Patellar tendonitis occurs when your patellar tendon, a flexible connecting tissue that connects kneecap with your shinbone, becomes inflamed. The most common symptom of patellar tendonitis is pain at the base of your kneecap. You may also feel stiffness in the patellar tendon while running, climbing, or lifting a heavy load.
There are various ways you can get rid of this condition. Massage, medication, physical therapy, and rest are a few ways your inflamed tendon can get some relief. However, if you’re a fitness enthusiast, an office worker, or anyone who needs an effective way to reduce the symptoms of patellar tendonitis, a knee brace can help. After scouring through the market, we have picked the best knee brace for patellar tendonitis for you.
8 Best Knee Braces For Patellar Tendonitis
We’ll review and analyze each knee brace and help you pick the best patellar tendonitis knee brace.
Quick Winner
Can’t wait until the end? Here’s the winner:
EXOUS Knee Brace for Patellar Tendonitis
After reviewing and analyzing many different patellar tendonitis knee brace, we have concluded that EXOUS Knee Brace is the best.
Quality: 4.4/5
Pricing: 4.5/5
Rating: 4.4/5
Skip ahead to the reviews Below
What Causes Patellar Tendonitis?
Tendonitis is the inflammation of your tendons. Tendonitis of the patella, or kneecap, is a common knee problem among people who do intense sports and fitness activities. During sports, your knee may be subjected to overuse and repetitive stress, which cause minor ruptures in your tendon. Over time, due to intense activities, your knees develop inflammation, severe pain, and tiny tears. If left untreated, your patella becomes inflamed and results in patellar tendonitis.
Common risk factors include:
Muscle imbalance – Some of your leg muscles may be stronger than others. This causes the patellar tendon to stretch beyond its capacity, which strains your patellar tendon.
Severe illness – Chronic illness can disrupt blood flow to many parts of your body. If the flow to your knees gets disturbed, the tendons become weak.
Physical activities – Running, jumping, cycling, and intense gym activities can result in knee injury, pain, and inflammation. While mild activities don’t generally cause tendonitis, it’s the repeated stress due to intense exercises that weaken your tendons.
How Do You Treat Patellar Tendonitis?
There are many treatment options for people with patellar tendonitis. After diagnosis, the doctors recommend mild treatments, which include:
Medications
Common pain relievers include naproxen sodium and ibuprofen etc. These medications provide some short term relief.
Therapies
Physical therapy is one of the most effective techniques to treat patellar tendonitis. Some of these are:
Straps exercises – This type of exercise involves using patellar tendon straps that apply pressure on the affected area. The force is distributed and the tendons feel relieved.
Muscle stretching – These exercises include stretching of specific muscles and tendons so they are flexed and the elasticity and tone of the muscles are improved.
Strength gaining – Weak muscles are more prone to develop inflammation. To help reduce the chances of injury and patellar tendonitis, your therapist can suggest strength training exercises to treat your condition.
Injections and surgery
If conservative treatments fail to help, your doctor may suggest surgery or injection treatment. People with chronic patellar tendonitis can be helped by giving the injection. If the injections also fail to relieve the symptoms, the doctor may administer surgery.
How Do Knee Braces Can Help with Patellar Tendonitis?
The main idea behind using a knee brace is to reduce inflammation, soreness, and pain due to patellar tendonitis. When you wear your best patellar tendonitis knee brace, your tendons will start to get some relief. Knee straps, which are a specific type of knee braces, are used to strengthen your weak tendons and make you feel comfortable.
Open patella knee braces are another type of a knee brace that provides compression to your inflamed tendons and keep them warm. As a result, pain and discomfort become less intense. These knee braces also power you through your daily activities by distributing the pressure and allowing the affected area to heal properly.
Benefits of Wearing a Knee Braces for Patellar Tendonitis?
Patellar tendonitis causes pain, inflammation, and discomfort. The first thing you need to do is to take rest. This is because the affected tendon needs to heal without burdening it. A knee brace helps you do that: take the pressure off your injured tendon and distribute it accordingly.
Due to wear and tear, the knee cap may dislocate and misalignment happens. A knee brace provides enough compression to your knees so the alignment is corrected and you’re able to have some pain relief.
Patellar tendonitis can also lead to many other knee complications. Also, repetitive strain while playing causes severe knee injury and mild to severe rupture. To reduce the chances of knee complications, use knee braces.
Things to Consider Before Buying Patella Tendonitis Knee Brace
If you’ve decided to buy a knee brace to reduce the symptoms of patellar tendonitis, there are a few things you should have in your mind. Not all knee braces are designed to help you with patellar tendonitis. It’s because the design, features, and benefits of one knee brace can be different from its competitors.
Below are a few things to help you find the best knee brace for patellar tendonitis.
Design – An ergonomic design with adjustable straps that targets the patellar tendon of your knee can be beneficial.
Ease of use – A complicated knee brace with useless features and unclear instructions can be annoying. But if the knee brace is comfortable, has non slip design, and comes with useful features, then you should definitely give your knee brace a try.
