Knee Braces, Hydrotherapy Top Arthritis Treatments
Get the Health newsletter
Daily health & science — research, biotech, public health, the studies worth knowing. Free.
- Knee braces ranked highest in reducing pain, improving joint function, and easing stiffness for knee osteoarthritis patients, according to a meta-analysis of 139 clinical trials.
- Hydrotherapy — exercise in warm water — showed strong results for pain relief, making it one of the top non-drug interventions for knee osteoarthritis.
- Exercise delivered consistent improvements in both pain and physical function, reinforcing its role as a core, low-cost treatment option.
- Ultrasound therapy was found to be the least effective of the 12 non-drug treatments evaluated, underperforming even basic physical interventions.
- PLOS One published the network meta-analysis, which synthesized data from nearly 10,000 participants across 139 randomized clinical trials.
- Researchers called for updated clinical guidelines to prioritize knee braces, hydrotherapy, and exercise over anti-inflammatory drugs due to their safety and efficacy.
Why it matters: Millions with knee osteoarthritis could avoid gastrointestinal and cardiovascular risks from pain medications by switching to proven non-drug therapies like braces and water-based exercise, which are cheaper and safer. This shifts the standard of care toward accessible, low-tech solutions supported by large-scale evidence.
