Review on Adjustable Rigid Velpeau Ankle Brace With Gel Pads For Women And Men - Ideal For Sprains, Tendonitis, Post-Op Cast Support And Injury Protection - Large, Right Foot by Matthew Oumer

The good: Stabilises the ankle without compromising ability to walk at all, easy to use and adjust.The bad: Despite sizing this according to their chart, I feel it's still a little on the long side, stirrup was useless.I severely sprained my ankle a couple of months back and have nearly resprained it twice in the process of trying to get it to heal. Deciding I didn't want to risk breaking my ankle, I caved and bought an ankle brace that provided stability, making it hard (if not impossible) to move it side to side, but still being able to move it forwards and back so I could walk easily. After looking at reviews for several different braces, I decided on this one, with the gel packs so it would be easier to ice it if need be. I put it on and walked around to test comfort and fit and found one problem.It kept falling down despite tightening the straps as much as I could. The problem was the fact that the stirrup was way too loose, and there was no way to really adjust it any higher. So I had to rig up something of my own creation, a makeshift stirrup using velcro and wide elastic, and it's definitely made an improvement. It now fits absolutely perfect and the fix cost $0 since I made it from things I had lying around already. If you run into the same problem, you may need to rig up your own solution so it fits you.That said, you don't need the stirrup part at all if you're wearing shoes with it, as the shoes will provide enough stability to keep it in place. Though it says you can only wear it with low topped, lace up shoes (i.e. sneakers), I wore it with my Timberlands without any problems, so I feel it will work with any shoe so long as it's lace up (since the shoe is then a lot more adjustable). I wore it for most of the day without any problems at all, it stayed in place and was super comfortable. The fact that everything is washable (by hand only, naturally) is a bonus.Overall I'm very pleased with my purchase, and if it wasn't for the stirrup being so ill-fitting, and the sizing not being exact despite measuring it correctly according to the sizing chart, I would've given this a five star rating. It's still worth getting if you're going to wear it with footwear. I've worn it for two days and I can already tell that my ankle is improving dramatically. Beats an expensive walking boot any day!