Lateral wedge insoles: low knee arthritis pain relief

Lateral wedge insoles may have little use in relieving pain for people with osteoarthritis of the knee, says a review of past research published in the Journal of the American Medical Association.

Experts looked at 12 trials involving 885 people with knee osteoarthritis and found that those who wore lateral wedge insoles rated their pain score about two points lower on a 20-point scale than those who used flat insoles or none at all.

But when the team looked at higher quality trials – including those that accounted for the placebo effect of simply having insoles – any significant benefit went away.

“It doesn’t mean there can’t be effective treatments that we put in shoes,” says Dr David Felson, who was involved in the research. “There may be research which can identify for us those people who are likely to respond to this treatment, or that develops a newfangled approach to put a wedge in a shoe that might work a little better.”

Although this review suggests that lateral wedges for knee osteoarthritis do not have much effect, some suggest they’re still worth a try.

“The risk with lateral wedges is pretty darn low,” says Dr Gillian Hawker from the University of Toronto.  “In the occasional patient, they will make a big difference.”