Off topic: Sports medicine type question

[grizwald]

Hey guys,

I was hoping since alot of you guys are current or ex athletes you could help me with this question.

My daughter has turned her ankle a couple times in the last year. The most recent being Friday.

And since I'm a former student trainer in my High School days, I've been taping her ankle for a few days afterwards. But since good athletic tape is like $3 a roll, I was going to invest in some ankle braces for her. Another reason is this way, even if I'm not around, she can still take some preventitive messures.

When I was a trainer we used to use the kind that laced up like a shoe. But looking at the local pharmacy last night the only kind they sold were the One size fits all, with the velcro straps or the pull over elastic kind.

Looking online I see the lace up type of brace is available at sporting goods stores.

My question was: Is the lace up type, still the best kind of brace? Or are velcro type braces better?

I realize that this isn't the perfect forum for a question like this, but I looked around the web and didn't see any articles on point or message boards dealing with Sports Medicine that looked like they had much of any activity.

I'm not looking for medical advise, just personal preferences from guys who use or have used ankle braces in the past. Any specific brands might be helpful as well.

One other thing to keep in mind is that she is a 13 year old girl with medium sized feet (about a women's size 8). The one size fits all might not work out so well. Therefore I didn't buy any last night, since I didn't feel comfortable with the selection to choose from.

[REFVA]

I can give you my personal expereince. Due to not stretching prior to doing games I injured myslef and formed Heel Spur/Plantar Facitiuos. I think I spelled that correctly. Which in turn made my ankles very weak and sprained my ankles a number of times. So I got myself the orthotic and the velcro ankles braces sure enough those two items have saved my ankles and was able to build them up again. I used the velcro braces and I swear by them. Similiarly My daughter played HS ball and she used them as well.

In conclussion, That is my 2 cents.

[SmokeEater]

Orthotic Braces for weak ankles is the way to go. If you have somewhere that can custom fit them to her that is the best way to go. I know here in Canada, if we get a doctors prescription for them we can sometimes claim the costs on medical insurance. This is rare though. The ones I got were very expensive, around $150-200 CD so thats like $75 American right...LOL

[REFVA]

Yes, In the US they are $200 to $300. But so that you don't spend that kind of money, you could buy the ones they sell in some running shoe stores. They range about $25 to $30.

[Jimgolf]

The velcro ones work great for me as a preventative measure.

The people who have really bad ankles swear by the lace up ones (particularly the McDavid's), but with a girl I would be worried about the strain this might cause on her ACL. Ankles heal quicker.

Check with a good podiatrist or orthopedist about that issue.

[Bad Zebra]

My son turned an ankle pretty bad when he was playing JV ball about 3 years ago...we tried the velcro straps but they bothered him more than the pain did. A football coach reccommended the McDavid lace up deal and that did the trick. Comfortable and inexpensive...he still wears it as a preventative measure.