Does glucosamine help knee pain?
The trials disagree. Trials of one prescription form of glucosamine sulfate (the Rotta preparation) mostly found less pain. Trials of other forms, and the better-run trials, mostly found it no better than placebo, including a trial of 1,583 people.
What the studies found
“Analysis restricted to eight studies with adequate allocation concealment failed to show benefit of glucosamine for pain and WOMAC function.”
“Glucosamine and chondroitin sulfate alone or in combination did not reduce pain effectively in the overall group of patients with osteoarthritis of the knee.”
“glucosamine sulfate at the oral once-daily dosage of 1,500 mg is more effective than placebo in treating knee OA symptoms.”
The details
- What the trials used
- 1,500 mg a day, for 6 weeks to 3 years. These are the doses studied, not advice on what to take.
- Who was studied
- Adults with knee osteoarthritis.
Before you try it
If you take any medicine or have a health condition, ask a pharmacist or doctor before adding a supplement. This page doesn’t link to any product.
How we checked this
This answer comes from one finding on our site, and that finding has been re-checked: each linked study was confirmed on PubMed and read against the finding’s grade, direction and study count. We then read every abstract ourselves on 7 November 2026 and wrote the answer from them, then checked it against recent reviews; the quotes above are copied word for word. If the finding changes, this answer is hidden until it is checked again. How we grade.