AposTherapy is a home-based exercise program utilizing footwear that causes exercise with normal daily activity that may significantly improve function in patients with knee pain in general, and specifically knee osteoarthritis (OA). Capitalizing on the reported excellent adherence and clinical benefit of Apos Therapy in patients with significant lower limb arthritis, the investigators propose to evaluate this as a conservative treatment that may supplant/supplement traditional pain medications and physical therapy in knee OA population.~A potential use of AposTherapy as a replacement for traditional physical therapy may yield a less costly, more effective therapy with better adherence. Problems with traditional therapy include poor patient adherence (patients often do not complete the sessions and have very poor adherence (about 50-60%) to home therapy programs), added cost of travel (which may be more than $100 per session for ambulette or access-a-ride for eligible patients), and the lack of continuation in an ongoing exercise program, leading to relapse and need for retreatment. Additionally, access to physical therapy is limited for many patients since there are not enough available outpatient therapy services to meet the needs of all patients. Finding an alternative exercise program that will increase adherence, decrease total therapy visits, and improve patient's outcomes with decreased dependence on pain medications is a high priority from both patient care and cost management perspectives.~AposTherapy potentially overcomes many of these issues with improving/modifying abnormal biomechanics (therefore decreasing pain), and a home-based exercise program utilizing footwear that causes exercise with normal activity by promoting perturbation. This biomechanical approach may significantly reduce pain and improve function in patients with knee OA. Capitalizing on the reported excellent adherence and clinical benefit of AposTherapy in patients with significant knee OA, the investigators propose to evaluate the biomechanical exercise (wearing an appropriately calibrated shoe at home for a prescribed amount of time each day) as a conservative treatment that may supplement or supplant traditional pain medications, interventional pain procedures and physical therapy in an at-risk urban inner city population with knee OA.
AposTherapy is a home based exercise program utilizing footwear that causes exercise with normal activity that may significantly improve function in patients with knee osteoarthritis since patients with knee osteoarthritis have altered mechanics of motion contributing or due to the presence of the conditions. Capitalizing on the reported excellent adherence and clinical benefit of ApostTherapy in patients with significant knee OA, the investigators propose to evaluate this as a conservative treatment that may supplant/supplement traditional pain medications and physical therapy in an at-risk urban inner city population.