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# Sturdy shoes eased knee pain more than flat, bendy ones
- URL: https://the-health-brief.ghost.io/sturdy-shoes-eased-knee-pain-more-than-flat-bendy-ones/
- Published: 2026-10-22T14:00:00.000Z
- Updated: 2026-10-22T14:00:03.000Z
- Description: 164 people, six months: walking pain fell 2.1 points with sturdy shoes against 1.1.
- Author: Walt Brennan

| Live well In the back of my closet sits a pair of thin, flat sneakers that cost me ninety dollars and a good deal of pride. I bought them after I read that barefoot-style shoes were kind to sore knees. The pitch made sense to me. A shoe like that has a thin sole, no arch support, and no lift at the heel. It bends in your hand like a sock. Your foot moves the way it did before shoes, the story went, and your knee takes less strain. I wore them for a month. My right knee ached more, not less, and my shins hurt by supper. Carol has a sharp eye for a bad buy. She asked what the studies said, and I did not know. It turns out I was not the only one with the idea. In 2013, Harvard Health ran a post that said flat, bendy shoes might do more for a sore knee than any insert. That was a fair guess at the time. Small lab tests had found that flat shoes eased the load on the inside of the knee for a few steps. But no one had tried it on real people for months on end. So a team in Australia did. What they found is why my bendy shoes now live in the closet… and it ran the other way from what the team expected. A quick question · tap to answer What is on your feet most days? Tap one. A ready-to-send reply opens, just press send. [Thick, cushioned sneakers](mailto:hello@thehealthbriefdaily.com?subject=Shoes%3A%20thick%2C%20cushioned%20sneakers&body=Most%20days%20I%20wear%20thick%2C%20cushioned%20sneakers.) [Thin, flat shoes](mailto:hello@thehealthbriefdaily.com?subject=Shoes%3A%20thin%2C%20flat%20shoes&body=Most%20days%20I%20wear%20thin%2C%20flat%20shoes.) [Slippers or socks](mailto:hello@thehealthbriefdaily.com?subject=Shoes%3A%20slippers%20or%20socks&body=Most%20days%20I%20am%20in%20slippers%20or%20socks.) [It depends on the day](mailto:hello@thehealthbriefdaily.com?subject=Shoes%3A%20depends%20on%20the%20day&body=What%20I%20wear%20on%20my%20feet%20depends%20on%20the%20day.) The Melbourne trial The study came out in January 2021 in the Annals of Internal Medicine, a top journal for doctors. A team at the University of Melbourne ran it. They took 164 people aged 50 and up who had knee arthritis. Arthritis here means the wear-and-tear kind, where the smooth pad on the ends of the bones thins out. All of them had it on the inner side of the knee, the side that faces your other leg. Each person was put in one of two groups by chance, like a coin toss. Half got flat, bendy shoes, with thin soles and little or no lift at the heel. The other half got sturdy shoes, with thick soles that soak up shock and a built-in arch support. Arch support is a firm rise under the middle of your foot. Both groups wore their shoes at least six hours a day, for six months. The people were not told which shoe the team thought would win. Neither were the staff who scored them. What they found Each person scored their knee pain on a walk, from 0 to 10\. Both groups started at about 6\. The sturdy-shoe group dropped by 2.1 points. The flat-shoe group dropped by 1.1 points. In other words, the sturdy shoes cut walking pain by about twice as much. The team had bet on the flat shoes… and got the reverse. There was a second gap, and it may count for more. About one in three people in the flat shoes had a new ache. It showed up in the knee, the foot, the ankle, or the shin. In the sturdy shoes, it was about one in seven. That is 32 percent against 15 percent. My sore shins were in good company. Not all of it went the sturdy way. The team also scored day-to-day tasks, like stairs, getting out of a car, and putting on socks. On those, the two groups came out about even. So the shoe eased pain on the move. It did not make the knee do more. The weak spots Bear in mind what this trial can’t tell you. No group kept on in their own shoes. So we know sturdy beat flat, but not by how much sturdy beats what you wear now. It was one trial, run by one team. And it only took people with arthritis on the inner side of the knee. If yours is on the outer side, this may not apply. I have no idea if it does. A drop of 2 points out of 10 is real, but it is not a cure. The sturdy group still scored about 4 at the end. Put another way, a good shoe takes some of the load off. It does not take the arthritis away. What about inserts? You may have seen wedge insoles at the drugstore. A wedge insole is a shoe insert that is thicker on the outer edge. It is meant to tip the foot out a hair and ease the inner knee. In 2013, a review in JAMA pooled 12 trials with 885 people. The wedges did no better for pain than plain, flat inserts. In 2019, the American College of Rheumatology and the Arthritis Foundation wrote new advice on arthritis. Rheumatology is the branch of medicine that treats joints. They came down against the wedges, though not with their firmest vote. So I would spend the money on the shoe, not the wedge. That is my read… and I could be wrong about your foot. How I pick a shoe for my knee now This is my own list, not the trial’s. Shop late in the day, when your feet are at their largest. Look for a thick sole with some give, and a firm rise under the arch, like the trial’s sturdy shoes. Squeeze the back of the heel. It should hold its shape. Walk the store for five full minutes before you pay. If the shoe needs a week to break in, it is the wrong shoe. One more thing to think about. Six hours a day is a lot of time in one pair of shoes. Most of us spend a good part of the day at home, in socks or old slippers. If your knee is worst around the house, that may be where a sturdy shoe earns its keep. I now keep a pair of plain walking shoes by the back door, for the house and the yard. Me? My knee still grumbles on the hill down to the harbor. But it grumbles less, and my shins have quit their part of the act. The flat ones stay in the closet… as a fair reminder that a good idea still needs a test. When to stop and call your doctor Call your doctor if a knee swells up fast, turns hot and red, or comes with a fever. Do the same if it locks, gives way, or won’t take your weight. If new shoes give you a sore that won’t heal, and you have diabetes, call that day. And if you have pain that shoots down a leg, numbness between the legs, or you lose control of your bladder or bowels, see a doctor now. Don’t wait. Quick poll · tap to answer Would you try a sturdier pair of shoes for your knees? Tap one. A ready-to-send reply opens, just press send. [I already wear them](mailto:hello@thehealthbriefdaily.com?subject=Poll%3A%20I%20already%20wear%20them&body=I%20already%20wear%20sturdy%20shoes%20for%20my%20knees.) [Yes, I will try a pair](mailto:hello@thehealthbriefdaily.com?subject=Poll%3A%20yes%2C%20I%20will%20try%20a%20pair&body=Yes%2C%20I%20will%20try%20a%20sturdier%20pair%20of%20shoes.) [Not sure yet](mailto:hello@thehealthbriefdaily.com?subject=Poll%3A%20not%20sure%20yet&body=I%20am%20not%20sure%20yet%20about%20sturdier%20shoes.) [No, I like my flat shoes](mailto:hello@thehealthbriefdaily.com?subject=Poll%3A%20I%20like%20my%20flat%20shoes&body=No%2C%20I%20like%20my%20flat%20shoes.) I read every reply. Here is to a softer step,**Walt** The Health Brief is for education only. It is not medical advice. Always check with your own doctor about your own situation. |
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