Can the Right Shoes Help Knee Osteoarthritis?

If you’re living with the pain of knee osteoarthritis, choosing your footwear wisely can help you find relief. But what kind of shoes are best for people with this progressive condition? New research in the Annals of Internal Medicine can help you make an informed decision.

Choosing the Right Shoes to Help Knee Osteoarthritis

Osteoarthritis is a progressive condition that affects your joints. When your knee joints are affected, shoes can help reduce your symptoms by reducing the impact of your movement. Some shoes are clearly not a good idea for people with knee osteoarthritis: high-heels increase force on your knee by as much as 23%, according to this study, so they should obviously be avoided by arthritis sufferers. 

Surprisingly, however, shoes with supportive insoles, stiff heels and/or stiff soles are not better for knee osteoarthritis sufferers: researchers discovered that these features increase knee forces by 15%. Instead, the new evidence suggests that people with knee osteoarthritis should look for shoes that are both flat and flexible; this will reduce knee forces by as much as 9%. Still, one contradictory trial from 2021 suggested that patients who spent six months wearing stable, supportive shoes for six months experienced up to 63% less knee pain while walking compared to those who wore flat, flexible shoes. Plus, that style of shoe tended to increase wearers foot pain, making it hard to tell people exactly which style of shoes can help knee osteoarthritis.

Lasting Relief, Without the Confusion

If finding the right shoes to help knee osteoarthritis feels too difficult in light of the contradictory findings, don’t despair: help is available. When patients with knee osteoarthritis fail to find relief from non-surgical interventions such as shoe changes, activity modifications, physical therapy, weight loss, bracing and anti-inflammatory medications, we can help with genicular artery embolization (GAE), a minimally-invasive knee osteoarthritis treatment. You can learn more about the procedure and your candidacy by Schedule an Appointment requesting a consultation at Texas Endovascular, with seven convenient locations designed to maximize your access to care.