A Relatively Simple Quick On and Off Knee Brace Modification or

Brake When you See the Wall...

Jay Leno would get that one at a glance...

And it's Brake not break.

Cycles.

Things change good and bad but when things pile up on me,

I find a distraction and take a break from whatever is stressing me out.

This is Shiny my wife has RA her joints are twisting she needs a knee brace to stand up and she has them but the time it takes to put one on at three AM...

I should be thankful I have the borrowed time to spend but I must admit to being grumpy in the early morning hours woken.

Her knee has begun to bend sideways and surgery is not an option so I thought and got a few things and my welder and made her a quick release leg brace that is well padded and allows full movement of the knee in the normal direction but locks out any lateral movement. When standing the slip joint is fully inserted and provide maximum stabilization and when in a 90 like when sitting is almost fully extendedand has a tiny amount of slop built in so it becomes just a loose hold since there is less stress on the knee in that position and her feet will sit flat to the floor.

I even managed to break a sewing machine so I got a puzzle out of the deal!

I'm sure they make them and we could have gone and gotten an appointment and waited to be seen by her PrimAry then refered to a specialist then fitted and wait for it to be manufactured then delivered then set up another appointment for a final fitting and I needed it yesterday for the wife...

Looks primative but it locks the knee solid in the standing position to keep it from kicking sideways due to her RA and it is comfortable for her to wear.

Step 1 Basic Stuff I Bought Got or Had and some Tools

A velcroed knee brace, some 3/16th square, 1/2 inch by 1/8 flat steel, and some 1/8 by 7/8 steel, the latter just happened to be left over heavy duty hurricane straps from building the house so I used acid to wash off the zinc but you could do the same with a grinder and I in fact did up until the time I wash finishing it up.

Some 1 1/2 wide webbing, carpet thread and a few round headed 1/8 inch nuts and bolts with fender washers grade five about an inch long but they get cut flush and I probobly could have used a 3/4 inch long one.

Add some left over spray paint and a mig welder which yes I know is not in everyones garage, a drill and 3/16 drill bit, various clamps and vices (smoking is bad for you).

The first thing I did was test fit the brace as it came out of the box and I used masking tape to mark where the velcro strap ended when it was fairly snug on her.

Two straps to pieces of tape.

Then I got a flexible measuring tape the ones they use to sew are perfect I should add that to the list but if you read this far.

Anyways I measured the distance from end to end of the brace with her leg as straight as it can go, then flexed her knee to a 90 and using the tape and starting at the center I measured out half the length of the brace straight and found the brace now was an inch and a half longer across the top where the steel would be secured so not only did I need a hinge it needed to be a slide.

At this point I should have taken a moment to doodle a sketch but that always seems to take so long but I did take the time to make a template of the curve of her leg both above and below the knee so I could curve some steel for reasons of securement...

I tend to just plow ahead blindly and built this house from / or / and got the permits with two notebook sized sketches of the floor plans and a cross section of a footer.

After it was all framed I made some drawing but I must have been really bored.

Comments

[Flumpkins]

OH NO!!! When I clicked on this there were 666 views!!!

[Senseless]

LMAO Justin! Relax that means you were number 667.

[Flumpkins]

Does that mean I can eat again?

[killerjackalope]

I wonder... Could I adapt this to suit my needs... I'll see what doctor says... Got one knee that extends too far and one that doesn't actually straighten, best guess for now is that the bad one hasn't got much cartilage left in it. I'll have to see what is the best option. By the way I had an idea for a surgical method of repairing things like this, basically replacing the whole joint with a hinged knee joint made of the proper materials, copied from the other knee and mirrored to maintain symmetry as much as possible.

[Senseless]

She had a complete knee replacement but had complications and a second surgery back to back. She has a proper brace and I have no doubt going through the medical system someone out there makes something similar but this goes on and off so quickly and she is only taking a few steps with me holding her. I doubt she'd let me try surgery but I'm looking for an instructable on it just in case.

[killerjackalope]

Just out of question what exactly is RA? I got a bit confused by the humour etc in the first few lines... Hmm I know how to cut all the meat off a chicken, I think that qualifies me... I haven't got it that bad, my knee has four degrees of freedom but it's not changing, just a small amount so I haven't bothered with it since the doctor said we'll take a look in a while. My elbows are similar, since I broke both of them on separate occasions, only problem is crates of beer, I can't stack two and carry them with my arms straight...

[copycat42]

>...........Hmm I know how to cut all the meat off a chicken, I think that qualifies me...... only if you can put it back on. :)

[Senseless]

LOL CAT! ++++

[Senseless]

Rheumatoid Arthritus. I suggest two belts and a long stick for carrying those crates of beer, just stick to even numbers, and no I don't mean two belts of Jack Daniel's...