tight and restrictive to a degree. I've worn many braces and honestly this thing is fantastic...just wanted to offer some insight into my ratings

I will be more than happy to submit a honest review of the brace as without it, I could not walk. When my son gave the brace to me, it was for the short term as I was scheduled for a knee replacement 6 months from when I received the brace. In the meantime, I tore the total rotator cuff of my left shoulder so the surgeon decided I had to have a reverse shoulder replacement before the knee replacement, so I had two arms after the knee surgery. That pushed the knee surgery back 6 months while my new shoulder healed. Before my shoulder surgery, I discovered I had rectal cancer. Another push back. I needed months of radiation and possible rectal surgery. Lucky the radiation got rid of the cancer so now I am moving forward with the shoulder surgery in February. Four to six months after the shoulder replacement, I will finally have the knee replacement surgery. Doing this entire episode my Orthomen OA Unloader Knee Brace has allowed me to stay mobile. With the brace, I have no knee pain from the bone-on-bone status of my knee. I am a very active 82-year-old so moving around is a must. With the brace, I have that freedom. Without it, I must use a roller and only for short walks. Believe me, this review is from the heart. Your product is a God sent. Thank you.

I took heed other people's warning, and bought Klein Tools 3mm T-handle Allen tool. So I don't wait for the one that I got with the product to fail. You know the first couple hours I was ready to send it back. I was like oh my gosh this is so encumbering. I felt like a freaking cyborg. I bought it from my right leg even though I have bone on bone on both legs. But after I got initially set up and figured out that you could actually take it off without undoing the Velcro just by pinching the buckle was a bonus. And then throughout the day if I was sitting or if I was doing too much and I was starting to swell a little bit I could loosen the Velcro and again it was no big deal because you could always tighten it again and then when you take it off for the night or whatever to shower, you just pinch the little buckles and it comes off. Don't have to fuss with the Velcro. The Velcro putting it on the first time was a pain in the butt. And I was worried that it wasn't gonna stay up, but I was surprised that it did. The first time I wore it all day with my thigh high support stockings. That really felt good on my other knee so guess what I figured it out after wearing it all day that it's not so bad in my right knee actually felt good all day for the first time in eight months. So I ordered a left leg!!! I would say give it a try don't give up wear it a couple days loosen it tighten it adjust it do what you gotta do. The only thing that I'm sad about is the hex key doesn't turn enough to have pressure against my knee like I wanted, so I'm gonna have to buy some kind of pad or something to put in there to put more pressure on the side of my kneecaps. But other than that, don't give up! I almost did. I'm glad I didn't. PRO tip: I found when I'm sitting watching TV and I'm not planning on walking for the next 10 to 15+ minutes I will loosen some of the straps so easy to do. Then just tighten them up again if you're gonna get up and walk around.

You'd think companies would take their time to build something that's worth a damn these days. First try and it's toast. I found it strange that the adjustment tool was such a tight fit into the screw and that it didn't really travel very deep into the screw's head but I got it in nice and snug. I found it strange that it was hard to turn but figured being it's moving something that kind of looks rugged maybe that's why. sufficed to say it's utterly useless now and I literally just five minutes ago unpacked it. I'm pretty good at fixing stuff but I doubt that there are replacement parts for this so it's a total and I do mean TOTAL waste. Put your money somewhere else. Not here! I put it on my dads leg and did the adjustment while he sat....Literally the first adjustment felt so hard to turn I was afraid I'd damage it and decided to back it off while he was standing up and the bloody screw's head rounded out? WHILE BACKING THE SCREW OUT... ie releasing pressure.... WOW! Would it kill a company to put a decent hardened steel screw into something like this? Like seriously what would it cost yall to put a proper hex screw in there that won't round out so easily?