Material – Knee braces are made of various materials. Some are helpful, some are not. If your knee brace is made of high quality neoprene material, you should be okay. If the material used is cheap quality, you’ll not benefit from the knee brace.
Value – While a budget may be an important factor when picking something from a list of potential alternatives, other things often dominate the price. These things are the comfort level, pain reduction capacity, and durability of the knee brace. In this case, the prices for all these patellar tendonitis knee braces are on par with each other.
Top 8: Best Knee Brace for Patellar Tendonitis
XOUS Knee Brace for Patellar Tendonitis
Quality: 4.6/5
Pricing: 4.7/5
Rating: 4.5/5
EXOUS knee Brace supports, stabilizes, and protects your knees while keeping the joints warm and comfortable. The unique, 4-way compression design provides medial and lateral stability for fast healing. While many knee braces have just a couple of inflexible fasteners, EXOUS knee brace features four adjustable straps with non-slip design and all-round protection.
Whether you’ve knee instability, ACL tear, or inflammation of the patellar tendon, this knee brace will help you reduce swelling, pain, and instability related to your knee. Users who tried the knee brace said the support was excellent, especially for those with patellar tendonitis.
All-round protection – The knee brace has two large adjustable straps and two smaller ones that provide full knee protection.
Knee conditions – Whether you’ve jumper’s knee, ACL tear, ligament sprain, knee instability, or patellar tendonitis, this knee brace is known to address all these.
Comfort level – You can exercise, run, and play sports with this knee brace because the design is lightweight, breathable, irritation-free, and allows a range of motion
Pros:
✔️ 4-way compression support
✔️ Breathable, lightweight, and comfortable
✔️ Works for sports and daily activities
✔️ Durable and user-friendly
Cons:
❌ Custom sizing options not available
2. DonJoy Bionic Knee Brace
Quality: 4.5/5
Pricing: 4.5/5
Rating: 4.4/5
If you’re a sportsman and do intense fitness activities most often, DonJoy Bionic Knee Brace will be a better option for you. Unlike many knee braces, the bilateral polycentric hinges feature allows maximum flexibility while stabilizing the knee to reduce the risk of injury.
With adjustable straps and wrap-around design, DonJoy Bionic makes it easy to wear or take off the knee brace. They also have dual strap stretch webbing for a snug fit. Users who tried the knee brace said it reduced their knee pain and swelling due to patellar tendon and ACL tear.
Injury protection – DonJoy Bionic knee brace offers maximum support for injured knees, ligament sprain, and inflamed tendons.
Open patella design – An open patella design with a padded buttress relieves pressure off your knee cap and resists patellar dislocation.
Comfortable – The knee brace doesn’t slip down and can be taken off easily with its wrap-around design feature. The perforated neoprene material allows for maximum breathability.
Pros:
✔️ Knee support for patellar tendonitis
✔️ Slip-resistant
✔️ Card and keys holder
✔️ Custom sizing option
Cons:
❌ The wrong size may create a problem
3. Noova Knee Brace
Quality: 4.6/5
Pricing: 4.3/5
Rating: 4.4/5
Noova Knee Support Brace is a heavy duty knee brace that relieves patellar tendonitis, knee strain, arthritis, meniscus tear, and postoperative knee pain. It’s an open patella design made of lightweight and breathable neoprene material.
Unlike EXOUS knee support, this knee brace has three adjustable elastic straps, which can be tightened or loosened as required. Four spring stabilizer coils on both sides of the patella provide extra mobility and flexibility. People who used Noova said the knee brace was worth the price. However, a few said it could have been better.
Range of motion – The knee brace has supporting spring coils that make it flexible enough to be used for sports, gym, and athletic activities.
Comfort and durability – Noova Knee Brace is created from breathable neoprene material, which’s comfortable and durable for long term use.
Knee support – Mainly helps with patellar tendonitis but other mild knee conditions can also be relieved by wearing it for a couple of weeks.
Pros:
✔️ Adjustable straps
✔️ Allows full range of motion
✔️ Supports athletic and sports activities
Cons:
❌ Comes in a universal size
4. Bodyprox Knee Brace for Patellar Tendonitis
Quality: 4.3/5
Pricing: 4.6/5
Rating: 4.6/5
Bodyprox knee brace offers maximum knee support to improve medial and lateral stability, help recover from runner’s knee, mild arthritis, ACL, and patellar tendonitis. The knee brace comes in four different sizes with dual removable hinges that prevent hyperextension and knee injury.
The design is open patella with a thick padded cushion to relieve pressure on the kneecap and keep your joints comfortable. There are two velcro straps on both sides of the patella that can be adjusted accordingly. Users who wore Bodyprox said it was comfortable, soothing, and easy to use.
Activities – Bodyprox knee brace can be used for a range of different physical activities. If you fear missing out on the game due to your injury, Bodyprox is the solution.
