Shoe Inserts ( custom-made insoles) do not help arthritic knee pain

Jojy Cheriyan MD;MPH-August 21, 2013.

Different types of shoe inserts or insoles are available in the market, off-the-shelve or custom made. They come in attractive colors and designs, but cost more than the price of your shoes or slippers. Some are advertized as massaging type gels that claim cure to arthritic knee pain.

A meta-analysis (of 12 trials involving 885 patients) study published today (August 21,2013) in the Journal of American Medical Association (JAMA) reports that the lateral wedge inserts used for conservative management of arthritic knee pain do not give significant pain relief. In this analysis the researchers used pain relief as the outcome.

Lateral wedge insoles (or various stiffness insoles) are usually recommended to reduce the load on the inner side of knee. But the analysis of 12 trials proven that pain remains the same in arthritic patients who used the lateral wedge insoles and those who used neutral insoles or never used insoles. This intervention only gives a psychological relief to patients who expect some benefit when compared to no intervention.

The clinical implications of the study are for health care practitioners not to recommend lateral wedge insoles to patients with knee pain and for patients not to buy them and waste money.

For more information of this study click here

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