Exercise Eases OA Pain, but Benefits Depend on Type and Consistency
An umbrella review of systematic reviews finds that exercise provides small pain relief for osteoarthritis (about 6–12 points on a 100-point scale) vs no treatment or placebo, with little consistent improvement in function. For knee/hip OA, exercise can match NSAIDs and corticosteroid injections for pain reduction (roughly 5–10%), but total joint replacement generally offers greater relief. Limitations include lumping all exercise types together, not differentiating supervised vs unsupervised programs, short study durations (~12 weeks), and not accounting for exercise dose. Despite these caveats, any sustainable exercise (e.g., walking or resistance training) offers broader health benefits and should be pursued as a long-term, individualized plan.
