I have torn my acl several times and have has several different braces. The first time was ACL, MCL, medial meniscus, and lateral meniscus. I had surgery, rehabbed for 6 months, and got a $1400 Don Joy brace. My surgeon is the Pittsburgh Penguins doctor and his partner is the Pittsburgh Steelers doctor, so they are both very good with sports injuries and at the time they preferred Don Joy braces. It was measured for my at my thigh and my calf, so it was slightly custom, along with picking my colors and cushion material. I hated it. It didnt account for the fact that I have really bad "knock knees" so my knee was at an angle and this rock hard brace was not, the cushioning inside was not enough to account for it, and the hinge poked out like 3 inches. This meant that any time I jumped or tumbled in it, i got a giant bruise on my good leg from it smacking it, and bruises all over my bad knee. So, I retear my acl and the next time he went to order me a brace I asked him for a different one and told him why I hated the first one. He said he had just switched all his players over to a brace brand called "Breg" and that it was a little bit more custom. My Breg brace was measured like every few inches from my calf up to my thigh, then I was measured for the angle of my knee. This brace had more cushion inside, a smaller hinge, and just overall a better fit. I did have to get another one when I retore my acl again and my thigh muscle was a different size but it is well worth it. I believe this one was about $1600. My insurance covered all of mine.
