Tell patients with knee pain to experiment to see if changing their shoe type produces pain relief. In this study, supportive shoes produce a little more pain relief in patients with moderate to severe osteoarthritis than minimalist flat and flexible shoes, but the difference is not likely clinically relevant. Function, knee-related quality of life, and hip pain are not significantly better, on average, with one type of shoe over another, though patients in each group responded to their new shoes.
