Best Knee Braces for Walking With Arthritis: Three Types and What the Evidence Says

If you walk with knee arthritis, you can choose from three kinds of support: a strapped wrap, a side-stabilized brace and a hinged brace.

For a first brace with no stabilizer bars, start with the Bracoo compression wrap. Bracoo says its straps fit knees from 12.5 to 18 inches around, on either leg.

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The three kinds of support, one product each:

• Bracoo Adjustable Compression Knee Sleeve: a strapped neoprene wrap with an opening over the kneecap and a ring around it. The pick for a simple first brace.
• Galvaran Knee Brace With Side Stabilizers: four stabilizer bars and gel pads, in five sizes by thigh measurement.
• NEENCA Hinged Knee Brace: a hinge with removable stabilizers on both sides and straps you adjust at the top and bottom.

Bracoo Adjustable Compression Knee Sleeve

Walkers who want a strapped neoprene wrap with no stabilizer bars.

Bracoo Compression Knee Sleeve, Open-Patella Neoprene wrap, open-patella design, stabilizer ring Adjustable straps, knees 12.5 to 18 inches around Look up your size and the price on Amazon

Bracoo builds it as an open-patella wrap: neoprene with a gap over the kneecap and a reinforced ring around it. Bracoo says the straps attach at almost any point on the outside, to keep the wrap from slipping.

Made for

Either knee: one size for knees 12.5 to 18 inches around, Bracoo says

Unsuited to

Walkers who want stabilizer bars at the sides: Bracoo's listing has none; Galvaran and NEENCA both list them

Galvaran Knee Brace With Side Stabilizers

Walkers who want stabilizer bars built into both sides of the brace.

Galvaran Knee Brace, Side Stabilizers Neoprene blend, 4 side stabilizers 2 gel pads, 5 sizes by thigh measurement Look up your size and the price on Amazon

Galvaran lists four side stabilizers and two gel pads. Galvaran says V-shaped bands add compression around the kneecap.

Made for

Size range: Galvaran lists five sizes by thigh measurement, more than the other two state

Also think about

Bracoo, if one size for knees 12.5 to 18 inches around fits you

NEENCA Hinged Knee Brace

Walkers who want a hinge and straps they adjust separately at the top and bottom.

NEENCA Hinged Knee Brace, Open Patella Hinged design, removable side stabilizers Open patella and back, top and bottom straps Look up your size and the price on Amazon

NEENCA lists this as a hinged knee brace with an open patella, an open back and a gel pad around the kneecap opening. Its side stabilizers come off.

NEENCA lists two hook-and-loop straps, one at the top and one at the bottom, that each adjust.

Made for

Removable stabilizers: NEENCA is the only one of the three whose listing says the side stabilizers come off

Unsuited to

Walkers who want a stated size range: NEENCA's listing gives none

What the guideline and the evidence review found

The American College of Rheumatology, the US professional body for arthritis doctors, rates knee bracing by where the arthritis is. Its 2019 guideline, by Kolasinski and colleagues, made these calls:

• Strong recommendation: a tibiofemoral brace, one made for that joint, for osteoarthritis at the main joint between the thigh and shin bones. Cane use got the same rating.
• Conditional recommendation: a patellofemoral brace, for osteoarthritis behind the kneecap.

Duivenvoorden and colleagues reviewed the evidence for Cochrane, an independent network that reviews medical evidence. Their 2015 review of knee braces, insoles and shoes covered 13 studies and 1,356 people.

Of the trials comparing a brace with no treatment, only one gave usable data, in 117 people. The evidence was rated low quality.

That trial showed no evidence of an effect on pain, function or quality of life after 12 months.

Many people in both groups stopped their first treatment because it did not help: 24 of 60 with a brace, 14 of 57 without one. The other brace trials reported some improvement, but the review could not pool their data.

Neither result points to a specific product. The guideline rates brace types by where the arthritis sits in the knee, not brands. The Cochrane review found the evidence for bracing itself weak.

Which part of your knee is affected is a question for a doctor or physical therapist, not a listing.

Choosing between a wrap, side stabilizers and a hinge

Four things separate these three: sizing, stabilizers, a hinge and how the straps fasten.

• Sizing: Galvaran lists five sizes by thigh measurement. Bracoo lists one size for knees 12.5 to 18 inches around. NEENCA’s listing gives no size range.
• Stabilizers: Galvaran lists four side stabilizers and does not say they come off. NEENCA lists stabilizers on both sides and says they come off. Bracoo lists no side stabilizers, only a stabilizer ring around the kneecap opening.
• Hinge: only NEENCA lists a hinge.
• Straps: NEENCA adjusts at the top and bottom separately, and Bracoo’s straps attach at almost any point. Galvaran does not say how its brace fastens.

Which one to try first

For changes to how you walk, not just what you wear on your knee, walking with arthritis: modifications that help covers stride, footwear and pace.

This is general information, not medical advice. Talk to a doctor or physical therapist about your knee before choosing a brace.

The guideline’s strong rating covers only a brace made for the main knee joint, and none of these three listings says it is one. Exercise and cane use carry the same strong rating.