Brent's #MyUnloader Story

A patient presented as a little depressed regarding his condition and how it has slowed him down in more recent years. However, he was keen to try other interventions to help him cope with daily living. He told me he wasn’t keen on having surgery at this stage and if he could do something to put this off, he was keen to participate. This man weighs 146 kg. On weight bearing, he presented with genu varus bilaterally, but his right knee appeared worse. He stood with slight flexion at the knee joint although he could straighten this out if he chose to. The ligaments around his knee appeared stable enough for a man his age, although he did say that he felt as if his knee was going to give out at times. His muscle strength was slightly weaker than on the right side, wit the knee extensors and flexors measuring 4/5. X-rays showed loss of joint space in the medial compartment and significant OA in his patella femoral joint. They also showed some osteophyte formation. He appeared to have a small flexion deformity on the right side.

The patient said he had to take medication to manage it. He found it hard at work going up and down ladders. He liked to get out in the garden but had to modify this and do things in short bursts. He wore a knee sleeve for the past year and felt that this helped him somewhat but not nearly enough. The patient had a total hip replacement in his right hip in 2017. He said that this went without any complications. The patient walked with a limp favouring his left side. During his assessment when asked what the patient wanted from a knee brace, his main goal was to continue to work and get out for walks as well as potter around in his garden. I discussed options of different styles of unloading knee braces and decided to recommend the Unloader One X as the best option for him.

I fitted this man with a medium Unloader One X knee brace. The knee brace fitted well, and the patient walked around the clinic with a big smile on his face, as he said it gave him instant relief and he felt much more stable and confident with the brace on. I gave the patient initial wearing instructions explaining that it would be a good idea to wear the brace for a couple of hours initially and build up his time slowly over the next couple of weeks.

In saying this, if all was going well, he could make his own decision about wearing the brace. I made sure he understood how to apply and remove the brace. I had him put the brace on and off a couple of times in the clinic so he could get the brace to fit well. We went over how to care for the brace and explained that he was welcome to contact me if he required further support. I contacted the patient after three months to see how he was coping. He is now back at work and managing well. He said he had lost some weight and was feeling much better about himself. The patient was very happy with the knee brace and was wearing it most of the time from when he woke up in the morning.