Comfort – The design allows your kneecap to experience less pressure. The adjustable straps keep your knee comfortable during sports activities.
Value – This knee brace is budget-friendly and can be easily afforded by an average person. For someone with a knee problem and patellar tendonitis, Bodyprox is worth every single penny.
Pros:
✔️ Adjustable velcro straps
✔️ Sports and daily use friendly
✔️ Custom sizing options
✔️ Latex-free, high grade neoprene material
Cons:
❌ Stretchy and bulky
5. EzyFit Knee Support
Quality: 4.4/5
Pricing: 4.3/5
Rating: 4.2/5
EzyFit knee brace comes in three different sizing options with a durable design that lasts long. The knee brace features three adjustable knee straps, with two on one side and the third on the other. This provides you with the ability to tighten or loosen the knee brace however you want. There are also non-slip silicone gel lines that keep the brace firmly in place.
EzyFit is made of flexible and breathable neoprene material for maximum knee support and comfort. This ensures your injured knee can get enough heat and compression for fast recovery. Customers said the design was excellent.
Knee support – Whether it’s climbing, jogging, running, or weightlifting, this knee brace can be used for any fitness activities without worrying about injury.
Design – The simple wrap around design and uneven velcro straps provide optimum compression to your knees.
Comfort level – You can wear it to any sports activities without compromising on your comfort level. Moreover, the wrap around feature makes it easy and comfortable to take the knee brace.
Pros:
Great support
Adjustable straps
Custom sizing
Cons:
Choosing the wrong sizing may create a problem
6. McDavid Knee Brace
Quality: 4.5/5
Pricing: 4.5/5
Rating: 4.4/5
McDavid Knee brace is made of neoprene material and is best for mild to moderate knee problems, including patellar tendonitis, knee instability, patellar dislocation, and meniscus tear. The two-strap support can be adjusted according to your individual needs. There are also reinforced spring steel stays that provide medial and lateral support.
For a better size fit, make sure you use the sizing chart and measure accordingly. The knee brace comes in three different sizes, so you have the option to choose the one that is the right fit.
Support – Overall, the support was just great. This was reflected in customer reviews who were happy that McDavid support was well worth the price.
Comfort – The knee brace is well-made and won’t slip down easily. The neoprene material keeps your knee comfortable and warm.
Design – The velcro straps on both sides of the open patella helped users adjust the knee brace how much and however they wanted.
Pros:
✔️ Open patella design
✔️ Latex free neoprene for thermal compression
✔️ Hook and loop straps for adjustment
Cons:
❌ The sizing guide has issues
7. HUEGLO Dual Patella Knee Brace
Quality: 4.4/5
Pricing: 4.2/5
Rating: 4.5/5
HUEGLO knee brace is made to relieve all kinds of knee pain and patellar tendon inflammation. If you’re a sportsman or an active person and worry about a knee injury, this knee brace will protect your knee by absorbing shock, impact, and load.
The knee brace is made of soft, durable material that wicks away moisture and keeps your knee comfortable even in the hot summer. HUEGLO is highly adjustable and stays in place without slipping down.
Knee support – Some users reported that this knee brace actually took the pressure off their patella and stabilized their knees to recover from patellar tendonitis. Besides that, the knee brace helps with fractures, pain, and inflammation of the knee.
Ease of use – It’s lightweight and is easy to put on and adjust. The knee strap stays in place and doesn’t cause irritation and discomfort.
Durability – The material used is of high quality. It wicks away moisture and withstands harsh weather conditions.
Pros:
✔️ Comfortable and easy to put on
✔️ Relieves pressure off the tendon
✔️ Lightweight and durable
Cons:
❌ Irritates behind the knee
8. Steel Sweat Knee Brace
Quality: 4.1/5
Pricing: 4.0/5
Rating: 3.9/5
Steel Sweat Knee Brace comes in two different colors and only one size. You can wear it all day without any discomfort and irritation. The bilateral compression system supports your knee and provides lateral and medial support.
Steel Sweat has an open patella design that helps relieve arthritic pain, knee strain, meniscus tear, and patellar tendonitis. The two steel springs on both sides of the knee brace provide advanced support and help you play sports and perform intense fitness activities.
High performers – This knee brace is ideal for those who are fitness enthusiasts and high achievers.
Support and durability – The grip on the sides of the knee brace makes it durable and long lasting.
Knee pain – Whether you’ve knee pain or swelling due to injury, Steel Sweat will help you relieve from painful knees and reduce inflammation of the tendons.
Pros:
✔️ Lightweight and breathable material
✔️ Adjustable support
✔️ Spiral springs for flexibility and support
Cons:
❌ Only one size
Conclusion
Patellar tendonitis can be painful and annoying. It’s better to take rest, massage your injured knee, and use a knee brace for faster recovery. If not taken care of, the inflamed knee can become worse, leading to other complex knee problems. Based on the list above, pick EXOUS Knee Brace for Patellar Tendonitis to help your injured knee heal fast.