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ACL Sports Braces, Unloader Braces and Functional Braces


KNEE BRACES


Custom-made functional knee braces (e.g. Innovation Sports CTi2, DonJoy Defiance, OrthoTech Performer [was discontinued mid-September 2000], Townsend Premier, Lenox Hill Avenger Custom, Flextech/Flexguard F1, Townsend Original/Air/Ultra Air, Omni Avant Garde, Karl Hager Double X, EMT Stealth, Biedermann/Montana Ultratech). (Breg and Bledsoe make pseudo-custom braces.

Off-the-shelf functional braces (e.g. Townsend Rebel, Innovation Sports Edge and C180 and MVP, DonJoy Legend/Goldpoint, OrthoTech Vortex [discontinued], Lenox Hill Precision Lite, Omni Spectrum, Breg Tradition, Exotec Audacity 2, Flextech/Flexguard Inferno [now simply known as Flexguard], Bledsoe ACL/Ultimate/Force).

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Some of the off-the-shelf braces (e.g. Breg Tradition/X2K "Custom", Flextech Flexguard [formerly Inferno], Townsend Rebel) have aluminum frames, which the clinician can bend to shape. Others (such as the Townsend GS) are sold in kit form; the clinician heats and forms it around a cast of the patient's leg. Still other models (most notably the CTi Edge) have semi-flexible components which conveniently and easily (and usually satisfactorily) accommodate not only a considerable variety of leg sizes/shapes, but changes over time as well. 

List of brace-manufacturer contact numbers and website addresses (in no particular order). This list focuses on hardshell, hinged knee bracing.   Updated November 22, 2002.


Innovation Sports (Foothill Ranch, California). 1-800-222-4284, 1-800-331-5491.

Townsend Design  (Bakersfield, California). 1-800-432-3466, 1-800-840-2722

DonJoy  (Division of DJ Orthopedics; note that this firm has bought out OrthoTech from Johnson and Johnson, and has Lenox Hill (Poulsbo, Washington) 1-800-248-6463, 1-800-222-8837 (The Lenox Hill name is now part of Seattle Orthopedic Group, which is owned by the firm J.E. Hanger.)

Omni Scientific (Concord, California). 1-800-448-6664. (This firm is currently owned by the New Zealand-based firm Bodyworks.)

Enhanced Medical Technologies (EMT)  (Agoura Hills, California). 1-800-888-5633, 1-818-889-2500.   (This firm is quite small, and thus has little market penetration.  The fact that very few people have used this firm’s braces means that there is insufficient information to evaluate this firm’s products in depth.)

Breg  (Vista, California). 1-800-321-0607, 1-760-599-3000. (Note that this firm’s “custom” braces, despite aggressive marketing, actually fall into the category of “off-the-shelf”.)

Flextech/Flexguard/DeRoyal  (Newport Beach, California). 1-800-681-3539, 1-714-650-3052, 1-800-251-9864 (The street address I have on file is 861 Production Place.  This firm has recently been bought out by DeRoyal, a large medical/surgical-products conglomerate based in Powell, Tennessee.  In its former incarnation, Flextech was very secretive, thus leading me to wonder about its long-term stability.  Given its newly transferred ownership, it is hard to predict what may happen to the firm and its products in the long term.  I would recommend that anyone who is contemplating purchasing a Flextech/Flexguard brace call and ask about warranties and free-refit periods.

Exotec (Professional Products Inc.)  (DeFuniak Springs, Florida). 1-800-234-9004, 1-850-892-2731.

Generation 2 USA  (Bothell, Washington). 1-800-462-7252.

Generation 2 Canada (Richmond, British Columbia) 1-800-663-5982, 1-604-241-8152.

Karl Hager Limb and Brace (Edmonton, Alberta) 1-780-452-5771.

Bledsoe  (Grand Prairie, Texas) 1-888-253-3763, 1-972-647-0884 (Note that this firm’s product range does not include custom-fabricated bracing.  Also note that this firm’s marketing efforts include “educational” articles, available on its website.)

Bauerfeind USA  (Kennesaw, Georgia). 1-800-423-3405.

Zinco  (Pasadena, California). 1-626-405-0660.

Biedermann GmbH  (Villingen-Schwenningen, Germany). This firm produces the custom-made semi-flexible-frame Ultratech brace. For the American market, said brace is manufactured under license by Montana Medical Brace. 

Montana Medical Brace (Bozeman, Montana) 1-800-555-9256, 1-406-586-8440.

Empi  (Saint Paul, Minnesota). 1-800-328-2536 x 8556, 1-800-325-5663. (This firm currently only makes rehabilitative-type bracing.)

Protonics/Inverse Technologies  (Lincoln, Nebraska). 1-800-222-5778. Note: this firm produces only special-purpose rehab braces. Products are produced in conjunction with Empi, Inc.

Doyle International  (Luton, Bedfordshire, United Kingdom)  44(0) 15 82 755 000.  (Note that all of this firm’s products fall into the off-the-shelf category.)

Mueller Sports Medicine  (Prairie du Sac, Wisconsin) 1-800-356-9522. (This firm no longer produces hardshell knee bracing.)

Anatech  (Richmond, British Columbia) 1-800-667-3442. (This firm produces only soft knee bracing.)
- Kinetic Research, Inc.

Kinetic Research, Inc.  (Tampa, Florida) (This firm's webpage is sparse; little can be found about this firm.)

United States Manufacturing Co.  (Pasadena, California) 1-626-796-0477. (This firm's knee bracing is limited to special-purpose use.)

Composit Orthotic Design (Montreal, Quebec). 1-514-369-3311.

Extreme Velocity Sports (Santa Monica, California). 1-800-229-4387. Note: this firm produces bracing which is intended solely for use as off-the-shelf athletic protective equipment (i.e. not as medical orthoses).


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