Which hand does the walking stick go in, and does a knee brace actually take load off anything?

Right, two kit questions from someone who has spent about eight months pretending he doesn't need either.

The stick. My wife says I'm holding it wrong. I've got it in my right hand and it's my right knee that's the bad one, which feels obvious to me because that's the side that needs propping up. She says it should be the other hand. We have had this argument in three different car parks now.

The brace. Chemist had a neoprene sleeve for about a tenner, and online there are hinged things for a couple of hundred that claim to take the load off the worn side of the joint. Is that real engineering or is it the knee equivalent of a copper bracelet? I don't mind spending money on something that works, I do mind spending it on the idea of something that works.

Your wife is right, sorry Dennis. Opposite hand. It took me a fortnight to stop feeling like I was doing it backwards and then it just clicked and the knee was noticeably better on a long walk.

Opposite hand, and get the height right, that bit nobody tells you. Mine was too long for about a year and all that did was hoist my shoulder up and give me neck ache. The physio set it in about ten seconds by standing me up straight and dropping my arms.

On braces I'm no help because I never got on with them. The neoprene sleeve was warm and comforting and I have no idea whether it did anything mechanical at all. Poles are my answer, but that's walking, not standing about at work like you.

The stick one has a clear answer: it goes in the hand opposite the painful knee, and it should move forward at the same time as the bad leg. That is not arbitrary. Holding it on the same side puts your support beside the joint you are trying to unload, which barely changes the forces going through it; holding it on the opposite side lets you shift load across the body and away from the affected knee as you step. Height matters too, roughly so that the handle sits at wrist height when you stand with your arms hanging, giving a slight bend at the elbow. A stick that is too long does exactly what Sue describes and just moves the problem up to your shoulder and neck.

Braces are a longer answer, because there are two different products being sold under one word. A neoprene sleeve provides warmth, a bit of compression and a sensory reminder that the knee is there. Some people find that genuinely comfortable, and there is no harm in it, but it is not redistributing load. An unloader or offloading brace is a different device: it is hinged, fitted to the individual leg, and designed to apply a gentle sideways force that opens up the worn compartment and shifts weight toward the healthier side of the joint. In selected people with wear confined to one side, that can reduce pain during activity. The practical catches are that it needs proper fitting to do anything, that plenty of people find it bulky or uncomfortable enough that they stop wearing it, and that the effect lasts only while it is on.

Two honest caveats. First, guidance is much firmer about exercise and strengthening than about any piece of equipment, so a brace is at best an addition to that work rather than a substitute for it. Second, whether your particular pattern of wear is the sort a brace can offload is a question for someone who has examined your knee and seen your X-rays, not a decision to make from a product page. If you want the wider picture of what each non-surgical option is genuinely worth, the site's guide to the alternatives to knee replacement sets it out.

The unhelpful truth about the stick is that the hardest part is not the hand, it's carrying it into the office the first time. Took me three attempts. Nobody said a word in the end.

Three months on and I owe the car park apology in writing. Stick in the left hand, moving with the bad leg, and cut down by a good couple of inches. Standing at work is the thing that has changed most, I can do a full shift again without that deep ache building by lunchtime.

Brace, I went to a physio rather than the internet in the end and was told my wear is spread about a bit rather than sitting neatly on one side, so an offloading one probably wouldn't earn its keep for me. Bought the cheap sleeve anyway for cold mornings. It is a comfort blanket and I'm at peace with that.