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When it comes to knee guards, I found that an adult size elbow guard makes a great substitute for small children. We were able to save a weekend of riding by having my six year old son wear my size medium Fox Titans on his knees. He rode for hours over the course of two days with no comfort issues, and the smaller cups actually provided a better fit for his diminutive legs. The forearm and upper arm straps do a good job of keeping the guards in place, and they fit easily into his boots. His other knee guards, which were the smallest size available, were still a bit too big. It was difficult to get the top of the boot to completely close around them, and they just did not fit well. If you decide to try this idea, make sure the knee guards are the style that have detachable, wrap around straps - these can be adjusted to fit comfortably without cutting off circulation. I would be reluctant to try this with the pullover sleeve type elbow guard as they cannot be adjusted, and would have to fit perfectly in order to be comfortable.

Knee Injuries and the Use of Prophylactic Knee Bracing in Off-road Motorcycling Results of a Large-Scale Epidemiological Study Mark S. Sanders,* MD, Robert A. Cates,y BA, Michael D. Baker,y BS, Sue D. Barber-Westin,z§ BS, Wesley M. Gladin,|| BS, and Martin S. Levy,{ PhD Investigation performed at the Sanders Clinic for Orthopaedic Surgery and Sports Medicine,Houston, Texas Background: The effectiveness of prophylactic knee bracing in preventing knee injuries during sports has been evaluated; however, because of the variability in study conclusions, the topic remains controversial. Despite a paucity of data, the authors believe that prophylactic knee bracing is frequently used in off-road motorcycling. Hypothesis: No statistically significant difference exists in the frequency and types of knee injuries incurred between braced and nonbraced riders using commercially available knee braces in off-road motorcycling. Study Design: Descriptive epidemiology study. Methods: Data from 2115 off-road motorcycle riders was obtained using an Internet-based survey over a 1-year period. Participants were grouped by use or nonuse of prophylactic knee bracing, and an incidence rate ratio was used for injury rate comparison. Results: Participants recorded 39 611 riding hours over the study period. A total of 57 riders (2.7%) sustained at least 1 knee injury, for a total of 89 injuries. The most common injuries involved the anterior cruciate ligament, menisci, and medial collateral ligament. There was a significantly higher rate of overall injuries in the nonbraced group versus the braced group (3.675 vs 1.587 per 1000 rider hours, P\.001). Significantly higher incidence rates of anterior cruciate ligament rupture (1.518 vs 0.701 per 1000 rider hours, P = .0274) and medial collateral ligament injury (0.799 vs 0.111 per 1000 rider hours, P = .002) were found among nonbraced riders compared with braced riders. Conclusion: The most common knee injuries in off-road motorcycling involve the anterior cruciate ligament, menisci, and medial collateral ligament. The use of prophylactic knee bracing appears to have a beneficial effect in preventing medial collateral ligament and anterior cruciate ligament injuries as well as overall knee injury occurrence. These findings may be applicable to other sports that involve similar forces and mechanics. Keywords: motocross; knee brace; knee injury; medial collateral ligament injury; anterior cruciate ligament injury; off-road motorcycling This study is for your personal use only and may not be republished in any way without the written permission of the author. However, linking to this specific page is ok. Here's link to view the full report: http://cdn.thumperta...hed_2_4_111.pdf To read the full study, you must download the attached pdf file. If you don't have the software installed that reads .pdf documents, you can download it for FREE at http://get.adobe.com/reader/