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It's hard to imagine sleeping with a knee brace on, especially if you sleep on your stomach or your side. Thus staying still as you sleep especially matters after ACL surgery. Doctors do some serious cutting and manipulating on your knee when they repair your ACL. What's the Best Sleeping Position After ACL surgery?ĪCL surgery is an invasive knee reconstruction process. Test this idea out to see if it alleviates your pain, inflammation, or swelling. Some therapists and doctors will recommend alternating heat and ice. Ice therapy along with anti-inflammatory medication and elevation will reduce the swelling in your knee and make you more comfortable. Then put your brace on before you turn out the lights for the night. Once the 20 minutes have passed, take off the ice and let your knee rest without the brace for 10 minutes.
#SHOULD YOU WEAR KNEE BRACE TO BED SKIN#
Do not put the ice directly on the skin as it can damage the skin tissue. Keep the ice on your knee for 20 minutes. Thirty minutes before you go to bed, remove your brace and ice your knee.
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To reduce inflammation, swelling, and pain, use some cryotherapy. So taking your pain meds literally helps your body heal. Your body does its best healing while you sleep. If you do not have prescription medication, take an over-the-counter anti-inflammatory medication like an NSAID to help you sleep with less pain.
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This will help you relax and sleep with less pain. If your doctor gave your pain medication after your procedure, take it before you go to bed. The key to sleeping with a knee brace on lies in what you do before you go to bed. In fact, sleeping with a knee brace on is a good thing if it protects your knee and gives it a chance to heal. But it is not bad to sleep with a knee brace on. Sleeping with a knee brace may not be the most comfortable thing you do in the day. Protect your skin by keeping the brace clean. If you accumulate the dust of the day on your brace, the brace can irritate your skin. Make sure to keep you brace clean or to swap it out with a clean brace when you sleep. The longer you can tolerate your brace, the more quickly your rehab will go. No one said sleeping with a knee brace would be comfortable, but it will keep your knee safe. Basic rolling and readjusting while you sleep can cause more damage to your knee, so wear the brace when you go to bed to keep your joint aligned as it should be. Remember, you cannot see the ligaments and muscles under your skin, the areas where your knee is most vulnerable. You may believe a knee brace will prevent you from falling asleep, but knee pain will prevent you from getting a good night's sleep. Throwing your leg across the bed will result in pain if you do not have a stabilized joint, and this pain will wake you up. When you sleep, you have little control over your movements. Test the tightness to make sure you do not strangle your leg but rather have the brace on securely.Ģ. To make sure the brace truly stabilizes your knee, tighten your straps adequately. The brace protects your knee just as much when you sleep as it does when you're attempting to walk around. This means the brace will prevent you from thrashing around in your sleep and subsequently undoing anything a doctor or surgeon did. Wearing a knee braces does two major things for your injured joint:ġ. When you sleep, you fall into a deep, hypnotic state where you cannot control your movements. You absolutely should wear a knee brace while sleeping if you have an injured knee. Should I Wear a Knee Brace While Sleeping? Keep reading to learn all you need to know about knee braces and sleeping. You may wonder how you can catch the necessary REM cycles with a bulky brace on or why you should even wear a brace. You can and should sleep with a knee brace if you've injured your knee. You can sleep comfortably with a brace if you use pillows and the right sleep aids. You should wear the brace to bed to keep your knee stable and prevent further injury to the joint as you sleep. Wear your knee brace for at least a week if you have no doctor's recommendation. Questions plague them like should I wear a knee brace to bed, and how do I sleep comfortably with a brace on? Millions of people need knee braces as a result of suffering from joint pain.
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