A knee brace is a medical device you can use to reduce knee pain from arthritis, meniscus injuries, and other musculoskeletal problems that affect your knee. Knee braces employ several methods, including direct compression, offloading, and alignment of your skeleton, to change the distribution of loading on your knee. Older adults often find knee braces good to have on hand, both for sports-related injuries and for chronic degenerative conditions like osteoarthritis. A substantial amount of scientific research suggests that a properly-constructed knee brace can help reduce pain and increase quality of life, but selecting the right kind of knee brace to fit your needs is important for getting these benefits.

After consulting with an orthopedic surgeon and physical therapist, we tested seven top-rated compression sleeves, wraparound knee braces and knee straps, and settled on three clear winners.