PITTSBURGH -- Dr. Kelly Krohn is a rheumatologist and director of clinical research at Mercy Hospital.

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His main interest is helping people who suffer from osteoarthritis of the knee.

Osteoarthritis is the most common form of arthritis affecting at least 20 million people. The knee is the most common site for the disease.

Krohn can really relate to his patients. As a young athlete he suffered a bad knee injury. “I’ve been walking around for the last 30 years with an unstable knee," he said.

He, like many of his patients, has taken anti-inflammatory drugs, but feels there are other non-drug therapies to help people with arthritis of the knee.

Krohn said, “I think pain medicines, whether it’s over-the-counter or prescription, are valuable but should be given in the context of trying other non pharmacological therapies.”

He’s helped many patients cut back or stop anti-inflammatory drugs through a multidisciplinary approach of weight loss, exercise and supplements. He has also helped many patients with shoe orthotics and braces.

Krohn’s interest in braces becomes very clear as he lays out about a dozen different kinds of knee braces and begins to talk about the features of each.

He knows how well braces can work because he wears one himself.

Krohn said, “I’ve become extremely interested in trying to take my bow legged leg and straighten it non-surgically.”

He said the braces he wears “stabilizes my knee exteriorly and also changes the angle of my leg. Instead of bearing my weight on the worn out part of my knee, it straightens it out and bears my weight more uniformly.”

This allows him to continue to play the game he loves, tennis.

Krohn is also studying different braces to see how they change the way people walk and to find out which patient is best for knee braces. He said it’s not for everyone.

The brace was right for Bill Hughes. Even after having his arthritic knees operated on he said, “I was quite limited with what I could do.”

Krohn suggested a brace and Hughes said it’s worked wonders for him.

“Before the brace I was limited to walking about two blocks. Several weeks after I had the brace I was capable of walking two miles in about 45 minutes," he said.