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Do i need to wear knee brace at night after ACL surgery?

Do i need to wear a post-op knee brace at night after having ACL knee surgery?


3 Answers

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Yes, most doctors will require you to wear the post-op knee brace (in locked position) for several weeks while sleeping after ACL knee surgery. While also keeping the knee/ leg elevated on a InteVision Foam Wedge Pillow (7.5" tall) while you sleep to help keep swelling down and also to keep your leg in a straight angle to help with extension.

Using the post-op knee brace at night will help protect your knee while you sleep, as well as keep it from losing full extension overnight. If you keep it in the post-op brace overnight, the knee will feel better in the morning. The longer you can wear the post-op brace while sleeping, the better your knee will be. At a minimum wear it for 4 weeks, optimally wear it for longer (7 to 9 weeks). At your second post-op doctor's appointment, the doctor will probably tell you that you no longer need to wear the brace at night.

I wore my post-op brace for about 8 weeks straight, then wore it a few more times over the course of the next two weeks.  I've continued to use the Foam Wedge Pillow along with a knee pillow (for side sleeping) off and on, now going on 1 1/2+ years since knee surgery. I totally recommend getting both pillows for recovery after surgery.

 

Where can I get the pillows? I had this surgery done and only thing I was told afterwards was to keep this brace on and to bear weight as tolerated and to not get it wet in the shower until I went to my next visit where they took out these stitches and told me to sign up for physical therapy I never saw the doctor after the surgery I'm really confused about everything –  Shannonshumaker  Sep 25th, 2021 at 7:07 AM

Hi Shannon,

You can get pillows on Amazon… just click the links above. I also wrote a far more detailed article that you can read here: https://www.backcountryplanet.com/how-to-prepare-y... Good luck w/ your recovery.

–  doug  Sep 25th, 2021 at 11:07 AM


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My locked knee brace is slipping down 2 days after surgery...not sure how to keep it tightened?


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So late, but for those who are now seeing this, my brace had velcro and 4 straps. I just put my brace where I was supposed to (my physical therapist told me where) and tightened the straps. I had to make sure the velcro wasn't exposed though because then it would scratch me. It was kind of tricky to find the sweet spot between to tight and too loose.

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