Change the way you walk to ease knee pain

Are you suffering from painful knee joints when you walk?  Making a small adjustment to the way your feet are aligned could ease the pain dramatically.

Turning the foot in or out by 5 to 10 degrees can give you pain relief that is even more effective than a painkiller—and it slows the deterioration of the knee joint.

The best position of the foot is a matter of trial and error, and it differs from person to person, but the effects are dramatic if you find your own ‘sweet spot’, say researchers from Utah University.

They’ve been testing the technique on a group of 68 volunteers who had early signs of knee osteoarthritis.  Half were shown how to properly realign their feet—inwards or outwards—and the rest were instead taught a sham technique that didn’t alter their existing foot angle.

The volunteers were trained for six weeks and were encouraged to practise their new gait for at least 20 minutes a day and until it started to feel natural.

After a year, they reported how their knee pain had eased, if at all, and MRI scans revealed the extent of knee joint deterioration.  Compared to those in the sham group, the participants who had changed their foot alignment said they had experienced less pain—and it was as effective as a painkiller, the researchers said—and the scan revealed a slowing of cartilage damage.

It’s an important technique, especially as people can start suffering from knee osteoarthritis in their thirties and yet will wait decades until the deterioration is bad enough to justify knee replacement surgery.

The researchers are investigating ways to formalise their discoveries and are looking at developing a smart shoe and an app to help remind people to walk a little differently.

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