To Brace or Not to Brace

I'm starting to see the light at the end of the tunnel! I'm just shy of 5 months post surgery. I honestly don't know where the time has gone. It's flown. My fitness level is coming back with kickboxing two times a week, taekwondo once a week, swimming once a week, a little running, lifting and some biking thrown in there. With kickboxing and taekwondo I'm still not pivoting on my left foot, doing any jump kicks or sparring. In due time. Hopefully by January at the latest I'll be back to doing taekwondo without any restrictions. I'm planning on being back to full duty at work by December 1st.

I'm getting really bored with PT, but know that I have to stick with it at least through Christmas to keep my leg muscles strong. If I don't lift there I won't lift. I'm trying to find ways to keep myself motivated. Lately I've been trying to take fewer breaks in between each exercise so I can incorporate a little cardio into it. It gets me out of there faster at the very least!

So, now that I have my eyes on the prize (unrestricted activity!) the question is...should I wear a hinged brace for sports? I asked my doc and his recommendation was to not wear a brace. His belief is that it doesn't really help a lot, but ultimately said it's an individual decision and it there's no harm in wearing one. I'm leaning toward at least wearing one for a while as I get used to sparring again. I have a $50 velcro-hinged-neoprene wonder that does the job for now. I found some sweet high end, light weight braces online. They were pretty expensive, but most had an insurance code in the description. I'm going to see if insurance will cover the cost and if so I'm probably going to order one. Ideas? To brace or not to brace?....that is the question.