Shock Doctor 872 Knee Brace, Knee Support for Stability, ACL/PCL Injuries, Patella Support, Prevent Hyperextension, Meniscus Injuries, Ligament Sprains for Men & Women

This is a great knee brace, but it comes with some caveats. As I get a little older I find myself "tweaking" my knee doing simple things and, as an avid runner and snowboarder, I purchased this brace for preventative care during sporting activities, and for support after a "tweak". I wanted to test it out prior to an upcoming snowboarding trip so I put it on and went on a run. The brace is made with quality material and doesn't have that cheap feel.Sizing: The brace is definitely tight, but I believe that's by design. A good knee brace should provide some compression. When I took my measurements, all my sizes were near the middle of the range for a LARGE. When I first slid it on, it definitely takes a little work but it does stretch a little. I personally have small calves so I could see how someone with huge blown out calves would have a hard time getting it on because the bottom portion tapers down a little. I still recommend not sizing up because of compression. If you don't want compression and want a more comfortable fit, you can size up but be aware that there is a chance the brace could slip during heavy activity if you sacrifice compression for comfort.Wear: I read some reviews that this brace caused some chaffing. I didn't take any chances and wore some stretch material underneath (for me, it was cold outside so I wore tight thermals but any sport/compression pants would work). I ran for an hour and a half and experienced no skin irritation.Comfort: At first you feel a little robotic and stiff, but you quickly work in and movements become more natural. Walking is fine, climbing stairs is probably 95% of normal movement, sitting is normal. Running is probably around 85-90%. The one thing I noticed however is that the compression seems to slightly cut circulation, enough to make running more difficult -- not because of the motion, but because your legs seem to burn out faster than a normal run would. You may have to make frequent stops. I'm sure everyone has different cardiovascular conditioning and results may vary but I would say that you will likely have slight performance drops; not because of mobility, but because of the compression. That said, if you are battling a knee problem its still better than being forced to be completely inactive.Performance: It seems like the biggest advantages on this brace is lateral knee support and compression. It felt strong, supportive and I never had any lateral slips. It also seemed to reduce impact on the knees, perhaps by dispersing some of that energy through the hinges to the lower leg, thereby reducing the amount of force being put on the knees. I felt no joint soreness after my run, like I have been feeling lately (although my leg muscles were screaming when I finished)Based on my experience, I think this will be perfect for snowboarding or skiing and I plan to wear it on my upcoming trips. Since snowboarding doesn't require the same volume of blood flowing in and out of the legs as running does, I don't expect to feel much leg burnout and the range of motion should be perfect for this brace. I will update this review once I give it a few runs.

I purchased the 875 and 872 knee braces in medium. I am 6' 1 200lbs with relatively skinny legs. The medium fits me best. I play hockey as my main sport and wanted protection when skating and any unintentional collisions (non hitting league) since thats how I got hurt in the first place. I do not plan on having surgery as the mri showed a high grade ACL tear but no other issues, no meniscus damage and no signs of arthritis. My doc and PT recommended a brace for any strenuous activities. I personally find myself using the 875 brace more often with high intensity activities. I find that the 875 is more supportive than the 872 but also more restrictive and less comfortable. When playing hockey though my goal is injury prevention, not comfort and through the break in period and once the hype of the game begins, it does not bother or hinder me. I do feel like if I were to select a brace for say tennis or racketball (a non contact sport) I would choose this brace, the 872 for its mobility and comfort (and it too offers great support). I have decided to keep both braces and use them both in separate scenarios. The $50 or so on amazon is the cost of the copay to get sized for a medical grade brace and I was told to expect a few hundred on top of that for the brace itself.

This brace was recommended by my PT Doc. Received it and as others state in writes ups, "order the next size up" from what your true measurement is. I have a torn MCL, LCL ACL and Meniscus and I wore this for the first times all all day yesterday and it felt good and I could feel the rigidity in it and felt confident in walking without any issues. It fit very good it has adjustable Velcro for your comfort level. The only thing I found I would like to see improved it the stitching around the "donut hole" where your knee cap protrudes through. Reason is: when one is pulling this onto your leg and up around your knee, it helps to put two fingers into the hole to help pull it up around you knee cap to get it properly positioned and seated where it needs to be, Using this method of adjustment is very confident because of the tight fit. Once in place the Velcro is tightened and the fit is fine but getting it up to where you need it to go is easier using two fingers through the donut hole to slide it into the final position. I have found the some of the stitching has broken around the donut hole which is no big deal to me because I will just sew some reinforcing thread around the donut hole area. But if they could use some heavy duty thread and a few more rows of stitching at the factory that would be great. I really like the brace and today I actually ordered another on for my other knee. I hope they can make the upgrade to the stitching to heavier thread and more rows of stitching around the donut hole.I would suggest this to anyone who is looking for a great quality, heavy duty brace with metal supports on each side. I am a down hill skier as well as race MX and have never had any knee injuries but now that I have one, I really like this brace that was recommended to me at El Paso manual physical therapy in Texas. Great product that just needs some additional thread around the knee cap hole. I recommend this product and just ordered another one.

Fits fine and helps with knee pain and as a support. Good product and I would recommend it.

I've purchased this item before. This time the Sizing chart was a little off and I had to return. But over the years, this has been very helpful to stabilize my knee.