Summary
- When wearing a leg brace, call beforehand and inform airlines for assistance with legroom or a wheelchair.
- Leg braces may trigger anxiety pre-flight, but airlines have the resources to address mobility challenges.
- Wearers should provide a 48-hour notice to airlines outlining individual needs for assistance.
If you have a short-term leg injury or are recovering from a knee operation that requires you to wear a leg brace, you need to first talk to your doctor and let them decide if you are fit enough to travel. For most people, wearing a knee brace is temporary while they recover from a sports or work injury, but others, due to polio and children with Blount disease, may need to wear a leg brace for more extended periods.
When flying, many people with knee injuries suffer from stiffness due to a thickening of synovial fluid, a viscous solution found in the cavities of joints. Synovial fluid’s main job is to reduce friction between joints when moving. Wearing a knee brace can help reduce the sensation of knee stiffness when traveling by plane. In some instances, a compression stocking is enough to help minimize knee discomfort when immobile for long periods.
For some people wearing leg braces that cannot be removed, it’s not uncommon to suffer anxiety before flying as they don’t know what to expect at the airport or how they will be treated aboard the plane. Depending on what airline you are flying, many offer the ability to select your seat in advance, and while a front row or bulkhead seat may cost a little more, paying for the extra legroom can improve the overall experience.
Going through airport security
When you arrive at airport security, tell them you have a leg brace and what part of your leg it is on. Many leg braces can be removed and put through the airport X-ray machine for screening. If the leg brace cannot be removed, an officer with a hand-held metal detector will perform the check. If, for some reason, the leg brace tests positive for explosives, it must be removed and examined more closely.
Photo: TSA
It can be a long walk from the check-in desk to the gate
If you wear a leg brace that enables you to still walk, bear in mind that at some airports, it can be an extremely long walk, and even worse, if you have to change terminals between flights. For this reason, you may want to inform the airline that you will need a wheelchair.
Inform the airline at least 48 hours before and tell them about your unique needs. An airline or airport employee will take you from the meeting point, help with your luggage, and then take you to the gate. Passengers in wheelchairs are always the first to board and the last to get off, but in any instance, it is worth the wait.

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Top tips for traveling with a leg brace:
- Call the airline 48 hours before your flight and ask for a seat with extra legroom or a wheelchair if necessary.
- If possible, check in online. You will need to show your boarding pass to be given a wheelchair.
- Arriving at the airport early gives you plenty of time. If things do not go as planned, the extra time could determine whether you get on the plane or not.
- If the leg brace is only temporary, you should rethink your plans and travel at a later date.
Passengers with disabilities are protected by laws
Nowadays, most developed countries have rules to protect travelers with disabilities and reduce mobility. In the European Union, for example, disabled or mobility-challenged individuals have the right to access buses, trains, boats, and aircraft just like non-disabled people. The vendor selling you your ticket must provide information about your journey and the specific facilities available during your mode of travel.
Photo: Stansted Airport
Traveling by air in Europe
When traveling in the European Union by air, you have the right to ask the airline to provide you with assistance free of charge, which includes:
- Being taken from a meeting point to the check-in desk
- Help to carry any luggage
- Taken through security and delivered to the gate
- Help with getting on and off the aircraft
To ensure you get the assistance you need, contact the airline you are flying with at least 48 hours in advance and advise them of your condition and what help you require.
Traveling by air in the United States
In March 2024, the United States Department of Transportation proposed changing the Air Carrier Access Act to ensure disabled passengers could travel safely and with dignity. The Air Carrier Access Act (ACAA) states that an airline operating flights to or from or within the United States to provide disabled passengers with the following assistance:
- Wheelchair or guided assistance to and from the gate
- Help with getting on and off the aircraft
- Seats that meet a disabled passenger’s needs
- Assistance with the loading and stowing of mobility devices such as wheelchairs or mobility scooters

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What is a leg brace?
Commonly referred to as orthotics, a leg brace is a device worn externally to help maintain or develop a person’s leg’s neuromuscular and skeletal bones. People wear a leg brace to help repair injuries to the femur, knee joint, lower leg, ankle, and foot. Each leg brace is unique to the person who wears it and is fitted with their therapeutic goals in mind.
Photo: November27 | Shutterstock
An AFO leg brace, usually made of plastic, surrounds a person’s ankle and part of the foot. It is worn to control the ankle’s position and motion, compensate for weakness, or correct deformities. People wear an AFO to assist with the following injuries or conditions:
- Birth defects
- Polio
- Diabetic issues
- Drop foot
- Muscular problems
- Nerve damage
A KAFO leg brace extends from the thigh to the foot and is generally worn to help control the lower limb by keeping it aligned correctly and controlling motion. Injuries and several different diseases can require a person to wear a KAFO, including:
- Knee pain from loss of joint integrity
- Crouch gait
- Genuvalgum
- Genuvarum (bowleg)
- Hyperextension (knee bending backward)
- Buckling knee
- Paralysis
Knee Orthosis (KO)
A KO leg brace protects the knee and stretches from mid-calf to thigh level. KOs can be supplied off the shelf or custom-fitted to an individual’s needs. A doctor will prescribe a KO for the following conditions:
- Rehabilitation following a knee injury
- Post-operative rehabilitation
- An anterior cruciate ligament injury (ACL)
- Chondromalacia (runner’s knee)
- A lateral collateral ligament (LCL) injury
- A medial collateral ligament (MCL) injury
- A meniscus tear
- Osgood-Schlatter disease
- Osteoarthritis
- Patella dislocation
- Patella dysfunction
- Patella tendonitis
- General Instability
- General knee pain
- Hyperextension