Osteoarthritis is the most common type of arthritis, affecting 1 in 10 Canadian adults (arthritis.ca). The knee is one of the most common and most symptomatically affected joints, causing knee pain in many people. Glucosamine and chondroitin sulfate are popular over-the-counter remedies to help the pain, and to avoid knee surgery.

These popular supplements don't work. Many studies have shown that glucosamine and chondroitin sulfate do not help to relieve pain from arthritic knees. Pain relieving drugs, such as acetaminophen and ibuprofen, help a lot more.

The supplements can be dangerous. Glucosamine and chondroitin are not harmful by themselves, but they can interact with other medicines, such as warfarin.

You aren't always getting what you think. To make matters worse, often the labels on the bottles are misleading. In 2013, Consumer Reports tested 16 joint pain supplements and found that seven had less chondroitin than the label listed.

Other approaches often work better.

There are more effective ways to relieve arthritic knee pain:

• Physical therapy.
• Losing weight.
• Acetaminophen (Tylenol and generic).
• Ibuprofen (Advil and generic).
• Naproxen sodium (Aleve and generic).
• Other anti-inflammatory medications.

If these don't help, you can talk to your doctor about treatments such as injections or surgery.

Steps to help ease the pain of osteoarthritis of the knee

• Lose excess weight. Losing a pound of excess weight can take about four pounds of pressure off your knees when walking.
• Physical activity. To build support of the knees, do strength training, especially of the quad muscles on the front of the thigh. Aerobic exercise builds strength and can reduce pain. Stretching can help prevent stiffness. Ask a local “Y” or gym about exercise programs for people with arthritis.
• Mechanical aids. A cane, crutch, or walker can take a load off painful knees.
• Heat and cold. A heating pad can ease ongoing stiffness and soreness in joints. For acute pain and swelling, switch to ice packs.
• Massage. Deep-tissue massage got high marks in a 2010 survey of Consumer Reports online readers. Half of them said that it “helped a lot” with their osteoarthritis.

Use drugs carefully.

• Ibuprofen (Advil and generics) and naproxen (Aleve and generics) can ease pain and inflammation. But they may cause stomach bleeding and high blood pressure, if taken over a longer time. Try to use them only for short periods.
• Acetaminophen (Tylenol and generic) can also help reduce pain, but high doses can damage your liver. Make sure you take less than 4,000 mg a day.

Conditions: Knee Osteoarthritis (OA), Joint Arthritis, Degenerative Arthritis

Treatments: Oral Supplement (Complementary/Alternative Medication): Glucosamine, Chondroitin Sulfate