Ever waded in a brace?

[JSeamans]

So the doc tells me everything's looking good, my 3/31 ACL reconstruction (knee surgery) is recovering just fine. Problem is these tissue grafts take 4 to 6 months to reach full strength so until then "plant & twist" injuries are the primary danger and as we know these are commonplace when wading and walking on the shore. He mentioned some NFL player who recently wreaked havoc on his knee by cavorting on sand.

So the verdict is that I can go wading IF I wear a leg brace under my waders. Anyone have any similar experience, and if so how did it go?

I have to get out there or I'm gonna go nuts...

[TomDunlap]

i've worn the neoprene type, under very thin polypropolene longjohns(to avaoid the friction between waders and brace), worked ok. Tom

[fishinimpossible]

My buddy did it a few years back...he bought a pair of cheap (45$) waders from Cabela's one body size up (Large instead of Med.). no problemo. Stay off the jetties, though!

[cwby174]

never fished in a brace, however I did spend a few months wading the flats on a broken ankle in a cast. The wife was wonderful, she would let me wade about waist deep, take my crutches and head off to the beach to leave me to fish, deeper the water, the less stress on the joint in question.

[ssully]

Jon,

I did this past weekend. I visited an Ortho guy Friday who said I had stretched out my ACL. I did it playing hockey about5 weeks ago. I thought it was gone for sure the way it swelled up and hurt.

Anyway I can't speak about the reconstructive surgery aspect as I haven't been there. But Saturday I was on a boat all day without the brace and it was pretty stiff that night. I wore the brace(neoprene type)the next day and was fine. Except for landing on my a walking off the jetty. I didn't have my Korkers. Stay on the sand and keep the walk short. Good luck & TL.

[TCC]

I've had both acl's done. Float tubing was my rehab, along with the regular PT. I have used the cti 2 brace and it feels very secure until you fall. Stay on the sand and off the rocks and you'll be fine. I was surfing in 16 weeks after the rebuild. good luck!!

[Nighthawk]

Join the club! I had ACL reconstruction the first week of March. I would be very cautious regarding wading on two accounts. First is your leg strength on the operated side is still way under par. Compare what your normal leg can do on single leg presses versus your operated leg. Big difference and that weakness can be a set up for a fall. Second is that even a functional, molded brace provides only limited protection to your knee. The rotatory forces from the plant and twist motion you mentioned are only minimally protected by wearing a brace. Given your new graft is still only a fraction of normal strength you must be careful out there. Pick your locations to avoid rocks and surf.

[boba]

Just move slowly and feel with your feet. I stepped back into a hole while fighting a fish ... not pleasant. The deeper you wade the more weight is born by the water and not your legs. To echo others, stay away from rocky areas and fish sand only until you heal.
Two bad knees with 3 operations and a bad back (and, oh yeah, a really good doc will give you a note saying fishing and not going to work is therapeutic).
Good luck.
So much water, so little time...