Knee brace research offers new hope for osteoarthritis

 A simple brace can dramatically reduce the pain associated with osteoarthritis of the kneecap, says research from the University of Manchester. A total of 126 people aged 40–70 years old who had arthritic knee pain were assigned to one of two groups: one wore a lightweight lycra flexible brace; the second group had delayed treatment (after six weeks) but both groups eventually wore the brace for 12 weeks (7 hours a day).

After six weeks, people in the brace wearing group reported significant improvements in pain, symptoms, knee stiffness, muscle strength and function compared to the no-treatment group. Those in the no-treatment group were then given knee braces and a further 6 weeks later, they too reported improvements.

“Patients repeatedly told us that wearing the brace made their knee feel more secure, stable, and supported,” says Dr Michael Callaghan from the University of Manchester. “Our theory is that these sensations gave the patient confidence to move the knee more normally and this helped in improving muscle strength, knee function and symptoms.”

Osteoarthritis of the knee affects around six million people in the UK and numbers are rising as the population ages and becomes more sedentary.

“We know that in patients with arthritis, the knee joint is frequently out of normal alignment, which might be an underlying cause of the problem, as well as making it worse,” explains Prof Alan Silman, from Arthritis Research UK.

“By using a simple brace, the researchers have been able not only to correct the alignment but achieve a very worthwhile benefit in terms of reducing pain and function. This approach is a real advance over relying on pain killers and has the potential to reduce the end for joint surgery and replacement, procedures often employed when the symptoms become uncontrollable.”