Knee Braces?

[Gavin0012]

I was wondering if you could wear knee braces(the ace bandage kind) while on the job as a police officer? My knees are somewhat weak and braces help them.

[retdetsgt]

If you have bad knees, you may have problems being hired. Knees and backs are commonly injured on the job and a lot of depts., including mine are very careful about hiring anyone with the least bit of problem with either one. If they're bad now, in a few years they may well be in terrible shape.

[Sierra]

I have had two arthroscopic surgeries on my left knee and one on my right. My right did not (and still has not) come back to full flexibility following the surgery.

I attended FLETC and did all high stress events, such as PT and Defensive Tactics, wearing a knee brace. Nothing much was said about it as I was able to complete all required events, although I did end up with the unenviable nickname of "Brace."

I still use the brace only for high stress events. Not being a street cop, those are few and far between. I have a heavy duty (sleeve, straps above/below/surrounding knee)for lots of twisting and a medium duty (sleeve, straps above/below knee) for running. I do not know how useful an ACE trype bandage would be. It seems to me it would be prone to movement. You may want to seriously consider a neoprene sleeve like mine.

As was previously stated, you will be looked at much more in depth over this issue. I had to have clearance from my surgeon specifically addressing whether I would be able to hand the stress of the job. As long as you obtain the needed clearance and are able to do the job with minimal impact, I see no problem with you being hired. The major point is how weak your knees are. Only your doc and you know for sure right now, but they will do their best to find out.

[retdetsgt]

Only your doc and you know for sure right now, but they will do their best to find out.

Here, it's our doctor that will determine if you can do it, not yours. Bringing a note from your own doctor will mean nothing. We send everyone to three of our doctors, an internal medicine specialist, a cardiologist and an orthopedist. They all will look for even potential problems. More than a few people have been rejected because of joint and back problems, some the applicants didn't even know were there.

I'm not saying you won't be hired, but most depts will look at your problem closely.

[Gavin0012]

I can do running and stuff, I play baseball. It's just every once in awhile it can come out of place. And it hasn't happened in about 6 months, my doctor said the tendons in my knee are stretching and are week right now. I'm not sure why I'm concerned about it either haha.

[retdetsgt]

You may do fine, I don't know. But I do know that pre existing physical problems are heavily scrutinized by my dept because we lose so many people every year to disability caused by back and knee injuries.

[Samuel]

As long as you maintain a "uniform" appearance, you "should" be ok BUT it will depend on the individual agency. That being said, if you have medical problems, you might have trouble getting hired. Also, wearing a brace due to "weakness" will only exacerbate the problem. IMO, you should work on strengthening/rehabing if it's only a matter of "weakness".

[Kimble]

As long as you maintain a "uniform" appearance, you "should" be ok BUT it will depend on the individual agency... Also, wearing a brace due to "weakness" will only exacerbate the problem. IMO, you should work on strengthening/rehabing if it's only a matter of "weakness".

I couldn't agree more with Sam's post. I've got bad knees too from old football injuries, and had to wear neoprene braces on my knees during my academies. While it is dependent on what a given agency will accept, I've worked for 3 separate agencies (two local and one federal), and all were okay with me wearing the braces during physical activity. I don't wear the knee braces every day on the job, as it's not needed, just when I do physical activity like our biannual PT test or when I run on my own. If it something you HAVE to wear daily, that could be an issue (again, depends on what the given agency you apply to accepts), as street cops get into fights/chases/etc and have to be physically capable of dealing with this at any time.

Good luck.