Every step you take on level ground puts pressure on your knees that is equal to 1.5 times your body weight. That means if you weight 200 pounds, you're hitting your knees with 300 pounds of pressure with each stride.
And some studies estimate that the typical adult takes around 2.5 million steps a year. No wonder that about a quarter of all people ages 18 and older suffer knee pain and that it accounts for almost 4 million doctor visits annually.
So it's good news that a study in PLOS One found nondrug therapies such as knee-bracing and hydrotherapy decrease knee osteoarthritis pain and increase mobility without the side effects associated with pain medications.
And they outperform high-tech options such as ultrasound.
After studying 139 clinical trials involving more than 10,000 patients — which compared 12 nondrug treatments — the researchers found that knee braces were best for reducing pain, improving function, and relieving stiffness.
Water-based exercise was good at easing pain, and general exercise was also consistently effective, improving both pain and physical function.
What didn't work so well? High-intensity laser therapy and shockwave therapy were only sometimes beneficial, and ultrasound consistently scored lowest in effectiveness.
One innovative therapy (that was not examined in that study) is therapeutic plasma exchange. When used by people with multiple sclerosis and rheumatoid arthritis, it reduces inflammation and pain, and can also ease pain from osteoarthritis.
For more information of lifestyle adjustments that tamp down inflammation and pain, check out my book, "The Great Age Reboot."