Scientists find a clue to ease arthritis pain without medical or surgical procedures. A surprisingly simple walking tweak may offer new hope for millions living with knee osteoarthritis.

In a year-long clinical trial, researchers found that slightly changing the angle of a person’s foot while walking reduced knee pain as effectively as common medications and even slowed cartilage damage inside the joint.

Arthritis is the most common health issue in old age. Nearly one in four adults over 40 lives with painful osteoarthritis.

Osteoarthritis is a condition that can make everyday movement difficult, and it is one of the major causes of adult disability.

The disease gradually wears down the cartilage that cushions joints. Once that damage occurs, doctors currently cannot reverse it.

Treatment usually focuses on pain relief, with joint replacement becoming an option when symptoms become severe.

A clinical trial from researchers at the University of Utah, New York University, and Stanford University points to a different possibility: changing the way a person walks.

The findings of the yearlong trial revealed that the people with knee osteoarthritis were trained to make a small, personalized change in the angle of their foot while walking.

The result was striking. People who received the real gait retraining reported pain relief comparable to medication, and MRI scans suggested they had less knee cartilage deterioration than people in the placebo group.

The study was published in The Lancet Rheumatology and was co-led by Scott Uhlrich of the University of Utah's John and Marcia Price College of Engineering.

Notably, it was the first placebo-controlled study to show that a biomechanical intervention could help treat osteoarthritis symptoms and potentially slow joint damage.