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Back when I was a varsity athlete (before I became old and washed up), I spent my final season dealing with a particularly stubborn ankle injury. As it turns out, sprinting down a runway and launching yourself into a sandpit while transferring large amounts of force through a compromised joint is not exactly a recipe for orthopedic success. Who would鈥檝e guessed.

By that point in my career, I was willing to try just about anything. Taping, bracing, ibuprofen, ice baths, magnesium, massage, you name it. Evidence-based or not, if someone suggested it might help, I was game. I vividly remember one afternoon begging my physiotherapist to tape my ankle tighter and tighter, and while my toes were turning white and numb, he looked up at me and said, 鈥淵ou know this isn鈥檛 really doing anything, right?鈥�. He then went on to explain that the mechanical support from tape often fades after about 15 minutes as the tape loosens. After that, the main benefit is somatosensory: the sensation of tape around the joint reminds you that you鈥檙e injured and should maybe take it easy.

Despite the inconsistent and context-dependant evidence base for bracing and taping musculoskeletal injuries, companies haven鈥檛 been dissuaded from innovation. Allow me to introduce you to Stoko.

Stoko markets a pair of 鈥渟upportive tights鈥� designed to replace traditional knee braces. Their flagship product, the K1, uses a cable system built into the leggings to apply forces across the joint. While traditional rigid braces push, the Stoko system pulls, supposedly restoring the knee to its natural alignment while allowing for more comfortable movement.

The leggings are also marketed as medical grade, meaning they鈥檙e registered with regulatory bodies like the FDA and Health Canada as a medical device. At face value, that sounds reassuring. A quick Google search tells you this designation generally means the product has met certain safety and quality standards for its intended use. So far, so good.

With this initial green flag waving in the wind, I decided to do a little deep dive on the company and their product. What impressed me initially was that Stoko provides research papers on their website. That already puts them ahead of many wellness products, whose evidence base consists primarily of inspirational testimonials, and someone named Chad on Instagram saying it 鈥渃hanged his life.鈥�

Unfortunately, my enthusiasm faded quicker than the effects of KT tape once I started reading.

The evidence provided by Stoko falls into a category that can only be called preliminary. The studies are small, funded by the company, and haven鈥檛 been formally peer-reviewed. None of this automatically invalidates the work, but it does mean the findings should be interpreted with a healthy amount of skepticism.

Their , presented at a conference in 2022, examined the biomechanics of 20 adults with ACL deficiency while they walked, ran, and performed single-leg drop landings. Participants completed the tasks wearing either Stoko tights or regular athletic tights. The authors reported that wearing the Stoko leggings increased hip abduction during movement tasks. Because excessive hip adduction is associated with dynamic knee valgus (a movement pattern linked to ACL injury) they suggested the leggings might reduce injury risk. Participants also reported feeling more stable.

This all sounds impressive, until you notice what the study 诲颈诲苍鈥檛 do.

If a company is positioning its product as an alternative to knee braces, the obvious control group would have people鈥� wearing knee braces. Instead, the control condition was simply a normal pair of leggings. In other words, the study effectively demonstrates that supportive leggings provide more support than not wearing supportive leggings. Groundbreaking.

Another omission is the question of sex differences. , largely due to anatomical factors that increase knee valgus during movement. If these leggings are meant to function as a legitimate brace alternative, it would be reassuring to see evidence of efficacy across both sexes.

linked on the website describes a survey sent to customers who had purchased the leggings, with 121 respondents. Of these, 99% reported feeling knee support while wearing the tights and many reported reduced pain. Survey data can certainly be informative, but it also raises an obvious methodological question: who actually takes the time to complete a voluntary questionnaire about leggings they bought online? Typically, it鈥檚 people who either loved the product or hated it, while the large middle group, those who found the experience aggressively average, rarely feels compelled to open SurveyMonkey in their spare time. More importantly, the survey measures perceived support rather than objective biomechanical outcomes. Feeling supported and actually being biomechanically supported are not necessarily the same thing; your knee can feel fantastic right up until the moment it very much does not.

There鈥檚 also a describing the company鈥檚 鈥淓mbrace System,鈥� which outlines how the internal cabling supposedly produces valgus, varus, and compressive stabilization forces across the knee. To be clear, the underlying biomechanical ideas are not unreasonable. The problem is that they鈥檙e presented largely as a design concept rather than something demonstrated with robust experimental data.

To Stoko鈥檚 credit, they do with traditional knee braces: compliance. Braces can be uncomfortable, expensive, and poorly fitted, which means many patients simply stop wearing them. Supportive apparel that people are actually willing to wear could therefore fill a meaningful gap.

But comfort alone isn鈥檛 enough. If a product is marketed as a medical device capable of replacing braces, the evidence should show that it performs at least as well as the thing it鈥檚 replacing. At the moment, that evidence just isn鈥檛 there.

The broader scientific literature on knee bracing doesn鈥檛 provide a simple answer either. suggest braces can reduce pain in knee osteoarthritis, while find minimal long-term benefit. From a different context, post-operative ACL bracing often .

Given that the evidence for bracing itself is already mixed, where does that leave Stoko?

If you鈥檙e someone who prefers strong evidence before spending your hard-earned money, it might be worth waiting for better research.

But if your current brace is uncomfortable, ineffective, or permanently gathering dust in a drawer, Stoko could be an interesting experiment. Just maybe don鈥檛 pin all your orthopedic hopes on a pair of leggings.

As always, the best approach is somewhere between blind enthusiasm and total cynicism: stay curious, stay skeptical, and talk to your doctor before trusting the internet with your knees.

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Sophie Tseng Pellar recently graduated from 91黑料网 with a Bachelor of Science (BSc) degree in the physiology program. She is continuing her graduate studies in the surgical and interventional sciences program at 91黑料网. Her research interests include exercise physiology, biomechanics and sports nutrition.

Part of the OSS mandate is to foster science communication and critical thinking in our students and the public. We hope you enjoy these pieces from our Student Contributors and welcome any feedback you may have!