InsideOutdoor Magazine

From DonJoy’s first

neoprene knee sleeve to

now, the company has

evolved into one of the

largest orthopedic reha-

bilitation companies in the

world and a major provider of

pain management and physi-

cal therapy products. Today’s

range of DonJoy’s Perfor-

mance consumer gear comes,

in part, in anticipation of “a

more educated consumer and

the Affordable Care Act,”

asserts Toby Bost, DonJoy

Performance’s president

of consumer business. A

spate of consumers have

come to DonJoy via Inter-

net searches, friends or

through health care pro-

viders, in search of affordable solutions

to various physical ailments, said Bost.

It is part of a self-help trend, within the

broader spectrum of the multibillion

dollar alternative medicine sector and

continued growth of reclassified pre-

scription drugs sold over-the-counter,

that has been gaining momentum.

Recent studies, such as the

2013

Medicine Use and Shifting Costs of

Healthcare

, by the IMS Institute for

Healthcare Informatics, support Bost’s

assertions. According to the report

authors, “Out-of-pocket costs continue

to rise for patients, despite generic

medicines now representing 86 percent

of prescriptions, and average out-of-

pocket costs falling below $10

overall.” An earlier study

by the National Institute of

Health’s National Center

for Complementary and

Alternative Medicine found

“herbal medicines, were the

most commonly used alter-

natives, taken by almost 18

percent of Americans in 2007.

Among those users, roughly

a quarter said they delayed or

didn’t get conventional medi-

cal care because of the cost.”

Folks with less than

idea health coverage

are looking outside of

the healthcare system to

self-medicate, said Borne.

He sees an opportunity

for DonJoy Performance

to fill a need consumers will seek as the

weight of consumer ACA choices comes

into effect. With that, DonJoy Perfor-

mance was hard launched at Summer

OR, one and a half years later.

The main focus is on the first three

levels of support performance (from

lowest to highest): Proform,Trizone and

Webtech. (DonJoy Performance’s most

clinically oriented bracing category,

Bionic – outside the scope of this over-

view – should be discussed with the

appropriate health care professionals

well versed in the vagaries of biome-

chanics and kinesiology.)

Proform is the basic level product but

worth mentioning in that unlike most

compression sleeves at any price, all five

sleeves feature neoprene for a thermal

compression benefit. When compared

to spandex sleeves, DonJoy’s

neoprene is more durable, resists

fiber breakdown and therefore

retains stretch over a longer period

of time. For comfort, Lycra is used for

weight and perspiration reduction. Two

thicknesses of knee sleeves complement

calf, shin and arm sleeves along with siz-

ing from extra small to extra large in the

knee sleeves. All the other sleeves are

sized from small to extra large.

Next up in support is one of the

game-changing products that will

surely transform compression. Tri-

zone patented technology combines 40

percent carbonized bamboo, 40 percent

polyester and 20 percent spandex into

a circumferentially knitted sleeve. This

allows for targeted compression zones

but with one important difference: the

sleeve can be reinforced with silicone

overlays. The result is a one-of-a-kind

hybrid sleeve combining both compres-

sion and bracing. This unique design is

head-and shoulders beyond what any

knitted compression sleeve on its own

could ever do.

Like the neoprene in the Proform,

Trizone’s silicone resists breakdown. It is

also moldable, achieving 3-D functional

positioning for better confirmation to the

compound curves of the limb. These sili-

cone reinforcements also can be molded

down to a lower profile than neoprene,

reducing bulk for wearing under cloth-

ing, in shoes, sport uniforms and in the

case of the knees, for rub-free walking.

In the knee sleeve, the three-zone

compression design takes advantage of

the physical characteristics of the sleeve’s

component parts. The joint’s support

zone is constructed of the more dimen-

sionally stable silicone. The compres-

sion and comfort zones are rendered by

the circular knit construction, yielding

strategically variable compression. The

knit itself is anti-bacterial for anti-stink

protection in addition to having thermal

regulating properties brought about by

its carbonized bamboo composition. The

combination of materials and design also

throw in a high-tech swagger, in contrast

to the old school orthopedic clunkiness of

more traditional braces.

Going up another level is Don-

Joy’s Webtech, a more robust series

of knee-specific bracing. Utilizing

DonJoy’s silicone web technology,

Proform’s 4mm thick knee

sleeve featuring a padded

hexagonal patella opening,

with Lycra and neoprene

panels for comfort, warmth

and compression (SRP $40)

Webtech Knee (Right, SRP $100) and

Short Know (SRP $70) offer advanced

bracing with DonJoy’s patented

silicone web technology.

Trizone knee support/compression

(SRP $85) and calf support/

compression ($50)

Inside

Outdoor

Fall

2015