RESEARCH - Heat-holding knee sleeve may ease arthritis pain

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Heat-holding knee sleeve may ease arthritis pain

Last Updated: 2004-11-25 7:00:24 -0400 (Reuters Health)

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - A heat-retaining sleeve worn around the knee

is useful in reducing joint pain and stiffness in patients with

osteoarthritis of the knee, preliminary testing indicates.

However, from a statistical standpoint, the improvement was not

significantly different from that produced with a standard cotton

sleeve.

In the October 15th issue of Arthritis and Rheumatism, Dr. A.

Mazzuca of Indiana University School of Medicine in Indianapolis and

colleagues note that although there is support for the use of heat in

treating osteoarthritis pain, there have been few controlled studies in

knee osteoarthritis.

To investigate further, the researchers randomly assigned 52 people with

knee arthritis to use a special heat-retaining infrared-reflective knee

sleeve or a cotton-based sleeve.

After 4 weeks of use, people given the heat-retaining sleeve reported a

16 percent decrease in their score on a standard osteoarthritis index.

Participants using the cotton sleeve reported a 9.7 percent decrease --

a difference that was not statistically significant.

Subjects who correctly believed that they were given the heat-retaining

sleeve, reported a 27.5 percent drop in the osteoarthritis score. Those

who had the new sleeve but believed they had been given one made of

cotton reported a 13 percent score reduction.

The researchers conclude that although this pilot study was

" insufficiently powered " to give definitive results, the outcome shows

that the heat-retaining sleeve " merits further scientific

investigation. "

SOURCE: Arthritis and Rheumatism, October 15, 2004

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