New Research Explores Foot Positioning To Treat Knee Osteoarthritis

Gait study and symptom measures show that subtly adjusting nan perspective of nan ft during stepping whitethorn trim knee symptom caused by osteoarthritis. This attack whitethorn besides slow progression of nan condition, an uncurable illness successful which nan cartilage cushion wrong a associated breaks down.

Led by a squad of researchers astatine NYU Langone Health, nan University of Utah, and Stanford University, a caller study explored whether changing nan measurement patients position their feet erstwhile stepping could lessen other loading - accent connected nan associated during mobility - and thief dainty nan disease.

For nan investigation, nan scientists tested this involution successful 68 men and women pinch mild to mean knee osteoarthritis and past utilized precocious MRI scans to way really good it worked.

The results propose that those trained to perspective their feet somewhat inward aliases outward from their earthy alignment knowledgeable slower cartilage degeneration successful nan soul portion of their knee compared pinch those who were encouraged to locomotion much often without changing their ft position. A study connected nan study is being published online connected August 12th, 2025 successful nan diary The Lancet Rheumatology.

Although our results will person to beryllium confirmed successful early studies, they raise nan anticipation that nan new, noninvasive curen could thief hold surgery."

Valentina Mazzoli, PhD, Study Co-Lead Author and Assistant Professor, NYU Langone Health

Mazzoli, an adjunct professor successful nan Department of Radiology astatine NYU Grossman School of Medicine, notes that nan earlier patients person a knee replacement, nan much apt they are to require further procedures successful nan future.

The findings besides revealed that those who adjusted their ft perspective reduced their symptom people by 2.5 points connected a 10-point scale, an effect balanced to that of over-the-counter symptom medications. By contrast, those who did not alteration their gait reduced their symptom scores by small much than a point.

"Altogether, our findings propose that helping patients find their champion ft perspective to trim accent connected their knees whitethorn connection an easy and reasonably inexpensive measurement to reside early-stage osteoarthritis," added Mazzoli.

About 1 successful 7 Americans person immoderate shape of osteoarthritis, commonly successful nan soul broadside of nan knee, according to nan U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. A starring origin of disability, nan illness is often managed pinch pharmaceutical symptom relievers, beingness therapy, and, successful nan astir terrible cases, knee-replacement surgery. Experts judge that excess loading tin complete clip lend to nan condition.

Past investigation has offered small grounds that changes successful gait tin efficaciously trim knee symptom caused by osteoarthritis, says Mazzoli. Some erstwhile tests trained each participants to adopt nan aforesaid ft perspective and recovered nary relief, while others did not comparison nan involution to a power group aliases only followed nan participants for a month.

The caller study is nan first to show that tailoring each patient's ft perspective to their unsocial stepping shape tin alleviate nan disease's symptoms successful nan agelong word and whitethorn slow cartilage breakdown, nan authors say.

The patients were past randomly divided into 2 groups. Half were trained successful six sessions to locomotion pinch their perfect perspective while nan different half were instructed to proceed stepping naturally. Pain scores and MRI scans were taken astatine nan opening of nan study play and 1 twelvemonth aft nan intervention.

Study findings showed those who adjusted their gait reduced nan maximum loading successful nan knees by 4%, while those who kept their normal stepping shape accrued their loading by much than 3%.

"These results item nan value of personalizing curen alternatively of taking a one-size-fits-all attack to osteoarthritis," said Mazzoli. "While this strategy whitethorn sound challenging, caller advances successful detecting nan mobility of different assemblage parts utilizing artificial intelligence whitethorn make it easier and faster than ever before."

While nan authors relied connected a specialized laboratory for nan caller study, artificial intelligence package that estimates associated loading utilizing smartphone videos is now disposable and tin let clinicians to execute a gait study successful nan clinic.

The researchers adjacent scheme to trial whether these devices tin so place nan astir effective stepping method for osteoarthritis patients, says Mazzoli. They besides scheme to grow their study to group pinch obesity.